TSM Backup Retention Policies

The following policies pertain to the machines registered for backups by TSM server. The policies are set up to retain the nightly backup data (incremental for ever) and archive data for long term storage. Notes: Please review the technical overview at bottom of page. Understanding TSM version retentions; Version Data Exists the number of versions to keep when the data still exists on the client machine Version Data Deleted the number of the versions to keep when the data no longer exists on the client machine Retain Extra Versions how many days to keep inactive backup versions; the days are counted from the day that the version became inactive Retain Only Versions how many days to keep the last backup version of a object that has been deleted

Note; DR means that there is a second copy of the data on another tape that is sent off-site. Please run TSM client command from the TSM prompt to verify the policy domain for your machine that determines the Backup Policy for data retention (sample is listed below). The retention policies are listed below for the TSM Clients.

tsm> query node Please enter your user id <SLASHERLAPTOP>: Please enter password for user id "SLASHERLAPTOP": ******** Session established with server TSM-SRV-01: AIX-RS/6000 Server Version 5, Release 4, Level 2.0 Server date/time: 07/10/2008 10:25:30 Last access: 07/10/2008 10:25:21 Node Name _________ SLASHERLAPTOP Platform _________ WinNT Policy Domain Name _____________ DUKE_DOM Days Since Last Access __________ 0 Days Since Locked? Password Set ____________ _______ 485 0

Standard Backup Policy (incremental) Option 1 Policy without DR

Policy Domain Name Policy Set Name Mgmt Class Name DUKE_MC Copy Group Name STANDARD Versions Data Exists 3 Versions Data Deleted 1 Retain Extra Versions 90 Retain Only Version 180

DUKE_DOM2 DUKE_POL

Option 2 Backup Policy with DR

Policy Domain Name Policy Set Name Mgmt Class Name DUKE_MC Copy Group Name STANDARD Versions Data Exists 7 Versions Data Deleted 1 Retain Extra Versions 90 Retain Only Version 180

DUKE_DOM DUKE_POL

Option 3 Backup Policy without DR

Policy Domain Name Policy Set Name Mgmt Class Name DUKE_MC Copy Group Name STANDARD Versions Data Exists 7 Versions Data Deleted 1 Retain Extra Versions 90 Retain Only Version 180

DUKE_DOM7 DUKE_POL

Standard Data Base Option 1 Backup Policy with DR

Policy Domain Name Policy Set Name Mgmt Class Name Copy Group Name Versions Data Exists 1 Versions Data Deleted 0 Retain Extra Versions 30 Retain Only Version 0

DUKEORA_DOM DUKEORA_POL DUKEORA_MC STANDARD

Standard Data Base Option 2 Backup Policy without DR

Policy Domain Name Policy Set Name Mgmt Class Name Copy Group Name Versions Data Exists 1 Versions Data Deleted 0 Retain Extra Versions 30 Retain Only Version 0

DUKEORA_DOM_2 DUKEORA_POL DUKEORA_MC STANDARD

Standard Archive Policy (Archive) Retain Version 365 days and after 365 days archives are deleted automatically. The primary purpose for all of the above backups policy is to recover from hardware failures and other systemic events. However, in cases of data accidently lost we will make a rational effort to help recover the data.

Scheduled Incremental Backups: The TSM Server Scheduler prompts each registered machine nightly for the backups. It will begin an incremental backup when it is within the time frame specified by your backup schedule. A log of scheduler activity is kept in a file called dsmsched.log. There is also an error log called dsmerror.log. Please see the Tips for your particular operating system for the specific locations of these files. If you miss a scheduled backup, or the backup fails, the TSM system sends an email to the registered Node Administrators contact e-mail. What gets backed up? The default is that all local drives / partitions on your system get backed up. You can restrict which Objects are considered for backup with the DOMAIN (Windows) statement in your Options File. You can further restrict what gets backed up with INCLUDE & EXCLUDE statements. The TSM server has defined a set of INCLUDE & EXCLUDE for each operating system, to check them at the TSM command line run: dsmc q inclexcl to query the include/exclude paths. Archives: You can manually create an archive any time you want. Archives will be bound to your default management class & will expire (be deleted) at the end of your default data retention period which is 365 days by default. If there is a requirement to archive data longer contact your TSM administrator.

Technical Overview
First, some definitions: Node: A node is a container within the TSM Backup system that holds all of the data you back up. This includes all file spaces, which in turn, includes active & inactive backed-up files, and any archives you've created. Scheduler: A component of the TSM Client that is installed on your system that transfers your files to the TSM Backup system at the scheduled time. Installing the Scheduler is part of all Client Installation instructions on this site. Options file: The component of the TSM Client that defines the scope & behavior of your backups & other settings (usually dsm.opt or dsm.sys). Incremental Backup: When the Scheduler examines each file within the scope of your backup and only sends over the files that have changed, or are new, since the last backup. All scheduled backups are incremental backups.

Archive: An archive is a point-in-time backup that is stored separately from the data backed up via the scheduler and manual backups, but in the same file space. They can only be created manually. Archives are useful if you want to store a set of files at their current versions on a permanent or only-for-X-days basis. Most TSM Backup customers do not use archives. Data Retention: The length of time that data is available for restore from TSM Backup. Number of Versions: The maximum number of versions of a file that can be stored in TSM Backup. (ie. The X most recent versions of a particular file that have been backed up within the retention period are available for restore.) Active File: A file that still exists on your system that is within the scope of your scheduled backups. The most recent version of active files are always available for restore, regardless of the retention period. Inactive File: A formerly active file that is either deleted from your system, or is now outside of the scope of your scheduled backups (due to changes to your INCLUDE / EXCLUDE statements in your options file). An active file cannot become inactive until an incremental backup occurs that notices the change. Management Class: A container within the TSM Backup system that defines data retention & number of versions. There can be, and usually is, different behavior for active & inactive files. Backed-up files & archives are "bound" to a management class that defines this behavior. File Space: A container within the TSM Backup system that holds all active & inactive files, and any archives you've created, for a particular drive or partition on your system. File spaces are unique per machine name and require manual deletion if you ever want to delete them.