Secondary Copies and Auxiliary Copy Schedules

Secondary Copies

A secondary copy is used to synchronize protected data with a source copy. All valid data (jobs that completed successfully) written to the source copy are copied to the secondary copy via an update process called an auxiliary copy operation. This means that all full, incremental, differential, transaction log, or archive jobs from a source copy, are also managed by the secondary copy. Secondary  copies are useful when you want a consistent point-in-time copy at any point within the cycle of all protected data available for restore. It is recommended to have at least one offsite secondary copy to ensure full recovery of data, should a disaster occur.

The following storage targets can be used as a secondary copy:

• Disk
• Cloud
• Tape

Auxiliary Copy Schedule

A built-in auxiliary copy schedule is created when adding a secondary copy to a plan. By default, every 30 minutes, the system validates if new jobs exist in the primary copy that were not copied to the secondary copy. If jobs do exist, they are copied. If not, the auxiliary copy job simply completes without copying data.

Although it is recommended to keep the default schedule to ensure the best synchronization possible between copies, it can be modified if needed.