I’m planning to transition from using storage policies to plans, which are currently configured in our environment.
While plans are modern and aligned with future cv direction, I’ve noticed some limitations in flexibility that could influence the decision to continue with storage policies instead.
For instance, in storage policies, I can configure multiple copies — say, a Primary and an Offsite copy — and assign different sets of clients to each. For example, 10 clients to the Primary copy and only 5 to the Offsite copy, based on requirements. I haven’t been able to find this level of granular control with Plans. When a plan is assigned to a client, it seems all associated copies are applied uniformly. Am I missing something here?
Another concern is around scheduling. If I associate 100 clients to a single plan with one schedule, does that mean all 100 clients will initiate backups simultaneously? In many cases, specific clients require tailored schedules based on business needs. This is easily managed in storage policies, where client schedules are independent.
Creating hundreds of plans to cater to different schedules per client doesn’t seem scalable or practical.
Would appreciate your thoughts or any guidance on whether these use cases can be handled within the current Plans framework.
Thanks, Mohit
Best answer by Onno van den Berg
For instance, in storage policies, I can configure multiple copies — say, a Primary and an Offsite copy — and assign different sets of clients to each. For example, 10 clients to the Primary copy and only 5 to the Offsite copy, based on requirements. I haven’t been able to find this level of granular control with Plans. When a plan is assigned to a client, it seems all associated copies are applied uniformly. Am I missing something here? You can create a separate plan to accomplish this and use the solutions filter to narrow it even further.
Another concern is around scheduling. If I associate 100 clients to a single plan with one schedule, does that mean all 100 clients will initiate backups simultaneously? In many cases, specific clients require tailored schedules based on business needs. This is easily managed in storage policies, where client schedules are independent.
If you configure the plan runtime frequency using hours it will schedule the jobs automatically and it should spread/stagger the jobs after some time. To control the job execution for specific clients you could consider the use of blackout windows through client groups.
Not sure which version you are running, but in FR36 they added a lot of options back into the backup plan configuration thereby offering much more options that relate back to schedule policies. You can even attach separate backup policies to plans which require an additional setting to be set for it to become available.
Just give it a try and play around with it so you get experience with it how it works and how it behaves.
For instance, in storage policies, I can configure multiple copies — say, a Primary and an Offsite copy — and assign different sets of clients to each. For example, 10 clients to the Primary copy and only 5 to the Offsite copy, based on requirements. I haven’t been able to find this level of granular control with Plans. When a plan is assigned to a client, it seems all associated copies are applied uniformly. Am I missing something here? You can create a separate plan to accomplish this and use the solutions filter to narrow it even further.
Another concern is around scheduling. If I associate 100 clients to a single plan with one schedule, does that mean all 100 clients will initiate backups simultaneously? In many cases, specific clients require tailored schedules based on business needs. This is easily managed in storage policies, where client schedules are independent.
If you configure the plan runtime frequency using hours it will schedule the jobs automatically and it should spread/stagger the jobs after some time. To control the job execution for specific clients you could consider the use of blackout windows through client groups.
Not sure which version you are running, but in FR36 they added a lot of options back into the backup plan configuration thereby offering much more options that relate back to schedule policies. You can even attach separate backup policies to plans which require an additional setting to be set for it to become available.
Just give it a try and play around with it so you get experience with it how it works and how it behaves.
@Mohit Chordia Just out of curiosity, how many schedule/storage policies do you currently manage? The thing with plans is that you should trust the system to do the scheduling for you. I strongly advise you too look into the possibilities that plans bring to the table and/or seek external advise from someone who is experienced. My customers in most cases can live with only two plans.
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