4 Setting up backup set
A backup set contains all backup settings of a backup operation. This section will describe all features available within a backup set and explain how you can use each of them to achieve various tasks.
Each backup account can have multiple backup sets. Each backup set is an individual and independent entity. For example, if you want one directory to be backed up during the day and another directory to be backed up during the night, you can create two backup sets, each with a different backup schedule and backup source, to serve this need.
4.1 Backup Set Type
A backup set can be of one of the following types:
| Backup Type | Description |
|---|---|
| File | Backup set type to backup common files/directories |
| Microsoft SQL Server | Backup set type to backup Microsoft SQL Server 7.0/2000 |
| Oracle Database Server | Backup set type to backup Oracle 8i/9i database |
| Lotus Domino/Notes | Backup set type to backup Lotus Domino/Notes |
| Microsoft Exchange Server | Backup set type to backup Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 / 2003 |
| MySQL | Backup set type to backup MySQL Server |
Backup set type is defined at backup set creation and cannot be modified. If you want to change the backup set type, you have to create another backup set.
4.2 Backup Source
A backup source defines the files/directories that are to be included in a backup set. There are two types of backup source: Selected and Deselected. Selected backup source defines files/directories that are to be included in a backup set while deselected backup source defines files/directories that are to be excluded from a backup set. Online Backup Manager will generate appropriate backup source setting for you automatically when you make your backup source selection on backup 4 business OBM.
The checkbox next to the files/directories shown above can be in one of the following mode:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
 |
All files/directories (recursively) under this directory will be backed up |
 |
All files/directories (recursively), except those explicitly excluded, under this directory will be backed up. If you add files/directories to this directory in the future, they will be backed up as well. |
 |
Only the checked files/directories under this directory will be backed up. If you add files/directories to this directory in the future, they will NOT be backed up. |
 |
Nothing under this directory will be backed up. |
4.3 Backup Schedule
A backup schedule defines the frequency and the time backup will run automatically.
Backup schedule can be in one of the following types:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Daily | Backup jobs will run everyday |
| Weekly | Backup jobs will run on the specified day(s) of every week |
| Monthly | Backup jobs will run on the specified day or on a day with a given criteria (e.g. first weekend, last weekday) of every month |
| Custom | Backup job will run once on any particular date |
For each type of schedule above, backup will run at scheduled time for a maximum of the duration specified (or until all data are backed up if [Stop on backup completion] option is chosen). If a backup job does not finish within the maximum duration specified, it will be interrupted.
Please note that you can have more than one schedule within a backup set. For example, you can have a daily backup schedule that runs at 13:00 at noon and another daily backup schedule that runs at 00:00 at midnight. The combination of both of these schedules effectively creates a backup schedule that runs daily at 00:00 and 13:00 everyday.
4.4 In-File Delta
Please refer to the in-file delta section for more information on this topic.
4.5 Backup Filter
A backup filter defines the file selection rules that allow user to easily include/exclude files into/from the backup set by applying user defined criteria(s) to the file names or directory names.
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The name of a filter |
| Top Directory | The top directory to which this filter is applied. Filtering rules will be applied to all files and/or directories under this directory. |
| Apply To | Define whether to apply the filtering rule to files and/or directories |
| Pattern Matching | It defines the filtering rules of a filter. A filtering rule can be of one of the following types:
|
| Filter Mode | Defines whether you want to include or exclude matched files into/from the backup set. Also, for those unmatched files, you can choose to exclude (if include filter type) or include (if exclude filter type) them into/from the backup set. |
Example 1:
If you want to backup only Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents in your document directory (e.g. C:\My Documents), you should setup your backup filter as follows
Top Directory = C:\My Documents
Apply To = File (true)
Matching Type = End With
Matching Patterns = *.doc, *.xls, *.ppt
Filter Mode = Include
Exclude all others = True
Example 2:
If you want to backup all files, excluding all *.exe, *.dll and *.tmp, in C:\Applications, you should setup your backup filter as follows.
Top Directory = C:\Applications
Apply To = File (true)
Matching Type = End With
Matching Patterns = *.exe,*.dll, *.tmp
Filter Mode = Exclude
Include all others = True
Example 3:
If you have made your selection of files (all under C:\) from the backup source setting but you want exclude all images (e.g. *.jpg and *.gif) from your selection, you should setup your backup filter as follows.
