How Backup Exec works

In Backup Exec, backup, restore, and utility operations, called jobs, are submitted using the Administration Console. Administrators can run the Administration Console from the media server (a Windows server with storage hardware attached) or from a remote computer. After jobs are created, the Backup Exec server components on the media server process the jobs.

All interaction with Backup Exec, such as submitting jobs, viewing results, and performing device and media operations, is done through the Administration Console.

Through the Administration Console, you configure settings, called default options, that you want Backup Exec to use for most jobs. However, you can override these default options while setting up a specific job such as a weekly backup of selected workstations. You can create a once-only job, such as a restore of a particular file to a server, or you can schedule recurring jobs, such as daily backup jobs.

Wizards guide you through most Backup Exec operations, including the creation of a backup or restore job, setting up media rotation jobs, and setting media overwrite protection.

You can monitor a job's progress through the Job Monitor, or use Backup Exec's Calendar to quickly view all jobs scheduled to run for the day, week, or month.

The media server contains media and device databases designed to simplify the process of organizing and allocating storage devices attached to your media server and to aid in preventing media from being accidentally overwritten. Through Backup Exec's device management functions, you can logically group storage devices together in device pools. Through the media management function, you can organize, track, and troubleshoot all of the media in your library.

You can define the following:

Overwrite protection periods to ensure that media is not accidentally overwritten.
Set up automatic media labeling.
View media statistics such as the media's age, hours of use, number of mounts, bytes written and read, and errors encountered, which are automatically tracked by Backup Exec.

After a job has been processed, the job's results are stored in a job history database. A record of the data that was backed up is kept in Backup Exec's catalog. The job history is a report of what happened during the processing of the job (statistics, errors, and so on), and the catalog file is the record from which restore selections are made.