Define backup policies

Backup policies define schedules for jobs, when and how often to run a job, and how long to retain the data. A backup policy also lets you define whether its schedule runs within a window or continuously. Where applicable, backup policies let you define rules to determine if data protected by a policy meets your requirements. If data is protected according to your needs, it is considered compliant.

A backup template includes one or more of the following types of policies:

• Production to snapshot: This policy defines when and how often production data is captured and how many snapshots are retained. Snapshots are intended for short-term retention. For more information, see Production to snapshot policies.

• OnVault: These policies let you send captured images to object storage. For an overview of OnVault policies, see OnVault policies. Backup and DR Service provides two types of OnVault policies:

  • Snapshot to OnVault: This policy lets you replicate data captured in a snapshot pool to object storage defined by a Backup and DR OnVault storage pool. See OnVault policies. VMware VMs directly to object storage defined by an OnVault Storage Pool. See OnVault policies for details.
  • OnVault to OnVault: This policy enables data replication from the Direct to OnVault storage object to another OnVault destination. For more information, see OnVault to OnVault policy.

• Production to mirror: This policy defines how data is replicated to a Mirror Pool (a snapshot pool on a remote backup/recovery appliance). Data in the Mirror Pool is intended for instant recovery in a disaster recovery scenario.

The backup plan enforces a specific policy development sequence when you define policies for a policy template. Some policies are unavailable depending on the type of policy template you develop. In addition, the types of policy templates and the minimum and maximum policy settings are specific to the backup/recovery appliance where they reside. Policy templates are applied to applications in the App Manager.

Advanced Policy Settings

Policies include advanced settings for all applications supported by a backup/recovery appliance that use this policy. When you create a policy, you can define the advanced settings that are most appropriate for all applications to which the policy's template applies. Advanced settings for policies are detailed in Configure advanced policy settings.

You can override advanced settings defined in a policy for specific applications if the policy template Allow Overrides on Policy Settings parameter is set to Yes.

Note: The time window used by all policies is in UTC. For example, to set the start time for a policy window as 15:00, in a UTC+1 timezone, then set the policy start time to 14:00.

Create a production to snapshot policy

Production to snapshot policies define how to capture application production data as snapshots. Snapshots are a fast virtualization step that help protect your data at a specific moment. For a set of best practices when developing a snapshot policy, see Production to snapshot policies.

Note: Templates that are used to back up Compute Engine instances only contain production to snapshot policies. You cannot use a template that has OnVault or StreamSnap policies with a Compute Engine instance.

Use these instructions to create a policy to capture snapshot images:

1. In the management console, click the Backup Plans tab, and then select Templates from the drop-down menu.

   The Templates page opens.

2. Click Create Templates.

   The Create Template page opens with a new, empty backup template. See Create a new template for details on creating a backup template.

3. To create a production to snapshot policy, do one of the following actions:

   • Click + in the arrow between Production and Snapshot in the backup plan policy map.
   • Click +Add to the right of snapshot in the Policies area.

   The production to snapshot policy configuration panel opens.

4. In the Policy Name field, enter an alphanumeric text string. You can use spaces, underscores (_), and dashes (-), but don't include special characters.

5. Specify the schedule type for the production to snapshot policy: Windowed or Continuous. The default is Windowed.

   • Windowed. This defines a discrete snapshot backup schedule that adheres to a specific frequency and time window. For example, you can perform a backup every 30 minutes, daily from 09:00 to 17:00 UTC. You can instruct the backup/recovery appliance to run multiple backup jobs at a specified frequency interval or once during a specified time window.
   • Continuous. Defines a continuous snapshot backup schedule. For example, you can perform a backup job every eight hours, starting the first job at 01:00 UTC. In this policy schedule, jobs run continuously (24/7) at the specified time interval.