Top Directory = C:\
Apply To = File (true)
Matching Type = End With
Matching Patterns = *.jpg, *.gif
Filter Mode = Exclude
Include all others = false
Please note that the [Include all others] setting is not enabled because you don’t want to include all files under C:\ into the backup set.
Example 4: (advanced)
If you want to include everything, except the “log” directory, under C:\Applications into a backup set, you should setup your backup filter as follows.
Top Directory = C:\Applications
Apply To = Directory (true)
Matching Type = Regular Expression
Matching Patterns = ^log$
Filter Mode = Exclude
Include all others = True
Example 5: (advanced)
If you want to include all directories named “log” from the backup set files with file name starting with “B” and ending with “*.doc” under C:\My Documents into the backup set, you can use a regular expression of “^B.*\.doc$” to do your selection. The filter backup can then be setup as follows.
Top Directory = C:\My Documents
Apply To = File (true)
Matching Type = Regular Expression
Matching Patterns = ^B.*\.doc$
Filter Mode = Include
Exclude all others = True
4.6 Pre/Post-Backup Command
The command line tool feature has two major components, the [Pre-Backup] command and the [Post-Backup] command. You can use the [Pre-Backup] or [Post-Backup] commands to run any native OS (operating system) commands before or after running a backup job.
Both [Pre-Backup] and [Post-Backup] commands comprise of the following parameters:
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Name of this command |
| Command | The command to be run (e.g. C:\My Documents\Application.exe or C:\My Documents\BatchJob.bat) |
| Working Director | The directory at which this command will run |
The backup set type affects the time at which [Pre-Backup] and [Post-Backup] commands run. The following table outlines when [Pre-Backup] and [Post-Backup] commands will run in different types of backup set.
| Backup Set Type | When Pre-Backup Commands run? | When Post-Commands run? |
|---|---|---|
| File | Before uploading backup files | After uploading all backup files |
| Non-File Backup Sets (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server) | Before spooling backup files to temporary directory | After spooling backup files to temporary directory (i.e. before the first backup file is uploaded) |
Note: You should never backup an application while it is running as this can result in inconsistent and unusable files getting backed up. Please use the Pre-Backup Command feature to shutdown your application before running a backup job and use the Post-Backup Command feature to restart your application after the backup job has completed.
4.7 Encryption
Before your files are sent to backup 4 business Offsite Backup Server, all your files are to be compressed and encrypted by your choice of encrypting algorithm, mode and key. The following table explains all encryption parameters available within a backup set. Note: Encryption settings are set at backup set creation time and cannot be modified. You need to create a new backup set if you want to change your encryption settings for a backup set.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Encryption Algorithm | It defines the encrypting algorithm used to encrypt your backup files. There are three encryption algorithms available: [AES] Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm [DESede] Triple DES algorithm [Twofish] Twofish algorithm We recommend the use of AES as it has been chosen as the encryption standard for commercial use. Please refer to references on Cryptography for more information on this area. |
| Encryption Mode | It defines the encrypting mode used to encrypt your backup files. There are two encryption modes available: [ECB] Electronic Cook Book Mode [CBC] Cipher Block Chaining Mode We recommend the use of CBC mode as it offers better security. Please refer to references on Cryptography for more information on this area. |
| Encryption Key | The key used to encrypt all files within a backup set. Please write it down on paper and keep it in a safe place. If the key is lost, you will not be able to recover your files from the encrypted backup files. |
4.8 Retention Policy
During backup, if backup 4 business OBM finds out that you have deleted a file (or updated a file) on your computer, it will put the corresponding deleted (or updated) file already backed up on the backup server into a retention area. The retention policy setting defines how long files inside the retention area will be kept on the backup server before they are deleted automatically from the server.
Retention policy will only affect “retained” file (i.e. files that have already been deleted or updated on your computer). For those files that have not been updated on your computer, the backup of these files are kept in the data area on the backup server and won’t be affected by the setting of retention policy. These backup files of unchanged files will stay on the backup server forever until the original files are removed (or updated) from your computer.
You can choose to have retained files deleted automatically after a number of days or after a certain number of backup jobs.
To change the retention policy setting of any backup set, please select the [Setting] node on the left panel to invoke the [Setting] panel on the right. You can then make changes to your retention policy under the [Retention Policy] section. After you have made your changes, just press the [Save Setting] button on the toolbar.
