.bkf files (NTBackup/ExecBackup)

[duncane]

I've been experimenting.

We have backup exec writing to a (for now) usb harddrive, and I want to recover the data on a separate machine. (Effectively to simulate the original server dying, and having to recover).

I'm using NTBackup on XP Pro via the Gui. I've set it to get the catalogue from the .bkf files (because it was done on another machine), but how do I find the right .bkf file?

Is there a utility that will produce a catalogue listing, and the bkf file they're associated with?

Or I'm I just being muddle-headed (and can you put me on the right track)?

Is it made more complicated by the fact that we're backing up multiple volumes to the same disk, rather than having each one as a separate job?

[Michael]

The BKF files should be named and dated differently?

[duncane]

The BKF files should be named and dated differently?

They're broken down into 1GB chunks - and a single backup spans multiple chunks.

I suppose as one *big* chunk they'd be easier to catalogue, and it is an NTFS disk (so no 4GB upper limit... as far as I'm aware... wikipedia says 16TB as implemented... so looks good).

What's the advantage of 1GB chunks (given that that seemed to be the default setting) - does it just reduce the amount of data you'd lose if one of the files got corrupted?

[danrhodes]

We split out B2D files into 400GB chunks which I think is the default?

[duncane]

We split out B2D files into 400GB chunks which I think is the default?

I can't imagine having expressly chosen 1GB chunks - but it's possible. The concensus seems to be "big and chunky" - so I'll go with that.

Cheers.