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2012-08-16 Huawei Confidential Page 1 of 62

OceanStor Backup Software Technical

White Paper V1.0 — Simpana

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.



Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 2012. All rights reserved.

No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means

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All other trademarks and trade names mentioned in this document are the property of their

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Notice

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The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been

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of any kind, express or implied.

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Address: Huawei Industrial Base

Bantian, Longgang

Shenzhen 518129

People's Republic of China

Website: http://www.huawei.com

Email: [email protected]

http://www.huawei.com/

mailto:[email protected]



Contents

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ............................................................................... 1

All Rights Reserved. .................................................................................................. 1

Contents ....................................................................................................................... 3

Figures .......................................................................................................................... 6

Tables ........................................................................................................................... 8

1 Software Architecture ............................................................................................ 9

1.1 CommServe Server ................................................................................................................ 9

1.2 MediaAgent Server ................................................................................................................ 9

1.3 iDA....................................................................................................................................... 10

1.4 CTE ...................................................................................................................................... 10

1.5 Distributed Indexing Mechanism — Soul of Data Management Software .......................... 10

2 iDA ........................................................................................................................... 12

2.1 File System iDA ................................................................................................................... 12

2.1.1 Backup and Recovery Module of the File System ...................................................... 12

2.1.2 Data archiver of the File System ................................................................................. 12

2.2 Oracle iDA ........................................................................................................................... 13

2.2.1 Backing up an Oracle Database .................................................................................. 13

2.2.2 Recovering the Oracle Database ................................................................................. 17

2.3 Microsoft SQL Server iDA .................................................................................................. 21

2.3.1 SQL Server Transaction Log and Automatic Recovery .............................................. 21

2.3.2 Backup of the SQL Server Database ........................................................................... 22

2.3.3 Recovery of the SQL Server Database ........................................................................ 22

2.3.4 Characteristics of the SQL Server iDA ....................................................................... 22

High performance .................................................................................................... 23

High reliability ......................................................................................................... 23

Ease of use ................................................................................................................. 23

2.4 Microsoft Exchange iDA ..................................................................................................... 24

2.4.1 Backup and Recovery of the Exchange ...................................................................... 24

2.4.2 Exchange Data Archiver ............................................................................................. 26

2.4.3 Legal Hold of the Exchange ....................................................................................... 29

OceanStor Backup Software Technical White Paper V1.0 — Simpana Confidentiality:


2.5 IBM Lotus Domino iDA ...................................................................................................... 30

2.5.1 Domino Backup .......................................................................................................... 30

2.5.2 Domino Archiver and Legal Hold ............................................................................... 31

2.6 Microsoft SharePoint iDA ................................................................................................... 31

2.7 SAP iDA .............................................................................................................................. 32

2.7.1 SAP Backup and Recovery ......................................................................................... 32

2.7.2 SAP Archive Management .......................................................................................... 33

2.8 NAS iDA .............................................................................................................................. 34

2.8.1 NAS Backup ............................................................................................................... 34

2.8.2 NAS Data Archiver ..................................................................................................... 34

Setting NAS archiving ............................................................................................ 34

2.9 DB2 iDA .............................................................................................................................. 36

3 Virtual Server Agent ............................................................................................. 37

3.1 VMware Data Protection ...................................................................................................... 37

3.2 MS Hyper-V Data Protection ............................................................................................... 38

3.3 SnapProtect for Virtual Server Agent ................................................................................... 40

4 SnapProtect ............................................................................................................. 41

5 Continuous Data Replicator ............................................................................... 43

5.1 Recovery Management Layer .............................................................................................. 43

5.2 Role of the CDR on the Recovery Layer ............................................................................. 44

5.3 CDR Process ........................................................................................................................ 44

5.4 Copy Modes ......................................................................................................................... 44

One-to-one copy ....................................................................................................... 45

Multiple-to-one copy ............................................................................................... 45

One-to-multiple copy .............................................................................................. 45

5.5 Data Protection for Multiple Remote Offices and Data Centers .......................................... 46

5.6 Cost-Effective Disaster Recovery ........................................................................................ 47

