Administering the Backup Server › Configure CA ARCserve Backup Engines › Database Engine Configuration

Database Engine Configuration

The CA ARCserve Backup Database Engine stores the following types of statistical information for all jobs processed.

• Files and directories that have been backed up, copied, and restored.
• Jobs that CA ARCserve Backup has processed.
• Storage devices and media used for CA ARCserve Backup operations.

CA ARCserve Backup provides the following database engine options:

• Enable auto pruning--When database pruning is enabled, information about the files and directories that were backed up or copied in a session is deleted. By default, this option is selected to free up space in the database file. It can be useful to disable this option to maintain the detailed information for restoring purposes, but be aware that your database can become very large if you do not prune it.
  • Run Pruning at--This field is active only if the Enable Database Pruning option is on. Specify when you want the pruning operation to run.

    Default value: If enabled, will occur at 12:00 p.m.

  • Prune database job records older than--This field is active only when the Enable auto pruning option is specified. This option lets you specify how long job records should be retained in the database before CA ARCserve Backup prunes them.

    Default value: If pruning is enabled, 180 days.

    Range: 1 to 999 days.

  • Prune other database records older than--This field is active only when the Enable auto pruning option is specified. This option lets you specify how long other records (for example, session detail records) should be kept in the database before CA ARCserve Backup prunes them.

    Default value: If pruning is enabled, 30 days.

    Range: 1 to 999 days.

• Delete Re-Formatted or Erased Media-Related database Records when Pruning--When you reformat or erase a media, CA ARCserve Backup also deletes the records in the database that pertain to the media. Performing this extra step, however, can be a time-consuming process. Select this option to postpone deleting these records until pruning is performed.
• Prune activity logs older than--Specify how long activity logs should be kept in the database before CA ARCserve Backup prunes them.

  Default value: 14 days

  Range: 1 to 999 days.

• Prune catalog files older than--Specify how long catalog files should be kept in the database before CA ARCserve Backup prunes them.

  Default value: 60 days.

  Range: 1 to 9999 days.

• Database Maintenance Operations--The following options apply to maintenance operations that can be performed on the CA ARCserve Backup database.

  When you enable the following options, CA ARCserve Backup performs the specified task the next time the Database Pruning Job runs. If the Database Pruning Job is scheduled to run on a daily basis, the specified operations are performed when the pruning job runs. To schedule the database maintenance operations to run without the dependence of the Database Pruning Job, you can use the Job Scheduler Wizard to create individual jobs that use the ca_dbmgr command line utility to facilitate the database maintenance operations.

  Note: For more information, see How You Can Use the Job Scheduler Wizard to Schedule Jobs or the Command Line Reference Guide.

  • Update statistics--This option lets CA ARCserve Backup update table and index statistics. With correct and up-to-date statistical information, SQL Server and SQL Server 2008 Express can determine the best execution plan for queries, which improves query performance.

    You should update the statistics on a daily basis.

  • Re-build indexes--This option lets CA ARCserve Backup remove fragmentation (by compacting the pages based on the specified or existing fill factor setting) and reorder the index rows in contiguous pages. As a result, CA ARCserve Backup improves query performance and reclaims disk space.

    You should rebuild the indexes on a weekly basis.

  • Check DB integrity--This option lets CA ARCserve Backup check the allocation, structural, and logical integrity of all the objects in the ARCserve database.

    You should check the integrity of the database on a weekly basis and allocate a sufficient amount of time for this task to run.

  • Reduce DB size--This option lets CA ARCserve Backup reclaim disk space on your system by reducing the size of the data files in the ARCserve database.

    You should reduce the size of the database on an as-needed basis.

• Submit Prune Job--Select this option to submit the pruning job now.
• Submit ARCserve DB protection job--This option lets you recreate the CA ARCserve Backup Database Protection Job because the original job was deleted. For more information, see Recreate the CA ARCserve Backup Database Protection Job.
• Catalog Database
  • Catalog database folder--This option let you specify the location of the CA ARCserve Backup catalog database folder. Click the ellipsis button to browse and select a different location for the catalog database folder.

    By default, the catalog database folder will be located on the Primary Server at:

    C:\Program Files\CA\ARCserve Backup\CATALOG.DB\
    

  • Compress catalog transfer on the following member servers--This option lets CA ARCserve Backup compress catalog information when the data is transferred from a member server to the primary server.

    If the Primary Server has any associated Member Servers, the "Compress catalog transfer on the following member servers" field will be enabled, displaying the names of the Member Servers.

    By default, this option is disabled. With this option disabled, CA ARCserve Backup will not compress the catalog information when it is transferred from the Member Server to the Primary Server.

  • Minimum disk free space threshold--This option lets you specify the minimum percentage of free disk space when CA ARCserve Backup deletes catalog files.

    Default value: 10 %

    Range: 1% to 99%

    Note: CA ARCserve Backup periodically checks the free disk space percentage on the volume where the catalog database folder is located. If the detected free space is lower than the specified percentage, a warning message will be sent to the activity log and it would automatically begin to delete catalog database files (minimum of 7 days old and starting with the oldest first) from the disk until the detected free space percentage is greater than the threshold setting.

    Example: If the detected free space is lower than the 10%, a warning message is sent to the activity log and it would automatically begin to delete catalog database files (minimum of 7 days old and starting with the oldest first) from the disk until the detected free space percentage is greater than 10%.

• Enable Media Pool Maintenance--When selected, all media scheduled to be moved from a media pool’s Save Set to its Scratch Set are automatically moved any time a prune job is run.
• Maximum Database Server Memory--This applies to Microsoft SQL Express only. Used to ensure that the size of the Microsoft SQL Express memory usage does not exceed this limit.

  Default value: 1024 MB

  Range: 256 MB to 1024 MB

More information:

How to Protect the CA ARCserve Backup Database

How the Catalog Database Works