User Guide
Overview 23
Storage Management Services Administration Guide
103-000134-001
August 29, 2001
Novell Confidential
Manual 99a38 July 17, 2001
Determining an Appropriate Backup Type
Each type of backup has a different effect on the backup and restore process.
When planning your backup schedule, consider all of the following variables
before determining which schedule is right for you.
Media usage and backup speed. This helps increase the speed of the restore.
Restoring after incremental backups. If you have performed full and
incremental backups and need to restore data, you must restore the last full
backup as well as all subsequent incremental backups.
Restoring after differential backups. If you have performed full and
differential backups and need to restore data after an unexpected loss, restore
only the last full and differential backup.
Backups and eDirectory
The best way to protect your eDirectory database is to use replicas.
Replication, however, is not sufficient protection for a single server network
or when all copies of the replicas are destroyed or corrupted. In these
instances, if the eDirectory data has been backed up regularly, the eDirectory
tree structure can be restored using SMS.
You can back up the entire tree or a selected section of the tree starting with a
particular container. You can back up the schema and schema extensions.
Trustee assignments are backed up as part of the file system.
You cannot back up partition information. If the eDirectory tree structure
becomes corrupted and you restore the eDirectory data, all data is restored to
one partition, [Root]. You need to repartition that portion of the tree.
It is important that you keep a written copy of the tree structure and the
partitions. You can use the DSMISC.LOG file that is backed up with the file
system as part of the server-specific information.
This section discusses the following:
Managing “Distributed Database” on page 24, “Server Interdependence”
on page 24, “Object ID Numbers” on page 24, “Placeholder (Unknown)
Objects” on page 25, and “Schema Backup” on page 24
“Backup Software for eDirectory” on page 25
“Setting Rights to Back Up Portions of the eDirectory Tree” on page 26
“Frequency of Backup” on page 27