Types of data that can be included in retention sets

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The types of data that you can include in a retention set vary, depending on the client or product that backed up the data.

The following types of backup data cannot be added to a retention set:
  • Differential backups without an associated full backup.
  • Incomplete backups.
  • Incremental backups without an associated full backup.
  • Backups from node types that were registered to the server with a TYPE parameter value other than CLIENT. Nodes are registered to the server with the REGISTER NODE command. To determine a registered node's TYPE value, issue the QUERY NODE command.

Review the following table for information about the clients and products whose data can be included in a retention set.

Table 1. Support for client and product data backups in retention sets
Client or product Data that can be included in a retention set Data that cannot be included in a retention set
IBM® Storage Protect backup-archive client

Backup versions of files and directories can be included in a retention set.
The following types of data cannot be included in a retention set:
  • Archived versions of files
  • Image backups
IBM Storage Protect for Databases: Data Protection for Microsoft SQL Server
Data that is successfully backed up to the server by using the Data Protection for Microsoft SQL Server product can be included in a retention set. Data is backed up in one of the following modes:
  • Legacy mode
  • Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) mode

Local destination VSS backups cannot be included in a retention set. For more information, see the restrictions for the NODE_NAME or NODE_GROUP_NAME parameter in the DEFINE RETRULE command topic.
IBM Storage Protect for Mail: Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server

Data that is successfully backed up to the server by using the Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server product can be included in a retention set. Data is backed up in VSS mode.

Local destination VSS backups cannot be included in a retention set. For more information, see the restrictions for the NODE_NAME or NODE_GROUP_NAME parameter in the DEFINE RETRULE command topic.
IBM Storage Protect for Virtual Environments: Data Protection for Microsoft Hyper-V Data that is successfully backed up by using the Data Protection for Microsoft Hyper-V product can be included in a retention set.  
IBM Storage Protect for Virtual Environments: Data Protection for VMware Data that is successfully backed up by using the Data Protection for VMware product can be included in a retention set.