6. Configure the policy frequency settings based on the selected schedule type as shown in the following table.

   Policy setting	Description
   Windowed
   On These Days	Configures the policy's frequency by defining an interval at which snapshot images are captured. Based on this interval, the snapshot job runs once every specified number of days, weeks, months, or years. Click the link for this parameter to modify the run interval. The schedule appears in a calendar view. From this view, you can specify Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. The calendar view changes based on your selection.
   Except	Defines an exception to the Run schedule. You can specify an Except value of daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. For example, to skip the daily snapshot schedule every Friday, select Weekly and then select Friday. Click the link to the right of this parameter to modify the exception. The schedule appears in a calendar view. From this view, you can specify Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. The calendar view changes based on your selection.
   Within This Window	Defines a start and end time window for capturing snapshot images.
   Run Once Per Window	Specifies that snapshot images are captured once during the specified Run Between time window.
   Every	Specifies a repeat frequency duration (minutes or hours) for capturing snapshot images during the specified Run Between time window. For example, every two hours.
   Continuous
   Run Every	Specifies the time period to repeat snapshot image capture.
   Start First Job At	Specifies the time of day at which to run the first job in the continuous cycle of snapshot image captures.
   Both Windowed and Continuous
   Retain For	Specifies how long to retain the snapshot image. For example, retain the image for two days.

7. Optionally, change the application priority from the Priority drop-down list. The default job priority is Medium, but you can change the priority to High or Low.

   The backup plan scheduler identifies when one or more policies applied to applications are to run. It then initiates a job that places the policy into a queue when the scheduled start time occurs. Each policy type has a pacing mechanism to ensure that the system is not overwhelmed with running jobs. This pacing mechanism uses job slots to achieve this steady state. This means that even if a job is supposed to start at a particular time, it executes only when a job slot is available.

   If multiple applications are scheduled to run at the same time with the same job priority, the system randomizes the selection of the application to run to ensure fairness across all applications of the same priority.

8. Click Advanced Policy Settings.

   The Policy Settings dialog opens.

   The backup plan supports Advanced Settings for a snapshot policy. Advanced settings might be useful or required in some circumstances. For details, see Configure advanced policy settings for a backup plan policy.

   After you configure your advanced policy settings, click Save Changes.

9. Click Add Policy. The Templates page opens.

10. Click Save Template.

Configure Full + Incremental backup schedules for databases

To set a schedule for data dumps:

1. In the management console, click the App Manager tab, and then select Applications from the drop-down menu.

   The Applications page opens.

2. Select the database instance that you want to schedule backups for. The filters can make it easier to find your database if you have many.

3. Right-click the database instance and select Manage backup configuration.

4. At the top of the Manage backup configuration page, click Details & Settings.

5. In the Application Details & Settings page, under Settings, select Use full+incremental backup.

6. For each day of the week, select whether you want a full or an incremental backup.

7. Review the rest of the settings and then click Save changes and then Okay in the confirmation window.

Create a snapshot to OnVault policy

The snapshot to OnVault policy lets you send snapshot data to one or more OnVault pools. A schedule within the policy sends the most recent snapshot taken by the policy template's snapshot policy to the OnVault pool. After the initial full backup, Snapshot to OnVault policies follow an incremental-forever model where only data changes are captured and sent to the OnVault pool. For a set of best practices when developing a OnVault policy, see OnVault policies.

Note: Templates that are used to back up Compute Engine instances should only contain production to snapshot policies. You cannot use a template that has OnVault or StreamSnap policies with a Compute Engine instance.

Send data to multiple OnVault pools

You can send snapshot data to multiple OnVault pools for these reasons:

• Use local object storage for short or medium-term data retention, and then send the data to Cloud Storage for long-term data retention.
• Use multiple on-premises and Cloud Storage targets for resilience.

When you define two or more snapshot to OnVault policies with different target pools are defined for a template, the OnVault icon shows a shadow to indicate that multiple target pools exist for this template. It also shows a number that corresponds to the number of different target pools to which data is sent.

Note: Before you create a snapshot to OnVault policy, you must first create a snapshot policy as described in the [Create production to snapshot policy][8] section. You cannot save the snapshot to OnVault template without a snapshot policy in the template.

Use these instructions to create a snapshot to OnVault policy:

1. Click the Backup Plans tab, and then select Templates from the drop-down menu.

   The Templates page opens.

2. Select a template that includes a snapshot policy.

   The Templates page opens with the selected backup template.

3. To create a snapshot to OnVault policy, do one of the following actions:

   • Click + in the arrow between Snapshot and OnVault in the backup plan policy map.
   • Click +Add to the right of OnVault in the Policies area of the Templates window.

   The snapshot to OnVault policy configuration panel opens.

4. In the Policy Name field, enter a descriptive alphanumeric text string. You can use spaces, underscores (_), and dashes (-), but you cannot include special characters.

