InfoScale™ 9.0 Storage Foundation Quick Recovery Solutions Guide for Microsoft SQL Server - Windows

Last Published:
Product(s): InfoScale & Storage Foundation (9.0)
Platform: Windows
  1. Introducing Quick Recovery for SQL Server
    1.  
      About Quick Recovery snapshot solutions
    2.  
      About snapshot-assisted backups
    3.  
      Advantages of Quick Recovery snapshots
    4.  
      Quick Recovery process
    5. Methods of implementing Quick Recovery snapshots for SQL Server
      1.  
        About the Quick Recovery Configuration Wizard
      2.  
        About the VSS Snapshot Scheduler Wizard
      3.  
        About the VSS Snapshot and Snapback wizards and the vxsnap utility
    6. About the components used in Quick Recovery
      1.  
        FlashSnap and FastResync
      2. Integration with Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service
        1.  
          VSS framework
        2.  
          VSS process
    7.  
      VCS, Microsoft clustering, and Volume Replicator considerations
    8.  
      About the Solutions Configuration Center
    9.  
      Starting the Configuration Center
    10.  
      Solutions wizard logs
  2. Preparing to implement Quick Recovery for SQL Server
    1.  
      Tasks for preparing to implement Quick Recovery for SQL Server
    2. Reviewing the prerequisites
      1.  
        Storage requirements and best practices
      2.  
        Configuration requirements and best practices
    3.  
      Reviewing the configuration
    4. Configuring SQL Server storage with Storage Foundation for Windows
      1.  
        Creating dynamic disk groups
      2.  
        Creating dynamic volumes
      3.  
        Pointing the databases and log paths to the SFW volumes
  3. Implementing Quick Recovery for SQL Server with the configuration wizard
    1. About the Quick Recovery Configuration Wizard
      1.  
        Backup types for snapshot sets
      2. About snapshot templates
        1.  
          Templates and multiple components
        2.  
          Templates and schedule start dates
    2.  
      Tasks for implementing snapshot sets with the configuration wizard
    3.  
      Reviewing the prerequisites
    4. Scheduling SQL Server snapshot sets
      1.  
        System Selection panel details
      2.  
        Instance Selection panel details
      3.  
        Mount Details panel details
      4.  
        Synchronizing Schedules panel details
      5.  
        Template Selection panel details
      6.  
        Number of Snapshot Sets panel details
      7.  
        Snapshot Volume Assignment panel details
      8.  
        Snapshot Schedule panel details
      9.  
        Specifying snapshot schedule details
      10.  
        Summary panel details
      11.  
        Template Implementation panel
  4. Scheduling or creating an individual snapshot set for SQL Server
    1.  
      About scheduling or creating an individual snapshot set
    2.  
      Tasks to schedule a new snapshot set
    3.  
      Tasks to create a one-time snapshot set
    4.  
      Reviewing the prerequisites
    5.  
      Preparing the snapshot mirrors
    6.  
      Scheduling a new snapshot set
    7.  
      Creating a one-time snapshot set
    8. Refreshing a snapshot set
      1.  
        Reattaching the split-mirror snapshots
  5. Maintaining or troubleshooting snapshots
    1.  
      Viewing the status of scheduled snapshots
    2.  
      Troubleshooting scheduled snapshots
    3.  
      Deleting or modifying schedules
    4.  
      Synchronizing schedules after adding a cluster node
  6. Recovering a SQL Server database
    1.  
      About recovering a SQL Server database
    2.  
      Tasks for recovering a SQL Server database
    3.  
      Prerequisites for recovering a SQL Server database
    4.  
      Types of recovery
    5.  
      Recovering using snapshots without log replay
    6.  
      Recovering using snapshots and log replay
    7.  
      Restoring snapshots and manually applying logs
    8. Recovering missing volumes
      1. Preparing for the recovery
        1.  
          Reassigning the drive letter or mount points of the missing volumes to the snapshot volumes
        2.  
          Replacing hardware and adding disks to the dynamic disk group
      2.  
        Performing the recovery
    9.  
      Post-recovery steps
    10.  
      Vxsnap restore command reference
  7. Vxsnap utility command line reference for SQL Server
    1.  
      About the vxsnap utility
    2. Vxsnap keywords
      1.  
        vxsnap prepare
      2.  
        vxsnap create
      3.  
        vxsnap reattach
      4.  
        vxsnap restore

VCS, Microsoft clustering, and Volume Replicator considerations

Certain requirements apply when implementing a snapshot solution with a VCS, Microsoft clustering, and Volume Replicator environment.

In a VCS or Microsoft clustering environment, observe the following precautions:

  • The XML metadata file for each snapshot set along with files that store snapshot schedule information are created in a folder on the local drive by default. In a cluster environment, store these files on shared storage so that the files are available from all nodes in the cluster.

    Warning:

    The snapshot XML files must be stored separately from the volumes that are included in the snapshots, otherwise a restore will fail.

    • If you use the Quick Recovery Configuration Wizard or the VSS SQL Snapshot Wizard to create the snapshot set, you can use either wizard to specify the file path to the appropriate volume.

    • Use either the Quick Recovery Configuration Wizard or the VSS SQL Snapshot Wizard to create the snapshot set. After creating the snapshot set, you can store the XML files in a location of your choice using either the Quick Recovery Configuration Wizard which provides an option for specifying the path (by modifying the default populated path) or by the following method: Use a text editor to create a text file named "redirect.txt." This text file should contain a single text line specifying the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to the location of the metadata file, for example, \\ServerName\SharedFolderName. Save the redirect.txt file in the default VSS XML file directory C:\Program Files\Veritas\Veritas Volume Manager\VSSXML on each node of the cluster.

      Warning:

      You must not use the volume name or volume path in redirect.txt file that is involved in the snapshot. If the volume name or path for the snapshot is used, then a restore will fail.

    • When using vxsnap utility commands that require the filename attribute, specify the full path to the location of the XML metadata file.

  • If you plan to use the Quick Recovery or VSS Snapshot Scheduler wizard to specify scripts (commands) to be run before or after a snapshot, store the scripts on shared storage so that they are available to all nodes.

  • If you set up a snapshot schedule with the Quick Recovery wizard and later add a node to the cluster, you can run the wizard again to synchronize schedules on the existing nodes with the new node.

In a Volume Replicator environment, observe the following precautions:

  • Store the XML metadata file and other snapshot related files on a volume that is included in the replicated data set so that the metadata file is available at the secondary site. Additionally, if VCS is used, store the metadata file on a volume in the cluster disk group associated with the database so that the metadata file is available from all nodes in the cluster.

  • During a point-in-time recovery, the volumes on the secondary site lose write-order fidelity. DCM automatically becomes active to ensure data consistency between the primary and secondary sites. While DCM is active, the volumes cannot be expanded by either manual or AutoGrow operations. You must perform a manual resynchronization of the secondary to deactivate DCM.