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

About the Quick Recovery Configuration Wizard

The Quick Recovery Configuration Wizard provides the most complete method of configuring snapshot sets and is therefore recommended for initial implementation. The Quick Recovery Configuration Wizard enables you to schedule all phases of snapshot creation and maintenance as follows:

  • Preparing the mirror for the snapshot set.

  • Creating the initial snapshot set by splitting the mirror so that it is no longer synchronized with the original volume and becomes a point-in-time copy.

  • Periodically refreshing (resynchronizing) the split-mirror snapshot with the original volume, and then splitting the mirror again.

The wizard enables you to set up and schedule multiple snapshot sets for one or more databases in a SQL Server instance. Each database can have different filegroups, such as Database, Log, and FILESTREAM filegroups.

You can set up one or more schedules for each snapshot set. You can schedule when to prepare the snapshot mirrors, when to create the initial snapshot sets, and when to refresh the snapshot sets, enabling you to establish a schedule that best suits your site. For example, you can schedule mirror preparation, the most time-consuming step, for a time of low activity. The scheduling capability automates the process of refreshing the snapshot sets. At the time scheduled for the snapshot, the snapshot volumes are automatically reattached, resynchronized, and then split again.

The snapshot creation process integrates with VSS to quiesce the database and then simultaneously snapshot the volumes in the database. The snapshot is done while the database is online and without disrupting the database operations.

Once configured and applied, snapshot schedules are maintained by the Veritas Scheduler Service, which runs in the background.

The wizard includes the following settings:

  • Which database to snapshot

  • Number of snapshot sets for each database

  • Volume layout and disk location for each snapshot set

  • When to prepare the selected volumes for the snapshots

  • When and how often snapshots occur

    You can schedule snapshot run days using days of the week, days of the month, and include or exclude dates. You can specify that a schedule recurs daily or uses some other recurrence interval. You can also schedule a daily time window in which the snapshots occur, and the intervals for refreshing snapshot sets within the time window.

  • Backup type (Copy or Full)

Optionally, you can also specify scripts to run before and after snapshots.

After you configure the settings, you can do one or both of the following:

  • Save the settings in a template file for reuse on other systems or instances. Even if you do not save the settings to a template file, they are still stored for the databases to which they apply. You can access them later by selecting the same instance and database in the wizard.

  • Implement the settings immediately.