One of the new features introduced in DPM 2010 was client protection. This is a really nice feature that enables your desktop and laptop computers to be protected. Client protection works in a very similar way to server protection where one full backup is taken and changes are tracked using the VSS service which makes it very efficient when performing backups.
What I particularly like about client protection though is it's administration as you can allow the end-user to determine what they want to back-up or you can control centrally what is backed up.
The one issue with DPM client backup is that clients can be disconnected for long periods of time, and when that happens DPM can remove all data that has ever been backed up from this client. As with server protection, you can specify a retention range for how long the data is kept for. A server though is always connected (well, should be) so it has constant backups and five days worth of backups can always be taken and always be available. A client, like a laptop however, can be disconnected for long periods of time and if it is disconnected for longer than the retention range, DPM will remove all the backups.
In most cases this isn't an issue as the DPM client will keep backups locally and then backup to the server when it is eventually connected. In the scenario though where a client computer suffers a complete failure and a backup to the server has not occurred with the retention range of the previous server backup, there is no data on the DPM server to be restored. Same applies if the client computer gets stolen; there will be no data to restore if no backup to the DPM server was made within the retention range of the last backup.
So, to summarize, if you have a retention range of 5 days for client protection, it is important to stress the importance of connecting to the corporate network at least once every 5 days so a DPM server backup can be taken. If no backup to the DPM server is made within the 5 days, there will be no data on the DPM server to restore is needed.
Any questions, please ask.
Happy data protecting.
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David Allen
MVP System Center Operations Manager
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