5. For scheduling, configure the policy frequency and schedule as shown in the following table. | Policy Setting | Description | |---|---| | Windowed | | | On These Days | Configures the policy's frequency by defining an interval | | | at which images are captured. Based on this interval, the job | | | runs once every specified number of days, weeks, months, or years. | | | Click the link to the right of this parameter to modify the Run | | | interval. The schedule appears in a calendar view. From this | | | view, you can specify Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. | | | The calendar view changes based on your selection. | | Except | Defines an exception to the Run schedule. You can specify an Except | | | value of daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. For example, to skip the | | | daily schedule every Friday, select Weekly and then select Friday. Click | | | the link to the right of this parameter to modify the exception. The | | | schedule appears in a calendar view. From this view, you can | | | specify Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. The calendar | | | view changes based on your selection. | | Within this window | Defines a start and end time window for capturing images. | | Run once per window | Specifies that images are captured once | | | during the specified Run Between time window. | | Every | Specifies a repeat frequency duration (minutes or hours) for | | | capturing images during the specified Run Between time window. For | | | example, every two hours. | | Continuous | | | Run Every | Specifies the time period to repeat snapshot image | | | capture. | | Start First Job At | Specifies the time of day at which to run the first job in the | | | continuous cycle of snapshot image captures. | | Both Windowed and Continuous | | | Retain For | Specifies how long to retain the | | | snapshot image. For example, retain the image for two days. |

6. Optionally, change the application priority from the Priority drop-down list. The default job priority is Medium, but you can change the priority to High or Low.

   The backup plan scheduler identifies when one or more policies applied to applications are to run. It then initiates a job that places the policy into a queue when the scheduled start time occurs. Each policy type has a pacing mechanism to ensure that the system is not overwhelmed with running jobs. This pacing mechanism uses job slots to achieve this steady state. This means that even if a job is supposed to start at a particular time, it executes only when a job slot is available.

   If multiple applications are scheduled to run at the same time with the same job priority, the system randomizes the selection of the application to run to ensure fairness across all applications of the same priority.

7. From the Target Pool drop-down list, select the OnVault pool where the snapshot data should be sent.

8. Click Add Policy. The Templates window opens. Repeat the process to create another snapshot to OnVault policy with a different Target Pool.

9. Click Save Template.

Create a direct to OnVault policy

The Direct to OnVault policy lets you send VMs in your production environment to storage defined by the OnVault pool. A schedule within the policy sends the most recent production data to an object store. After the initial full backup, Direct to OnVault policies follow Backup and DR's incremental-forever model where only data changes are captured and sent to the object store.

Note: The Direct to OnVault policy type can only be used to back up VMware VMs. It cannot be used with other application types.

Use these instructions to create a direct to OnVault policy:

1. Click the Backup Plans tab, and then select Templates from the drop-down menu.

   The Templates page opens.

2. Select a template that includes an OnVault policy.

   The Templates page opens with the selected backup template.

3. Click +Add next to Direct to OnVault in the Policies area of the Templates page.

4. In the Policy Name field, enter an alphanumeric text string. You can use spaces, underscores (_), and dashes (-), but don't include special characters.

5. Configure the policy frequency schedule as shown in the following table. | Policy Setting | Description | |---|---| | Windowed | | | On These Days | Configures the policy's frequency by defining an interval | | | at which images are captured. Based on this interval, the job | | | runs once every specified number of days, weeks, months, or years. | | | Click the link for this parameter to modify the Run interval. | | | The schedule appears in a calendar view. From this view, you can | | | specify Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. The calendar | | | view changes based on your selection. | | Except | Defines an exception to the Run schedule. You can specify an | | | Except value of daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. For example, | | | to skip the daily schedule every Friday, select Weekly and then select | | | Friday. Click the link to the right of this parameter to modify the | | | exception. The schedule appears in a calendar view. From this | | | view, you can specify Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. | | | The calendar view changes based on your selection. | | Within This Window | Defines a start and end time window for capturing images. | | Run Once Per Window | Specifies that images are | | | captured once during the specified Run Between time window. | | Every | Specifies a repeat frequency duration (minutes or hours) for | | | capturing images during the specified Run Between time window. | | | For example, every two hours. | | Continuous | | | Run Every | Specifies the time period to repeat image capture. | | Start First Job At | Specifies the time of day at which to run the first job in the | | | continuous cycle of image captures. | | Both Windowed and Continuous | | | Retain For | Specifies how long to retain the | | | image. For example, retain the image for two days. |

6. Optionally, change the application priority from the Priority drop-down list. The default job priority is Medium, but you can change the priority to High or Low.

