4 4 3:NEWDAY Event

From SEPsesam

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This is not the latest version of SEP sesam documentation and, as such, does not provide information on features introduced in the latest release. For more information on SEP sesam releases, see SEP sesam Release Versions. For the latest documentation, check Newday Event in v. ≥ 4.4.3 Beefalo.


Overview

SEP sesam NEWDAY is a predefined SEP sesam daily event that resets the backup event calendar and is managed by the SEPuler. It is accessible under schedules: Main Selection -> Scheduling -> Schedules. A NEWDAY event is used by SEP sesam to reorder its database and enable uninterrupted activity of SEP sesam processes, therefore it must never be completely deactivated or it will cause SEP sesam to stop working properly. See NEWDAY-event roles.

Depending on SEP sesam version, the NEWDAY behavior may be different when it comes to cancelling active tasks from SEP sesam 4.4.3 Tigon. See NEWDAY in ≥ 4.4.3 Tigon and NEWDAY in v. ≤ 4.4.3, respectively.

How does it work – defining a backup day

NEWDAY is used to define a new backup day. All SEP sesam protocol and log files are created with the date of the backup day.

If a NEWDAY event is set for 08:00 (SEP sesam default), the backup day is defined from 8 a.m. of the current day to 8 a.m. of the next day. Backups that run after midnight – the actual date change – are 'time-stamped' with the previous day's date in order to avoid the creation of two backups for the same data (one save set for day 1 and another for day 2).

With SEP sesam NEWDAY, all media backed up from one sesam day, e.g., from Monday 8 a.m. to Tuesday 7.59 a.m., have the same date. SEP sesam NEWDAY gives system administrators flexibility to extend backup routines to run after midnight and retain the backup date of the prior day. This is very useful when the computers requiring backups exceed the time allotment between the end of day and midnight.

In SEP sesam GUI when checking, for example, backups by state, the selected/displayed date always refers to sesam backup day with the timespan of hours defined by NEWDAY. In the above example of a defined backup day (from 8 a.m. of the current day to 8 a.m. of the next day), the 13th of November 2017 would define the backup day from Monday, 13.11.2017 from 8 a.m., to Tuesday, 14.11.2017 to 7.59 a.m. Keep in mind that the backup day by default does not correspond to calendar day.

Note

To ensure error-free execution of the SEP sesam backup environment, SEP NEWDAY should never be completely deactivated. Switching NEWDAY off prevents SEP sesam from reordering its database. SEP sesam will no longer be able to delete old log files and will cause the system to exceed system disk drive storage.

Besides resetting the event calendar and setting a new backup day, NEWDAY also performs the following:

  • Deletes files and database entries for save sets which no longer exist.
  • Finalizes the SEP sesam status and daily log files.
  • Reorganizes the SEP sesam database.
  • Advances the event calendar (SEPuler) by one day.
  • Restarts the SMS- and STPD-processes.
Tip
NEWDAY may also be used to cancel all pending jobs from the previous day; this depends on SEP sesam version, as explained in the next two sections.

NEWDAY in ≥ 4.4.3 Tigon

In v. 4.4.3 Tigon, NEWDAY event may or may not abort any active tasks. This behaviour is defined by selecting the Do not cancel these activities check box All Events in the Schedules -> NEWDAY event properties -> Parameter tab.

Tigon introduces new option to prevent NEWDAY from cancelling any running activities

Tigon introduces new option to prevent NEWDAY from cancelling any running activities
Tigon introduces new option to prevent NEWDAY from cancelling any running activities


In previous SEP sesam versions, the start of NEWDAY has always cancelled all running activities. By introducing a new option Do not cancel these activities, you can set a NEWDAY behaviour that allows for uninterrupted running of SEP sesam operations. In such case, the NEWDAY event can be set to be active at all times (to run every day without exception), as it may be set not to hinder any running backups upon its start.

NEWDAY in SEP sesam ≤ 4.4.3

In SEP sesam v. ≤ 4.4.3, NEWDAY always aborts all running backups. This can be useful in complex network environments when alerts are not transmitted to the backup server. These backup tasks, which would otherwise remain suspended, are terminated by the NEWDAY event.

Since there is no option to prevent the NEWDAY event to abort running jobs (introduced later in version 4.4.3 Tigon) and because weekends are often used for full backups, it might be useful to skip the NEWDAY event on weekends. You have to define the execution as a weekly event but without execution on weekend to enable scheduled full backups to be performed. Backups can be arranged to run in shifts on Saturday and Sunday.

NEWDAY in version ≤ 4.4.3 is typically set to run only during the workweek