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Backing Up Your Data: An OverviewLiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service makes backing up your data easy and convenient. MyLiveVault guides you through the initial backup configuration process. Then the LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service state-of-the-art replication technology and advanced online archive provides a complete, continuous backup of all your data and applications. Backs up all types of files, including open filesLiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service backs up all types of files, including:
LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service also backs up open files. While files on an Agent computer are open and in use by other applications, LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service can back up the files. There is no need to log off users or stop applications. Users and applications can continue to access and modify the files on the Agent computer during backup. By default, LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service preserves all of a file's NTFS file attributes, security, and alternate data streams, on the backup copies. This information is backed up and stored with the file. When a file is restored, this information is also restored. LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service also preserves long file and directory names on the backup copies. Note: There are some files that LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service will automatically exclude from backup, and items that it does not support. For a list of these files and items, see Automatic and Recommended Backup Exclusions and Objects That Cannot Be Backed Up. Configuring backupYou control backup through user-defined backup configurations. MyLiveVault guides you through each step of the backup configuration process. A backup configuration specifies all the options for backup, including:
In general, you will create multiple backup configurations to back up an Agent computer's data, tailoring the individual configuration to the data it is backing up. By default, you will define a Files and Directories backup configuration for every computer. This configuration backs up your general files and directories. If you are running Microsoft Exchange, you will create an Exchange backup configuration. In addition, you will create a separate database backup configuration to back up each database or application. The LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service technology works with all databases and applications; no additional software plug-ins are needed. For example, assume an Agent computer is both your Microsoft Exchange Server and it contains your business critical documents. For this computer, you would create these configurations:
LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service also lets you specify the maximum amount of network bandwidth that it may consume for backing up an Agent computer's data. You can set a bandwidth usage limit for each Agent computer. For example, you may choose to set a bandwidth usage limit if bandwidth availability is limited during certain times. As a user for your company account, you can view backup status and details for backup configurations. However, only users assigned the appropriate capability can configure and manage backup. Replication technology is used to back up dataLiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service uses replication technology to back up your data, creating and maintaining an exact image of data from your Agent computer to the backup server. By automatically backing up changes made to the data on your Agent computer to the backup server, LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service keeps the data on the computers synchronized. The image of your data is stored on disk in the backup server. A copy of your data is also written to tape at least once per day. On tape, LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service maintains both current and historic file versions. All changes to your source data are replicated to the backup server where they are reflected accurately. Initial synchronizationThe first time you configure backup for a computer, an initial backup synchronization runs. During this initial synchronization, a copy of each file and directory selected to be backed up is replicated to the backup server, creating an exact image of the files and file structure. The initial synchronization runs until the first copy of all data selected for backup has been replicated to the backup server. Depending on the amount of data that you are backing up and the bandwidth available from your computer, this can take from several hours to multiple days. For the first 24 hours that the initial synchronization is running, the backup status for the computer (displayed on the All Computers form) is Testing configuration and initial synchronization. During this time, we are closely monitoring the backup to ensure that it can succeed. If an issue is found, for example, data that should have been excluded but is not, we will contact the computer's primary technical contact. After the initial synchronization completes, we will send an e-mail to the computer's primary technical contact notifying the contact of the backup status. At that time, we consider the computer to be protected. You can then safely perform restores. Backing up changed dataAfter the initial synchronization of a file, LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service only needs to transfer the changes to the file. This enables LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service to efficiently back up your data 24x7, while minimizing the network bandwidth it consumes. If a backup configuration is specified to backup continuously, LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service captures changes as they are made to the source files on the Agent computer, and immediately transfers only the changed bytes across the network. Otherwise, when backup runs according to the schedule, LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service identifies changes to the source files and synchronizes the files on the Agent computer and backup server. LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service replicates to the backup server all the changes that have occurred on the Agent computer since the last time the backup configuration completed running. For example, if a file was deleted from the Agent computer, that file will be marked as deleted in the backup server. If a new file was created on the Agent computer, that file will be replicated to the backup server. During the synchronization, LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service either replicates only the changed portions of files or the entire changed file, as it deems most efficient. After being transferred to the backup server, LiveVault Online Backup and Recovery Service writes the changes into the backup copy of the file. The changes are always written into the backup copy in the same order in which the changes were made to the source file. Currency of data on the backup serverThe backup server always contains the most current backed up file versions. It also maintains a full copy of your current backed up data on tapes in the tape library. The current version of a file is a snapshot of the Agent computer's source data at the time that data was last backed up. Depending on the backup configuration, the file may be current to within minutes, hours, or days. For example, if a configuration backs up data 24x7 continuously, then changes made to files covered by that backup configuration may be sent to the backup server within minutes. Changed files are also written to tape. Related InformationConfiguring Backup |
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