   The backup plan scheduler identifies when one or more policies applied to applications are to run. It then initiates a job that places the policy into a queue when the scheduled start time occurs. Each policy type has a pacing mechanism to ensure that the system is not overwhelmed with running jobs. This pacing mechanism uses job slots to achieve this steady state. This means that even if a job is supposed to start at a particular time, it executes only when a job slot is available.

   If multiple applications are scheduled to run at the same time with the same job priority, the system randomizes the selection of the application to run to ensure fairness across all applications of the same priority.

7. Click Advanced Policy Settings to configure advanced settings for the applications captured by this policy. See Configure advanced policy settings for a backup plan policy for details.

8. Click Update Policy. The Templates page opens.

9. Click Save Template.

Create an OnVault replication policy

The OnVault replication policy lets you replicate data from the Direct to OnVault pool to a second OnVault destination. A schedule within the policy sends incremental changes from one OnVault pool to another. It makes the data available across multiple geographical locations for resiliency hosted by various vendors and clouds. Data replication from one OnVault pool to another is supported only when the data was first captured using Direct to OnVault.

Use these instructions to create an OnVault replication policy:

1. Click the Backup Plans tab, and then select Templates from the drop-down menu.

   The Templates page opens.

2. Click Edit from the drop-down menu.

3. Click + between Production and OnVault, and then configure a Direct to OnVault policy using instructions in Create a direct to OnVault policy.

4. Next, click + next to OnVault.

   The OnVault replication configuration panel opens.

5. In the Policy Name field, enter an alphanumeric text string. You can use spaces, underscores (_), and dashes (-), but don't include special characters.

6. Configure the policy frequency schedule as shown in the following table.

Policy Setting	Description
Windowed
On These Days	Configures the policy's frequency by defining an interval
	at which images are captured. Based on this interval, the
	job runs once every specified number of days, weeks, months, or years.
	Click the link for this parameter to modify the Run
	interval. The schedule appears in a calendar view. From this view
	you can specify Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. The
	calendar view changes based on your selection.
Except	Defines an exception to the Run schedule. You can specify an
	Except value of daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. For example, to
	skip the daily schedule every Friday, select Weekly and then select Friday.
	Click the link for this parameter to modify the exception. The schedule
	appears in a calendar view. From this view, you can specify
	Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. The calendar view
	changes based on your selection.
Within This Window	Defines a start and end time window for capturing images.
Run Once Per Window	Specifies that images
	are captured once during the specified Run Between time window.
Every	Specifies a repeat frequency duration (minutes or hours)
	for capturing images during the specified Run Between
	time window. For example, every two hours.
Continuous
Run Every	Specifies the time period to repeat snapshot image
	capture.
Start First Job At	Specifies the time of day at which to run the first job in the
	continuous cycle of snapshot image captures.
Both Windowed and Continuous
Retain For	Specifies how long to retain the
	snapshot image. For example, retain the image for two days.

1. Optionally, change the application priority from the Priority drop-down list. The default job priority is Medium, but you can change the priority to High or Low.

   The backup plan scheduler identifies when one or more policies applied to applications are to run. It then initiates a job that places the policy into a queue when the scheduled start time occurs. Each policy type has a pacing mechanism to ensure that the system is not overwhelmed with running jobs. This pacing mechanism uses job slots to achieve this steady state. This means that even if a job is supposed to start at a particular time, it executes only when a job slot is available.

   If multiple applications are scheduled to run at the same time with the same job priority, the system randomizes the selection of the application to run to ensure fairness across all applications of the same priority.

2. From the Target Pool drop-down list, select the second OnVault pool where data is replicated.

3. Click Advanced Policy Settings to configure advanced settings for the applications captured by this policy. See Configure advanced policy settings for a backup plan policy for details.

4. Click Update Policy. The Templates page opens.

5. Click Save Template.

Create a production to mirror policy

Production to mirror policies replicate snapshots of your production data to the mirror (snapshot pool) of a second backup/recovery appliance. These policy types help protect your application or VM data against a site failure by mirroring a full copy of that data to a remote production site. Applications are kept up to date and can be restarted at the remote site by accessing data from the remote DR copy.

