Backup Central

Hey guys

I was reading the VSP overview for Netbackup 6.5 and was a little confused on the virtual drive creation and the VSP cache file creation. Where is the virtual drive created? And what exactly is inside the VSP cache file. I read through the documentation but still unclear on these things so anyone that can put this piece of the documentation into layman's terms I would appreciate it, thanks.



VSP overview
NetBackup uses VSP to back up open and active files on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 (32- and 64-bit) clients. For VSP to back up open and active files, VSP first captures a snapshot of each volume to be backed up.

A virtual drive is created that represents a static copy of the volume at a point-in-time. A corresponding VSP cache file is also created. NetBackup backs up files using the virtual drive instead of the actual drive. For each volume snapshot, a VSP cache file is created to maintain the integrity of the snapshot. The cache file stores the original data that reflects the changes that occurred during the backup. The cache file is created along with the volume snapshot.

Daniel Jimenez
Data Protection

Assuming you haven't turned off open file backups or switched to volume shadow copy (not available in Windows 2000) then anytime you run a windows file system backup it will create a snapshot file on the root of the drive you are backing up. The cache file is created via a file filter driver (which is why you have to reboot Windows 2000 after installing the client.) The file is hidden so you can't see it in Windows Explorer by default and occasionally a failed backup with the 5.1 client will forget to remove this file after the backup fails. (They can be quite large). You can change the default behavior of this file, how big it is and which drive is used to create the cache. in the client properties. You don't actually see the virtual drive, or at least I have never seen the virtual drive.

-Jonathan

________________________________

From: veritas-bu-bounces < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu on behalf of Jimenez, Daniel
Sent: Fri 3/12/2010 8:20 PM
To: veritas-bu < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu
Subject: [Veritas-bu] VSP Clarification



Hey guys



I was reading the VSP overview for Netbackup 6.5 and was a little confused on the virtual drive creation and the VSP cache file creation. Where is the virtual drive created? And what exactly is inside the VSP cache file. I read through the documentation but still unclear on these things so anyone that can put this piece of the documentation into layman's terms I would appreciate it, thanks.







VSP overview

NetBackup uses VSP to back up open and active files on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 (32- and 64-bit) clients. For VSP to back up open and active files, VSP first captures a snapshot of each volume to be backed up.



A virtual drive is created that represents a static copy of the volume at a point-in-time. A corresponding VSP cache file is also created. NetBackup backs up files using the virtual drive instead of the actual drive. For each volume snapshot, a VSP cache file is created to maintain the integrity of the snapshot. The cache file stores the original data that reflects the changes that occurred during the backup. The cache file is created along with the volume snapshot.



Daniel Jimenez

Data Protection



_______________________________________________
Veritas-bu maillist - Veritas-bu < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu
http://mailman.eng.auburn.edu/mailman/listinfo/veritas-bu

The vsp file is what is used to keep track of changes to open files while you are doing backups.
If you don’t use the vsp you cannot backup open files. So the setting of the vsp (or now vss for 2003 and 2008 servers) is set to either fail if it cannot get the file, or give up on the open file and continue on.
You will see this on your windows servers – there will be a dir that has vsp in its name.
Now if the backup was running and it failed it might leave the vsp file behind and use up your disk space.
If your virus scanner is scanning the file when the job finishes it might not be able to remove the file and it gets left behind.
So you need to exclude that file with your virus scanning.
http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/314754.htm
if you cannot get the vsp file to remove because it is busy you might have to use the pid killer to get it to release the file.


From: veritas-bu-bounces < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu [mailto:veritas-bu-bounces < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu] On Behalf Of Jimenez, Daniel
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 7:21 PM
To: veritas-bu < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu
Subject: [Veritas-bu] VSP Clarification



Hey guys

I was reading the VSP overview for Netbackup 6.5 and was a little confused on the virtual drive creation and the VSP cache file creation. Where is the virtual drive created? And what exactly is inside the VSP cache file. I read through the documentation but still unclear on these things so anyone that can put this piece of the documentation into layman's terms I would appreciate it, thanks.



VSP overview
NetBackup uses VSP to back up open and active files on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 (32- and 64-bit) clients. For VSP to back up open and active files, VSP first captures a snapshot of each volume to be backed up.

A virtual drive is created that represents a static copy of the volume at a point-in-time. A corresponding VSP cache file is also created. NetBackup backs up files using the virtual drive instead of the actual drive. For each volume snapshot, a VSP cache file is created to maintain the integrity of the snapshot. The cache file stores the original data that reflects the changes that occurred during the backup. The cache file is created along with the volume snapshot.

Daniel Jimenez
Data Protection

Judy

Thanks for the information, I helps clarify one of my questions but where I can see the virtual disk during the backup?

OneWest Bank, FSB
Daniel Jimenez
Technical Consultant
16608 Valley View Ave
La Mirada, CA 90638
Phone: 714-520-3421
Cell: 562-480-2966
Fax: 714-520-3470
Daniel.Jimenez < at > owb.com ([email]Daniel.Jimenez < at > imb.com[/email])
Website: http://www.owb.com/
Website: http://www.onewestbank.com/
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From: judy_hinchcliffe < at > administaff.com [mailto:judy_hinchcliffe < at > administaff.com]
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 8:54 AM
To: Jimenez, Daniel; veritas-bu < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu
Subject: RE: [Veritas-bu] VSP Clarification



The vsp file is what is used to keep track of changes to open files while you are doing backups.
If you don’t use the vsp you cannot backup open files. So the setting of the vsp (or now vss for 2003 and 2008 servers) is set to either fail if it cannot get the file, or give up on the open file and continue on.
You will see this on your windows servers – there will be a dir that has vsp in its name.
Now if the backup was running and it failed it might leave the vsp file behind and use up your disk space.
If your virus scanner is scanning the file when the job finishes it might not be able to remove the file and it gets left behind.
So you need to exclude that file with your virus scanning.
http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/314754.htm
if you cannot get the vsp file to remove because it is busy you might have to use the pid killer to get it to release the file.


From: veritas-bu-bounces < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu [mailto:veritas-bu-bounces < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu] On Behalf Of Jimenez, Daniel
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 7:21 PM
To: veritas-bu < at > mailman.eng.auburn.edu
Subject: [Veritas-bu] VSP Clarification



Hey guys

I was reading the VSP overview for Netbackup 6.5 and was a little confused on the virtual drive creation and the VSP cache file creation. Where is the virtual drive created? And what exactly is inside the VSP cache file. I read through the documentation but still unclear on these things so anyone that can put this piece of the documentation into layman's terms I would appreciate it, thanks.



VSP overview
NetBackup uses VSP to back up open and active files on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 (32- and 64-bit) clients. For VSP to back up open and active files, VSP first captures a snapshot of each volume to be backed up.

A virtual drive is created that represents a static copy of the volume at a point-in-time. A corresponding VSP cache file is also created. NetBackup backs up files using the virtual drive instead of the actual drive. For each volume snapshot, a VSP cache file is created to maintain the integrity of the snapshot. The cache file stores the original data that reflects the changes that occurred during the backup. The cache file is created along with the volume snapshot.

Daniel Jimenez
Data Protection