Networker

[Networker] Confusion over incremental and levels - 3 IMPORTANT questions!

2004-01-23 11:28:05
Subject: [Networker] Confusion over incremental and levels - 3 IMPORTANT questions!
From: George Sinclair <George.Sinclair AT NOAA DOT GOV>
To: NETWORKER AT LISTMAIL.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 11:28:29 -0500
Hi,

A user stopped to ask me today what exactly is an incremental. This led
to a discussion about levels and such and left me with three questions
that I'm uncertain about myself. I explained that an incremental
captures all changed files since the previous incremental and so on and
so forth. I explained that if you run a full on Monday, then running a
level 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 on Tuesday is tantamount to running an
incremental on Tuesday, since the full resets everything, but that's
where the buck stops. As long as the client index has room to grow, the
incrementals can just keep going and going, each capturing everything
since the previous one, but a full will start the process all over again
from scratch and levels capture everything since the previous lower
numbered level, but do they likewise reset things? The user asked what
would happen in the following scenario:

Mon=full, Tue=incr, Wed=incr, Thu=incr, Fri=level5, Sat=incr.

1. Does the Sat incr capture all changed files since Fri, or does it
instead capture all changed files since Thu?

I was kinda stumped on this question, but I thought it would capture all
changes since Fri.

2. We typically run descending levels throughout the month with
incrmentals and then a full at the end of the month. I was operating
under the assumption that if someone needed to rebuild something, at
worst case, they would need the last full tape(s), the most recent level
backup tape(s), and then all incremental tape(s) after that. In other
words, if you were performing a saveset recover (so you're doing this
manually) of an entire file system as it most recently existed, then you
would select the most recent full instance, the most recent level
instance and all incrmentals after that, yes?

3. Also, what would happen in the following scenario:

Mon=full, Tue=incr, Wed=incr, Thu=level5, Fri=incr, Sat=incr, Sun=level5

Will Sunday's level 5 capture all changes since Thursday's level 5 or
will it, too, go all the way back to Monday just like the first level 5
did?

Thanks!

George

--
Note: To sign off this list, send a "signoff networker" command via email
to listserv AT listmail.temple DOT edu or visit the list's Web site at
http://listmail.temple.edu/archives/networker.html where you can
also view and post messages to the list.
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=