•Description: uniquely defines the backup objects with identical client name and mount point.

•Type: backup object type, for example filesystem or Oracle.

The way in which a backup object is defined is important to understand how incremental backups are done. For example, if the description of a backup object changes, it is considered as a new backup object, therefore a full backup will be automatically performed instead of incremental.

Examples of backup options

You can customize the backup behavior for each individual backup object by specifying the backup options for this object. The following are examples of the backup options you can specify:

•Logging level of information going to the IDB.

Data Protector provides four levels that control the amount of details on files and directories stored in the IDB:

•Log All

•Log Files

•Log Directories

•No Log

Note that changing the level of stored information affects the ability to browse the files using the Data Protector user interface when restoring. For more information on logging levels, see “Logging level as an IDB key tunable parameter” on page 199.

•Automatic load balancing

Dynamic device allocation from a specified list. For more information, see “How load balancing works” on page 156.

Data Protector dynamically determines which object (disk) should be backed up to which device.

•Pre-exec and post-exec scripts

Processing to prepare a client for a consistent backup. For more information, see “Pre-exec and post-exec commands” on page 223.

You can also specify the directories to exclude from a backup, or back up specific directories only. You can also back up disks as they are added. Thus, your backup is fully configurable and dynamic.

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Planning your backup strategy