System Administration Guide: Devices and File Systems

Example—Daily Incremental, Weekly Cumulative Backup Schedule

The following table shows a schedule where each weekday tape contains only the files that changed since the previous day. In addition, each Friday's tape contains all files changed since the initial level 0 backup at the beginning of the month.

Table 23–11 Daily Incremental, Weekly Cumulative Backup Schedule
 

Floating 

Mon 

Tues 

Wed 

Thurs 

Fri 

1st of Month 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 1  

 

Week 2  

 

Week 3  

 

Week 4 

 

The following table shows how the contents of the tapes can change across two weeks with the daily incremental, weekly cumulative schedule. Each letter represents a different file.

Table 23–12 Contents of Tapes for Daily Incremental, Weekly Cumulative Backup Schedule
 

Mon 

Tues 

Wed 

Thurs 

Fri 

Week 1  

a b 

c d 

e f g 

hi 

a b c d e f g h i 

Week 2 

 

j k l 

n o 

p q 

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 

Tape Requirements for Daily Incremental, Weekly Cumulative Schedule

With this schedule, you need at least 9 tapes if you want to reuse daily tapes, which is not recommended. Preferably, you need 21 tapes if you save weekly tapes for a month: one tape for the level 0, 4 tapes for the Fridays, and 4 or 16 daily tapes.

If you need to restore the complete file system, you need the following tapes: