Using CA ARCserve D2D › Run a Backup Now

Run a Backup Now

Normally, your backups are performed automatically and are controlled by your schedule settings. However, there may be a need to perform an ad-hoc backup (Full, Incremental, or Verify) immediately at an unscheduled time.

An ad-hoc backup is one that is created when the situation makes it necessary, rather than being arranged in advance or being part of a plan. For example, if you have a repeat schedule for Full, Incremental, and Verify backups and you want to make major changes to your machine, you should perform an immediate backup without waiting for the next scheduled backup to occur.

In addition, an ad-hoc backup also provides you with the capability to add a customized (unscheduled) recovery point so that you can roll back to this previous point in time if necessary. For example, if you install a patch or service pack and then discover that it adversely affects the performance of your machine, you may want to roll back to the ad-hoc backup session that does not include it.

Run a backup now

1. From the CA ARCserve D2D home page (or CA ARCserve D2D Monitor), click Backup Now.

   The Run a backup now dialog opens.

   

2. Select the type of backup you want to perform.

   The available options are Full, Incremental, or Verify.

   • Full Backup

     Immediately initiates a Full backup of your entire machine or the selected volumes.

   • Incremental Backup

     Immediately initiates an Incremental backup of your machine. An Incremental backup will back up of only those blocks that have changed since the previous backup.

     The advantages of Incremental backups are that it is a very fast backup and it produces a very small backup image. This is the most optimal way to perform backups.

   • Verify Backup

     Immediately initiates a Verify backup of your machine. A Verify backup will look at the most recent backup of each individual block and compare the content and information to the source. This comparison verifies that the latest backed up blocks represent the corresponding information at the source. If the backup image for any block does not match the source, CA ARCserve D2D will refresh (resynchronize) the backup of the block that does not match.

     The advantage of a Verify backup is that it produces a very small backup image when compared to Full backup because only the changed blocks (blocks that do not match the last backup) are backed up. The disadvantage of a Verify backup is that the backup time is slow because CA ARCserve D2D has to compare all of source disk blocks with the blocks of the last backup.

   Note: If you add a new volume to the backup source, the newly added volume will be fully backed up regardless of which overall backup method is selected.

3. If necessary, specify a backup name and click OK.

   Note: By default, if no backup name is specified, it will be named Customized Full/Incremental/Verify Backup.

   A confirmation pop-up screen appears, and the selected type of backup will be launched immediately.

   

   Note: CA ARCserve D2D allows only one job to run at a time. If you attempt to manually launch a backup job now and during that time another job is currently running, an alert message will open informing you that another job is running and requesting that you try again at a later time.

   Note: If a custom (ad-hoc) backup job fails, no makeup job will be created. A makeup job is only created for a failed scheduled job.