5.7 Troubleshooting Method for Network Interruptions ............................................................ 47

5.8 Maximized Use of the Available Network Bandwidth ......................................................... 48

5.9 Integrated Management with the Copy Function ................................................................. 49

5.10 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 49

6 Other Technical Features ..................................................................................... 51

6.1 Smart Clients ........................................................................................................................ 52

6.2 Synthetic Full Backup .......................................................................................................... 52

6.3 Auxiliary Copy ..................................................................................................................... 53

6.4 Storage Policies .................................................................................................................... 54

6.5 Granular Restores ................................................................................................................. 55

6.6 Restart/Checkpoint ............................................................................................................... 55

6.7 GridStor ............................................................................................................................... 55

6.8 Data Verification .................................................................................................................. 56



6.9 Content Index ....................................................................................................................... 56

6.10 Media Remote Storage ....................................................................................................... 57

6.10.1 Auxiliary Copy .......................................................................................................... 57

6.10.2 Magnetic Tape Outbound Storage ............................................................................. 58

6.11 Image-Level Backup .......................................................................................................... 59

6.12 Deduplication ..................................................................................................................... 59

6.13 Global Deduplication ......................................................................................................... 61

6.14 DASH Copy ....................................................................................................................... 61

6.15 DASH Full ......................................................................................................................... 62



Figures

Figure 2-1 .................................................................................................................................. 13

Figure 2-2 .................................................................................................................................. 14

Figure 2-3 .................................................................................................................................. 14

Figure 2-4 .................................................................................................................................. 15

Figure 2-5 .................................................................................................................................. 15

Figure 2-6 .................................................................................................................................. 15

Figure 2-7 .................................................................................................................................. 16

Figure 2-8 .................................................................................................................................. 16

Figure 2-9 .................................................................................................................................. 16

Figure 2-10 ................................................................................................................................ 17

Figure 2-11 ................................................................................................................................ 17

Figure 2-12 ................................................................................................................................ 17

Figure 2-13 ................................................................................................................................ 18

Figure 2-14 ................................................................................................................................ 18

Figure 2-15 ................................................................................................................................ 18

Figure 2-16 ................................................................................................................................ 18

Figure 2-17 ................................................................................................................................ 19

Figure 2-18 ................................................................................................................................ 19

Figure 2-19 ................................................................................................................................ 20

Figure 2-20 ................................................................................................................................ 20

Figure 2-21 ................................................................................................................................ 20

Figure 2-22 ................................................................................................................................ 21

Figure 2-23 ................................................................................................................................ 23

Figure 2-24 ................................................................................................................................ 25

Figure 2-25 ................................................................................................................................ 26



Figure 2-26 ................................................................................................................................ 26

Figure 2-27 ................................................................................................................................ 27

Figure 2-28 ................................................................................................................................ 28

Figure 2-29 ................................................................................................................................ 28

Figure 2-30 ................................................................................................................................ 29

Figure 2-31 ................................................................................................................................ 29

Figure 2-32 ................................................................................................................................ 30

Figure 2-33 ................................................................................................................................ 35

Figure 2-34 ................................................................................................................................ 35

Figure 2-35 ................................................................................................................................ 36

Figure 5-1 .................................................................................................................................. 45

Figure 5-2 .................................................................................................................................. 45

Figure 5-3 .................................................................................................................................. 45

Figure 5-4 .................................................................................................................................. 46

Figure 6-1 .................................................................................................................................. 51

Figure 6-2 .................................................................................................................................. 52

Figure 6-3 .................................................................................................................................. 53

Figure 6-4 .................................................................................................................................. 54

Figure 6-5 .................................................................................................................................. 55

Figure 6-6 GridStor — sharing storage devices and data directory .......................................... 56



Tables

Table 2-1 .................................................................................................................................... 25



1 Software Architecture

1.1 CommServe Server

The CommServe server is a backup management server. It is connected to a

local area network (LAN). As the core of the backup domain, it performs all

configurations and settings.

CommVault Simpana uses this server to control the entire data management

system, maintain all configuration data (of clients, media and agents, and

backup devices), control the recording of all activities and historical tasks, and

provide graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and web interfaces.

