When activating or editing backup jobs, you'll encounter a field labelled Backup Type. This drop-down has two options; Backup or Alert. Backup Radar will automatically identify and assign the correct type; however, in the unlikely event that this field is blank, use this guide to determine which type to choose.

Backup: Any backup job that runs on a predetermined schedule and can communicate a variety of statuses (i.e., Success, Failure, Warning). A vast majority of all line items consumed by Backup Radar, whether transmitted via API or email parsing, are quantified as this type.

Alert: An Alert does not follow any schedule, nor can it communicate any status other than failure. Once consumed and presented by Backup Radar, an Alert type backup will continue to present a failure status until you manually change it to success in Backup Radar. This is completed via the Result button (on the Audit page). This should not be done until the issue has been resolved, and it is also worth noting, as a best practice, users should use the Notes field when editing the status to communicate pertinent information.

Due to the unpredictable nature of the Alert type, it is best to have a Template in place to activate any new alerts that come in automatically; otherwise, you risk not catching the failure in time.