ONTAP Discussions

How to backup a SAP server

FCITDEPTAMATTHEYCOM
4,011 Views

Hi, I know the subject sounds a bit dumb but it's not quite as dumb as it sounds.

I know SnapManager for SAP backs up the database, offline and redo logs etc but what should I do about the rest of the server which is a virtual windows server and stored on NetApp storage?

Should I create a normal filer snapshot one time or any time I install O/S patches and leave it at that? Do modifications made by SAP developers get picked up by the SnapManager4sap product or do I need to do a full filer snapshot to get those changes?

I'm just trying to think how I would restore a SAP server in a worste case scenario of site wide destruction. Would I restore a normal filer snapshot from tape and then restore a SnapManager for SAP snapshot on top?

If I have to do full filer snapshots to get the whole VM and also SnapManager for SAP snapshots then arent I duplicating snapshots albiet one has a more consistant DB state?

Thanks for any advice

Graham

5 REPLIES 5

radek_kubka
4,011 Views

Hi Graham,

For the guest Windows OS backup you can either use Virtual Storage Console snapshots, or SnapDrive snapshots. The former can be treated as a fully blown backup & recovery application, with schedules, backup catalogue, etc. (backup & recovery functions of VSC are chargeable).

For DR purposes you can either do SnapMirror / SnapVault replication to a secondary system, or backup snapshots to tape, ideally using NDMP integration (on that note - it is also worth to mention SnapProtect, which can deal with that end-to-end, i.e snapshots & tape backups would be managed by the same application).

Regards,

Radek

FCITDEPTAMATTHEYCOM
4,011 Views

Hi Radek,

Would the Oracle databases that SAP uses be consistant though if we just used normal snapshots? I thought the idea of SM for SAP was to quiessce the database before a snapshot like a backupexec agent would.

Many thanks

Graham

radek_kubka
4,011 Views

Well, as per your original post - I thought you're asking how to backup the server itself (OS, binaries, etc.), not the databases.

To recap:

- SMSAP for application-consistent database & log backups

- VSC / SMVI for file-system-consistent (or crash-consistent) OS backups

FCITDEPTAMATTHEYCOM
4,011 Views

Hi Radek,

I was asking how to do both. I wasnt sure if VSC did a good enough job to make the database consistant so I only had to snapshot the server once. It seems like I have to do two snapshots for a SAP server. One for OS and the other for a consistant database.

Thanks for your help.

Graham

thomas_glodde
4,011 Views

Graham,

for snapshot only backups refer to TR-3858 "Using crash-consistent snapshot copies as valid oracle backups".

otherwise, as stated above, use sm sap for the db and smvi/vsc for the virtual machine itself.

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