CA ARCserve Backup r16 - backup to disk (NAS)

[OverWorked]

I'm on the free trial of CA ARCserve Backup r16. After coming from Backup Exec, I'm not finding it easy.

How do you set it up to do a series of GFS backup jobs to disk.

At the moment, it runs the first backup job OK, and creates a set of files on the NAS in the format S0000001.ctf. OK so far.

All the subsequent backups fail. It asks for a new media, like it thinks the NAS is a tape drive. I get "Please mount media in the device group GROUP1".

How do I tell it that the target is a NAS and that it should create new files as it needs to. Backup Exec used to do this no problem?

CA's support website is no use.

Thanks.

[ARCserveInsider]

Hi

The ARCserve technical support team can run through how to set up the backup correctly with you. It should be quite straight forward. You have 30 days telephone support with an ARCserve trial.

If you private message me your contact details I can set up a call to assist you.

Regards

[OverWorked]

Thanks for replying.

I did eventually get registered for support and they phoned me back the next day, which was great. They emailed me the manual Brighstor ARCserve Backup for Windows Administrators Guide r11.5, and told me to read p188 on creating a File System Device.

I found that I had already correctly created an FSD, but went through the instructions again anyway to create another.

The problem still exists.

The FSD is in group GROUP1.

If I manually run the backup, I still get the message

Backup Server [SERVER2] :
Please insert media in device group: GROUP1
1. <BLANK>

Image attached.Insert_media.png

I have created an FSD, but ARCserve Backup still requests new media after running the first backup. The first backup succeeds, but subsequent backups fails requesting blank media.

Please help! I don't understand why ARCserve backup is treating an FSD as device with removeable media. (I'm used to Symantec Backup Exec, which just creates new files and overwrites old files depending on retention rules. I was expecting ARCserve to do the same).

[OverWorked]

After about 1 or 2 hours on the phone with CA, I think it's fixed.

The problem was caused because I had chosen a media rotation scheme (GFS) with a single FSD, like I would with Symantec BE. On ARCserve, a media rotation sheme requires multiple FSDs.

The solution was to create a custom schedule to do daily backup to the FSD.

That still doesn't explain how I should create a GFS media rotation. I imagine I need three jobs with custom schedules, doing the Granfather, Father and Son jobs each to their own FSD. I suppose that would be the same as creating a media rotation scheme with three FSDs.

I think ARCserve is much less intuitive than Backup Exec, then I've had years of experience with BE.

Why is backup so complex anyway? It's just copying files from one place to another on a schedule, surely?