> Here is what I understand about the file, job and volume retentions.
> (please correct me if I am wrong)
>
> File Retention: This how long the individual files will be kept in the
> catalog database. As long as the files are available in the database you
> can restore a single file. Once the files are purged out as long as the
> job is still in the database you can restore the entire job.
>
You can get the missing data back in the database using bscan.

> Job Retention: This is how long the job information remains in the
> database. As long as the job information is available you can restore
> the entire job. You can not restore a single file within the job if the
> file retention period has elapsed.
>
Again you can recover from this using bscan.

>
> Volume Retention: This is the period of the time the actual data on a
> tape is kept. This is where I think I am having problems.
>
Not exactly. After a volume is Full or Used (see below for this) the
volume retention period begins. After the volume retention period ends
bacula can reuse the volume if it needs a new volume for that pool.

>
> 1. When the volume retention period elapses does Bacula mark the entire
> volume to be recycled?
>

When bacula needs a volume it will purge a volume that is past its
retention period if it finds one.

>
> 2. Is there a way to mark the space on the tape as available once a job
> has been purged from the database?

No, all bacula volumes are purged in their entirety.

>
> Right now all our servers dump their backups (tar or windows backup)
> onto an NFS share on this server. Once I have the backup strategy nailed
> down I will installed bacula-fd on the servers and backup them up via
> Bacula. So all the data that Bacula needs to backup is all on the local
> raid volume.
>
> Ultimate goal:
>
> 1. Two LTO4 tapes.
> 2. Tape one for even weeks of the year
> 3. Tape two for odd weeks of the year
> 4. Perform a full backup 150-200GB every week
> 5. Keep 2 months worth of full backups
>
>
> Current pool setup
> Pool {
>  Name = OddWeek-Pool
>  Pool Type = Backup
>  Recycle = yes                       # Bacula can automatically recycle
> Volumes
>  AutoPrune = yes                     # Prune expired volumes
>  Volume Retention = 1 year
> }
>
> Pool {
>  Name = EvenWeek-Pool
>  Pool Type = Backup
>  Recycle = yes                       # Bacula can automatically recycle
> Volumes
>  AutoPrune = yes                     # Prune expired volumes
>  Volume Retention = 1 year
> }
> Pool {
>  Name = Recording-Pool
>  Pool Type = Backup
>  Recycle = yes                       # Bacula can automatically recycle
> Volumes
>  AutoPrune = yes                     # Prune expired volumes
>  Volume Retention = 6 days
> }
>

That definitely will not work. You need at least 2 tapes for each pool
and after that you need to shorten the volume retention period to ~59
days instead of 1 year. Also remember that volume retention does not
even begin until the tape is marked Full or Used. Full is obvious -
tape is full. A volume can become used if you set either of the
following:

Use Volume Once = yes
Volume Use Duration = ttt

http://www.bacula.org/en/rel-manual/Automatic_Volume_Recycling.html


I hope you can understand me. I have a really bad headache so I may
not be making a lot of sense..

John

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