- Disk Selection Rules and Matching Partitions
Overview
A backup definition contains the data needed to perform a backup on a set of computers. Each definition contains the following information:
- A list of computers that should be backed up.
- A set of rules describing which partitions, disks, or files to backup on each computer
- A set of options and settings controlling how the backup files should be created and stored.
Backup definitions contain all the information on how and what to back up. A backup definition can be run manually to perform a single backup of each computer or used to schedule regular backups.
Creating a Definition
The 'Definitions' section of SiteBackup contains a list of existing definitions. If there are no existing definitions, a quick help page is shown instead:
Clicking on 'New Definition' will open the 'Add Backup Definition Wizard' wizard.
Definition Type
At the top of the first page of the backup definition, the type of backup definition that will be created can be selected. There are two different types of backup definition that can be created:
Disk Image - This definition type creates image backups of full disks or partitions. It is configured by selecting a set of rules which control which partitions or disks are included. This is the most efficient backup type for large amounts of data and provided the correct partitions have been backed up, these image files can be used to restore a fully bootable Windows operating system, including to different hardware.
File and Folder - File and Folder backups only back up files on specific paths from a disk. This is a faster, more convenient backup type when only critical data from a disk needs to be backed up. e.g. C:\accounts\*.*. Read more about creating file and folder backups here.
Once the backup type has been selected, a name for the definition must be entered, this is for display purposes to help distinguish between existing definitions. An optional description can also be entered.
'Selection Type' controls how computers are selected to be added to the definition:
Computers
This option enables computers to be selected from a list. The selected computers will remain part of the backup definition unless removed manually:
Columns can be filtered and sorted in the computer list to aid in finding the right computers. If there are large numbers of computers they will be split into multiple pages.
Computers can be selected using the checkbox shown next to each computer. Once the relevant computers have been selected, select 'Next'.
Tags
Select a set of tags to associate with this backup group, read more about tags and groups here. Any changes to the membership of these tags will change the backup definition automatically, reducing management overhead when adding and removing computers from SiteBackup.
The interface allows multiple tags to be selected. Not all automatic tag groups are valid for use, only the following automatic groups can be used:
- Any user-created tag
- Computer Information (architecture, virtual machine status)
- Windows Version
- Domain
- Domain OU (organizational unit)
- Domain Groups (security and distribution groups)
Once the relevant computers have been selected, select 'Next'.
Disk Selection Rules and Matching Partitions
To ensure that definitions are scalable to large volumes of computers, and partitions and disks do not need to be selected manually, disk selection rules are applied to the computers selected on the previous page.
The most commonly selected rules are available as radio buttons at the top of the wizard, these are 'Default (all non-removable disks)' and 'Operating system only':
The partitions and disks that will be included in the backup can be further customized by selecting the 'Custom' option, then selecting 'Add Rules'. The window that opens will display include and exclude rules that can be selected:
Some rules require additional configuration, for example, specifying a volume label or drive letter to match. In this case, a dialog box will pop up when adding the rule:
Once rules have been added, they are displayed in the relevant table, where the rules can be further edited or removed:
Exclude Rules
There are exclusion rules as well as inclusion rules - the exclusion rules make it easier to back up all data except those meeting the criteria. For example, if there are multiple computers in the definition, each with a number of partitions and drive letters that need to be backed up without backing up the system partitions, this can be achieved using an exclusion rule. Exclusion rules work in the following way:
- Exclude rules override include rules - a definition with an include rule for system drives plus an exclude rule for the C: partition will backup system partitions except for the C: partition.
- If there are only exclude rules, all partitions are included except for those specified by the exclude rule - a definition with just an exclude rule for C: and D: partitions will back up all other partitions.
To assist in configuration, pressing the 'Test Matching Partitions' button will show the partitions on the computers in the definition that match the selected rule(s):
The next page of the wizard, 'Matching Partitions', will also show the partitions that will be included in the backup definition.
The disk matching information can be filtered by computer or show only computers with no matches. This can help identify any gaps in rules.
For simple operation, there is an 'All Disks' rule which will match everything on all computers.
Options
Additional options for how the backup is created can be specified on the final page of the wizard:
The available options are shown in the table below:
| Option | Description |
| Compression | The level of compression to use in any backup files created when using this Backup Definition. The default level is 'Medium'. |
| Encryption | The type of encryption to use on any backup files created from this Backup Definition. If AES encryption is used, a password must be entered using the 'Set Password' button. |
| Folder Structure |
This controls the folder structure for the backups in the repository. The backups can be separated per computer, with all backups for that computer being stored in the same folder regardless of the definition that created them, or they can be separated by computer and definition, with a subfolder being created per definition for each computer. Note: When 'Separate by computer' is selected, retention rules for any active backup using this definition will be applied to all backups in the destination folder. |
| Exclude Files From Image |
This option enables files to be excluded from the disk image. This enables more granular control of the data that is backed up from the target agents. 'Preset Exclusions' enables safe to exclude, and commonly not required, files to be excluded. 'Custom Paths to exclude' enables custom paths to be specified, care should be taken to ensure that data is not excluded which may be required at a later point in time or used by applications or the operating system. Wildcards are also supported: C:\Users\Admin\Documents\*.* C:\Users\Admin\Documents\*.temp C:\Users\Admin\Documents\Example.docx More information about this option can be found here. |
| Automatically verify the Image file directly after creation | If this option is selected, backup files will be reread and verified immediately after creation. Read more about verification here. |
| Retry for X minutes after connection failure | If this option is selected, the SiteBackup Agent will automatically retry writing to the destination for the number of specified minutes, on a disconnect to the destination. |
| CPU Priority | The CPU priority for the running backup process. Lower priorities may result in the backup taking longer if there is contention for CPU resources, however, may result in less of an impact on more important processes that are running on the agent computer. |
| Bandwidth Rate Limit |
If enabled, a rate limit can be set for writing to the repository. This will limit the write rate to a specified number of MBit (megabits) per second. This can be used to help manage bandwidth when performing large numbers of backups. Note: In the backup progress, a higher transfer rate than the rate limit may be displayed. This is because the transfer limit counts the amount of data read from the source disk and saved into the backup file without including compression. After the backup is completed, the read and write rate is shown in the backup log. |
| Comment | If a comment is entered here it will be saved as part of any backup files created and be visible to any restore tools. |
Once the options are set appropriately, press 'Finish' to complete the wizard and save the backup definition. If there are any errors or issues with saving the backup definition, the wizard will not close and an error message will be displayed. If appropriate any affected fields will be highlighted in red.
The newly created definition file will then be shown in the list of existing definitions:
Read more about managing the existing definitions here.