4.9 Network Mapped Drive
If you need to backup a network-mapped drive on Windows (it will only work in Windows NT/2000/XP/2003), you must enter your Windows domain, username and password into the [Network Resources Authentication for Windows] section as shown below. It is required because scheduled backups will always run under the context of windows LocalSystem account (which does not have the privilege required to access network resources) by default. backup 4 business OBM need to collect your Windows username, password and domain name to authenticate itself to the windows domain controller to acquire the required access privileges to the network files which are to be backed up. If you don’t supply a username and password, backup 4 business OBM will have problem accessing network resources in its scheduled backup jobs.
If you need to backup network mapped drive in scheduled backup, please do this:
i. Select the backup set from the left panel and press the [Properties] button
ii. Enter your Windows domain, username and password into the dialog shown below
iii. Press the [Save Setting] button on the toolbar
4.10 Local Copy
If you want to save an extra copy of backup data on your local disk (in addition to a copy of backup data stored on the backup server) to minimize file-restoring time and/or to provide an extra safety precaution, you can do the following:
i. Open backup 4 business OBM from the System Tray (see previous sections for details)
ii. Setup your backup set (see previous sections for details)
iii. Select [Local Copy] under your backup set from the left panel
iv. Check the [Copy to Local Hard Disk] checkbox
v. Enter a directory to where you want an extra copy of your backup files to be stored in the [Copy to] field provided (preferably a directory under another hard disk)
vi. (Optional) Select the [Yes] radio button if you want to store your backup files in compressed form to conserve free space usage
vii. An extra copy of backup will be saved in the [Copy to] directory when you run your backup job
How to restore “Local Copy” files
“Local copy” files are stored in the [Copy to] directory (under [Local Copy] setting) in encoded filenames (A “.nozip” extension is appended to all filenames if [Zip] setting is not enabled. A “.zip” extension is appended to all filenames if [Zip] is enabled). To restore backup files back to their original filenames (and to their original contents if [Zip] is enabled), please do the followings:
i. Choose [Tools] -> [Unzip Local Copy]
ii. Select the required [Backup Set] from the drop down list
iii. Fill in the [Source Directory] (directory where “Local Copy” files are stored) and [Destination Directory] (directory to where you want “Local Copy” files to be restored)
iv. Completed
4.11 Multiple Computers using one backup account
If you want to backup multiple computers using a single backup account, you need to create different backup sets to backup each individual computer. Also, for each installed copy of backup 4 business OBM, you must configure backup 4 business OBM so that it only runs scheduled backup for its intended backup sets on its computer. If this is not being setup properly, scheduled backup job of the same backup set from different computers will both be started. This will result in lots of checksum errors and files being deleted on the backup server.
To allow multiple computers to be backed up under a single backup account, you are required to do the following for each computer that has been installed with backup 4 business OBM under the same backup account:
i. Logon to one of the computers that has been installed with backup 4 business OBM under the same backup account
ii. Open backup 4 business OBM and select a backup set that is not intended to run on this computer from the left panel
iii. Uncheck the [Run scheduled backup on this computer] checkbox on the right panel
iv. Repeat the previous step for the rest of all backup sets that are not intended to run on this computer
v. Repeat step ii to step iv for each computer that has been installed with backup 4 business OBM under the same backup account
IMPORTANT
If you want to backup an extra computer using the same backup account some time later (this implies that you need to create an additional backup set under this backup account for the new computer), please make sure to repeat the procedure above (unchecking the [Run scheduled backup on this computer] checkbox for the added backup set) for each computer
4.12 Transfer Block Size
Transfer block size defines the block size backup 4 business OBM will use to transfer your backup blocks. Generally, backup job using a larger block size would have a better performance, as there will be less roundtrip involved in connection initialization.
However, some firewalls or proxy servers may block out-going network traffic (HTTP/HTTPS POST method) with large block size for security reasons. If you are in a network with this type of restriction, please lower the transfer size value and try again.
To change the transfer block size of any backup set, please select the [Setting] node on the left panel to invoke the [Setting] panel on the right. You can then make changes to the [Transfer Block Size]. After you have made your changes, just press the [Save Setting] button on the toolbar.
4.13 Follow Symbolic Link (Linux/Unix/Mac only)
Under Unix/Linux, users can use symbolic link to create a simple link to a directory from another directory. This setting defines whether you want backup 4 business OBM to traverse any symbolic links encountered on your backup path.
To change the transfer block size of any backup set, please select the [Setting] node on the left panel to invoke the [Setting] panel on the right. You can then make changes to the [Follow Symbolic Link]. After you have made your changes, just press the [Save Setting] button on the toolbar.
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