Considerations for user schedules

In order for users to perform backups and archives, you must create a schedule that allows user backups. A user backup schedule can be included in a policy that contains automatic backup schedules.

User backup and archive schedules do not need to be in a policy separate from automatic backup schedules. If you create separate policies for user backups or archives, the considerations are similar to those for automatic backups. In user backup schedules, however, no backup selection list is necessary because users select the objects before they start the backup or archive.

To use a specific policy or schedule for user backups or archives, perform the following tasks on the client:

On Microsoft Windows clients	Start the Backup, Archive, and Restore client interface. Click File > NetBackup Client Properties and select the Backups tab. Specify the backup policy and backup schedule.
On NetWare target clients	Specify the policy and schedule with backup_policy and backup_sched entries in the bp.ini file. (See the NetBackup NetWare user's guide).
On UNIX clients	Specify the policy and schedule with BPARCHIVE_POLICY, BPARCHIVE_SCHED, BPBACKUP_POLICY, or BPBACKUP_SCHED options in the bp.conf file.

Restores can be performed at any time and are not scheduled.

Note:

An archive is different from a backup. During an archive, NetBackup first backs up the selected files, then deletes the files from the local disk if the backup is successful. In this topic, references to backups also apply to the backup portion of archive operations unless otherwise noted.

How to plan user backup and archive schedules

To plan schedules for user backups and archives, consider the following:

If possible, do not permit user backups and archives when automatic backups are running. If an automatic backup is running when a user submits a backup or archive, NetBackup usually queues the user job.

The job is not queued if there is a limiting setting. (For example, the Limit Jobs per Policy policy attribute or the Maximum Jobs per Client Global Attributes host property.)

If the automatic backup continues to run, the user job misses the backup window. User jobs delay automatic backups and can cause backups to miss the backup window.
Use a different storage unit to eliminate conflicts with automatic backups.
Use a different volume pool to manage the media separate from the automatic backup media.
Consider setting the retention period for archives to infinite, since the disk copy of the files is deleted.

Note:

If the retention period expires for a backup, it can be difficult or impossible to restore the archives or backups.