Backup/hard link question

In an effort to make more space on my HDD I moved some folders to another partition and used a hard link to make it look like the files are still on the C drive.

For reference the command is:
mklink /J <link> <target>

How will this effect my backup? Will it backup the folders as though they're on the C drive?

mlevy said:

In an effort to make more space on my HDD I moved some folders to another partition and used a hard link to make it look like the files are still on the C drive.

For reference the command is:
mklink /J <link> <target>

How will this effect my backup? Will it backup the folders as though they're on the C drive?

Click to expand...

Good question. Gut feeling, no. It will back up the mklink but not go looking for what it represents. Let us know if you find out. Great question

Ken

I think this would depend on the software used

I have seen reports where problems were encountered with backup programs backing up both the actual files and the the same files through the hard link, this would occur in locations such as the WinSXS folder which contains many links to DLL files in other parts of the folder structure.

Windows 7 backup is designed to back up all NTFS properties except hard links

I'm using the built-in backup.

I'm also using the RC still, going to milk it as long as possible in hopes of building a new monster rig.

Barman, thanks for the info, guess I'll add the new location to my backup plan, if possible..

What I would suggest you do is set-up a small test backup that includes a hard link or two that links to external data and check what happens - if the links are followed or not then the backup policy could be adjusted accordingly. You could also test the recover process before committing you actual data to the plan

I can't verify that the default backup will back the hard linked files, it won't let me browse that data.

I'll see if i can create another backup job but it looks like no. I may just create a batch file to run and schedule it, that way I'm sure it's backed up...