You use a Production to Mirror policy in tandem with a resource profile that defines the replication destination as another backup/recovery appliance. Both the Production to Mirror policy and the resource profile are applied to applications in the App Manager.

Streamsnap replication replicates a point-in-time snapshot of the original application. See Create a streamsnap replication production to mirror policy for more information.

For a set of best practices when developing a production to mirror policy, see Production to mirror policies.

Create a streamsnap replication production to mirror policy

Use these instructions to create a streamsnap production to mirror replication policy:

Note: Before you create a streamsnap replication policy, you must first create a snapshot policy as described in Create production to snapshot policy. Production to Mirror policies that use the streamsnap replication option are tied to a specific snapshot policy. They inherit the schedule and frequency settings, as well as the advanced settings, of the associated snapshot policy. You cannot save the streamsnap replication policy without an associated base snapshot policy.

1. Click the Backup Plans tab, and then select Templates from the drop-down menu.

   The Templates page opens.

2. Select a template that includes a snapshot policy, and then select Edit from the drop-down menu.

   The Templates page opens with the selected backup template.

3. To create a streamsnap replication policy, do one of the following actions:

   • Click + between Production and Mirror in the backup plan policy map.
   • Click +Add next to Mirror in the Policies area of the Templates window.

   The Production to Mirror policy configuration panel appears in the Template window.

4. From Replication Type, select Streamsnap as the type of replication.

5. In the Policy Name field, enter an alphanumeric text string. You can use spaces, underscores (_), and dashes (-), but don't include special characters.

6. Base Snapshot Policy specifies a previously created snapshot policy in the template to use as the base snapshot policy for Streamsnap replication. A Streamsnap replication policy is always tied to a specific snapshot policy and uses its schedule and frequency settings. If more than one snapshot policy exists in the template, select the snapshot policy to use with the Streamsnap policy.

7. Optionally, change the application priority from the Priority drop-down list. The default job priority for Streamsnap replication is Medium, but you can change the priority to High or Low.

   The backup plan scheduler identifies when one or more policies applied to applications are to run. It then initiates a job that places the policy into a queue when the scheduled start time occurs. Each snapshot policy type has a pacing mechanism to ensure that the system is not overwhelmed with running jobs. This pacing mechanism uses job slots to achieve this steady state. This means that even if a job is supposed to start at a particular time, it executes only when a job slot is available.

   If multiple applications are scheduled to run at the same time with the same job priority, the system randomizes the selection of the application to run to ensure fairness across all applications of the same priority.

   Note: You can modify the priority of a Streamsnap replication when a job based on the policy template is running.

8. To apply remote snapshot image retention in a Streamsnap policy, choose from the following Retention Options:

   • Only Keep the Most Recent Remote Image: This option retains only the latest remote Streamsnap image (default setting).
   • Use Retention Specified in Snapshot Policy: This option uses the same retention as the local (base) snapshot policy associated with this Streamsnap policy.
   • Retain For: This option retains the remote snapshot image for a specific period (minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years). You define the retention period by selecting a choice from the drop-down list and then entering a specific value.

   Backup/recovery appliances performing Streamsnap retention retain multiple point-in-time images at the remote site, with retention behavior driven by this setting. When you retain snapshot images at the remote backup/recovery appliance, a new snapshot image is created at the remote appliance with a specific retention expiration date. Remote snapshot images support all the same operations available with a local snapshot image.

9. By default, compression for Streamsnap replication is enabled. Compression increases the efficiency of Streamsnap replication to the remote backup/recovery appliance when transferring data over the network (for example, when replicating images and videos). When compression is enabled, all packets are compressed. The target backup/recovery appliance decompresses the packets before writing to the staging disk.

   If compression is not needed for Streamsnap replication to the second backup/recovery appliance, click Advanced Policy Settings to access the Policy Settings dialog. Change the compress Streamsnap replication advanced setting to Do not compress, and then click Save Changes.

   Note: Enabling compression might not always provide the best results. Compression uses additional CPU cycles but reduces network bandwidth consumption. If the available network bandwidth is better than system resources, such as CPUs, consider disabling compression.

10. Click Update Policy. The Templates window opens.

11. Click Save Template.

What's next

• Overview of backup plans
• Create a backup template
• Create a backup policy
• Create a resource profile
• Configure advanced policy settings for an application backed up by the policy
• Apply a backup plan to an application