How To Delete Old Backups

Hello Ed,

I have no personal experience with your Drobo 5D DAS so you may need to try asking a question in the Drobo Forums for more specific guidance on managing your data content directly on the device, unless you get any replies from any of the other folk in these forums.

The recommended method of managing your older Acronis backup images is to use the auto-cleanup options provided within your backup task configuration on the Backup scheme page tab, where you can set the rules for what should be kept, for how long or how many versions etc.  

Using this method will also help avoid getting messages for missing backup files or versions that are given when you delete backups outside of the Acronis GUI control where information on the missing backups are still held in the Acronis database.

If you do delete backups using Explorer or other file management utilities, then you should perform a Validation of your backup task to correct the Acronis database information to reflect the backup files that are still present.

Actually, I did contact Drobo and they told me that it was an Acronis issue, which it does seem to be. I also had set the limit to the number of backup streams to 6 (I currently have 11) but nothing happened. I still want to know how access the Vault, where all the backups are listed, because isn't that also one of the recommended ways to delete backup?

Thanks

Ed, sorry but I have no idea about how you access the Drobo Vault as that is not a standard Windows term or one that I am familiar with for the drives that I use.

Can you access your Drobo DAS via Windows / File Explorer to allow you to see your backup archive files?

When you say about 'backup streams' - do you mean Acronis version chains?  

A version chain is a full backup image archive plus one or more incremental or differential backup image archives that are based on the initial full backup image archive.  A version chain is only considered complete when you have created the first full backup image of a new version chain for the same backup task.

If you edit the configuration of the backup task after it has been running for some time, then this will reset the count of version chains, which may be why you now have 11 but configured to keep only 6?

Yes, I can see the files via Windows Explorer.

And, yes, I do mean Acronis version chains.

The "vault" term comes from Acronis on the web such as seen here: https://kb.acronis.com/content/47159, where it says to "Delete backups manually using Acronis management console or the Command line:
Navigate to the vault where your backups are stored, find the archive and backup(s) you want to delete, right-click on the archive/backup(s) and select Delete." 

What about the Acronis management console? I couldn't find that either.

Does this vault no longer exist?

I forgot to mention that you're probably right about 11 version chains showing, even though I set the number to 6. In take case, how do I get rid of earlier ones if that Acronis "personal vault" no longer exists?

Ed, the KB document https://kb.acronis.com/content/47159 you referred to was for the Acronis Backup & Recovery business product, not ATIH and it explains the meaning of the vault simply as meaning your backup location.

There is no Acronis management console in the ATIH home product except with regard to Cloud backups - this is again a part of a different product.

If you can use Windows Explorer to see your backup image files stored on your Drobo DAS then you can also delete any unwanted backup version chains by the same method, and you will need to ensure that you carefully identify these according to both the file names and the date / time stamp of the files within the version chain.

Ah, OK, I was looking at information on a different Acronis product!

And, yes, I can certainly see all the backups in Windows Explorer. It's very tempting to delete them there but I saw all those warnings that if you do that, then that "will leave the metadata outdated causing possible backup/cleanup failures." Or is that warning only for that Acronis product I don't have and it's really OK to delete within Windows Explorer? 

I'd stick to deleting within Acronis for all products (if you plan to keep them in the console).  When I know I'm only going to be using bootable recovery media to restore an image, I just delete the settings from the console and don't worry about it anymore.  You can still re-add the backup later, or just pick it with the offline bootable media and recover as needed.  If you want to use that backup for further incrementals, scheduling, etc, then keep the cleanup to the Acronis application to limit headaches and issues down the road. 

Ed, whilst I agree with Bobbo that the recommended method is to allow ATIH to do the cleanup of old backup versions, in this case because you have built up to 11 version chains for a backup task where you have only configured 6 chains, then you may need to perform some manual cleanup actions via Explorer.

If you do delete backups using Explorer or other file management utilities, then you should perform a Validation of your backup task to correct the Acronis database information to reflect the backup files that are still present.

When I went to validate those older chains (I think, 8) that aren't on Acronis's radar (though they show in Windows Explorer), all I seem to be able to do is validate the last backup. I selected the Backup icon (top one on the left sidebar), clicked on Validate fromthe dropdown menu, and it just started doing the validation (saying it would take a bit over 2 hours), which I assume isn't everything but only the last backup. The full backups are about 700 GB for each.

Perhaps I'm missing a step?

Ed, sorry but the process that I meant was as follows:

1. Delete the unwanted backup archive chains using Windows Explorer.
2. In the Acronis GUI now click on Validate for the backup task that created the deleted chains.

The validation process should try to walk through the available backup versions for the task and when it comes across the deleted files, it should post a message offering some options.  Take the option to Ignore the missing backup and let it continue for the remainder of the validation, repeat for each missing backup.

OK, I just deleted some chains but in the Acronis GUI the only option I see is Validate in the dropdown menu for the Backup icon. I didn't see an option for selecting anything else, such as the "backup task the created the delete chains."

Ed, in the main Acronis GUI, for each backup task, there is an icon to the right of the task name shown as (V) - click on this and it will give you the option to Validate the backup chains for that specific backup task.  See attache screen shot from one of my systems showing the list of options.

If any of the deleted backup chains are for backup tasks that no longer exist in the GUI then these should not cause any issue by being deleted.

Hmm, that's interesting. Attached is a screen shot of my Acronis GUI as it's doing a validation of (what I assume) is the latest backup. Unlike your screen shot, I don't see where any other of my chains listed. 

Ed, if you only have the one backup task, and you can validate it without error then all should be OK.  If the validation process detects any missing / deleted version chains for that task, then it will throw up an error message that you can take the Ignore option for.

If you have old backup files with completely different file names to the Entire PC backup you are validating, then these are safe to delete via Windows Explorer as you do not have any other tasks shown in the GUI that would be associated with those files.

If you want to keep the old backup files (with different file names) but want to validate them then you can just right-click on one of the file names in Windows Explorer, move the mouse over True Image, then select Validate from the list of options shown.  See screen shot below.  This will also add a Task entry to the Acronis GUI panel for that backup file (the initial full backup of the version chain).