Data Protection with SME/SMSQL, Protection Manager and SnapVault

[abuchmann]

hey guys

We're on the way to extend our netapp backup technology in our company.

Until now, we created our application-consistent snapshots with sme, smsql and smmoss to wrote them to tape.

As we would like to reduce the amount of tape-backups, we bougth protection manager and snapvault licenses.

At the moment, we have started a pilot with the sql and exchange backups but it isn't working as expected.

First what we've done:

- Updated to OM4.0, SMSQL 5.0R1P2 and SD6.2

- Reconfigured SnapDrive for OM-integration

- Moved the LUNs of the DB-Server (DB, LOG, MASTER, SNAPINFO) into a qtree

- Reconfigured the "Remote Backups Only" Policy with custom schedules

- Reconfigured the SMSQL (Created a Dataset with Remote Backups Only)

- As the dataset was created in SMSQL, it was also present in the protection manager

The base transfer was successfull, but now, everytime the schedule starts, it does not transfer any data:

1 - Back up data from node Primary data to node Backup of dataset SnapMgr_SQLServer_Servername (57047) with daily retention

2 - operation was successful

3 - Found 4 backup relationships in the dataset.

4 - Could not find any backups to transfer on Primary data node of application dataset SnapMgr_SQLServer_Servername(57047).

And that's it... snapvault doesn't transfer any data.

we also started a pilot with SME and the result.

Are we doing anything wrong?

regards,

adrian

[adaikkap]

Protection Manager only transfer the backups created by SME/SMSQL it does not create on the primary(which in your case is SME/SMSQL).

Create a primary backup  on SME or SMQSL and them see the jobs it should transfer the backup created on primary to the Backup node and create a backup on the Backup node.

Regards

adai

[abuchmann]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that, there is a scheduled task on the sql server creating full backups every two hours.

This is working as it should, but as i said, the protection manager can't find the snapshots.

[adaikkap]

Then it only means those snapshots are not registered as backup or they are taken with the propagation disabled.

Regards

adai

[tom_dewit]

Hi Adrian,

Dit you find an answer on this yet ?

The first time I set up SMSQL with Protection Manager integration, I had the same problems.

You have to let SMSQL integrate with Protection Manager through the SMSQL configuration wizard, couple it to a Protection Manager dataset and choose a retention type (hourly, standard, ...). The only thing you need to do in Protection Manager is to make a policy based on 'local backup, then remote backup', attach it to the automatically created dataset for SMSQL and set the protection lags and destination (backup) retentions. You don't have to set primary retentions and more importantly, you don't set a schedule !!!

Everytime an SMSQL backup takes place, a manual job will be launched in Protection Manager to update the relationship. You don't schedule these ones from Protection Manager.

I have hourly and daily backup jobs and I use the standard backup set for the hourly ones and couple them to the hourly Protection Manager retention through the backup wizard. For the daily backup set I use the daily retention.

Grtz,

Tom

[abuchmann]

Yes, I found the same solution as you.

First thought that PM can vault the newest backup SMSQL created. But this solution also works like charm.

kind regards

adrian