1.2 MediaAgent Server

MediaAgent is a software module. It transmits data between a physical

storage device and the corresponding client agent. MediaAgent manages

backup devices and saves data and data indexes to a storage medium. It

supports various storage system structures. Therefore, it can quickly adapt to

the changing in storage technologies. Simpana MediaAgent supports the

following types of storage media:

Disks: The Bunch Of Disks (JBOD) and Redundant Arrays of

Inexpensive Disks (RAID) technologies can be adopted.

Intelligent disk arrays: High-end disk arrays (such as EMC Symmetrix,

HP StorageWorks, HDS Lightning, or XIOtech Magnitude) provide the

snapshot or remote copy functions. CommVault has passed the Volume

Shadow Service (VSS) certification of Microsoft Windows Storage

Server 2003.

Automatic tape library: MediaAgent supports typical tape libraries with

mechanical hands, multiple tape slots, and multiple tape drives. It can

manage tape slots, drives, and mechanical hands.

Independent tape drive: MediaAgent can manage independent tape drives.

Tapes are manually inserted or removed.

MO library with barcodes: Jukeboxes.

Media without barcodes

Each MediaAgent can transmit various types of data. It can perform multiple

backup and recovery, data migration, legal archiving, and quick recovery



operations. This allows various data transmission tasks to share expensive

high-performance storage devices smoothly.

The production servers that are connected to the storage area network (SAN)

are also connected to the LAN. LAN-free backup of these servers and LAN

backup of the servers on other LANs can be performed. After grid storage is

configured, MediaAgent provides the switchover function. If a network or

MediaAgent server becomes faulty during backup, the backup operations can

be switched automatically to another MediaAgent server.

1.3 iDA

iDA is used for backing up and restoring file systems. It provides the

resumable transmission function. When a network or MediaAgent server

becomes faulty, another MediaAgent server will take over the services at the

breakpoint and send the data to the backup media.

If iDA and MediaAgent are installed on one server, LAN-free backup is

supported.

1.4 CTE

CommVault supports integrated data management. Its core is the underlying

software Common Technology Engine (CTE). As the backbone in the

Simpana architecture, the CTE enables independent products to interact and

communicate with each other. This allows various independent applications to

automatically interact and communicate with each other. These applications

include the following modules: backup and recovery, data migration, legal

archiving, quick recovery, storage resource management, and SAN

management.

Unlike traditional software, each CommVault module is an independent

solution. Each CommVault module must use the CTE. These modules share

the CTE. An integrated console is provided, on which centralized policies can

be created for accomplishing data management operations through each

module. The integrated automatic process is very efficient. The administrator

can quickly detect problems and discover solutions to the problems. For

example, the data migration module is requested to transfer data to a

secondary storage medium as soon as the data volume in the primary storage

medium is detected to have reached the alarming level. The data migration

continues until the data volume in the primary storage medium falls below the

alarming level.

1.5 Distributed Indexing Mechanism — Soul of Data Management Software

All data management software modules (including backup and recovery and

data migration) generate internal indexes and searches data by index. An

index is a piece of data that records the following information: data name, size,

owner, save path, and storage duration. It is used to search for the backup data

during recovery. Indexes are the key to data recovery. If indexes are lost, the



software will break down. Generally, an index consists of dozens of bytes.

When the host quantity and data volume are limited, the importance of

indexes is not manifested. When a large number of hosts are involved, a great

deal of data needs to be managed, longer storage duration is required, and the

index quantity is huge, the organization and management of indexes

determine the running and extensibility performance of the software. In the

coming sections, CommVault and traditional software are compared in terms

of the indexing mechanism, which shows that the indexing mechanism of

CommVault is more applicable to enterprises.

Traditional software adopts a single centralized indexing system.

The index information is stored on the management server. To save or

obtain the index information, users need to access the management server.

As the data volume increases, the management server has become the

bottleneck of the entire system (CPU/memory/disk/network), which

restricts the flexibility and expansibility of the system.

The indexes and folders are backed up each time the data is backed up.

As the amount of indexes grows, this backup takes longer time than a

normal backup task. As a result, the running of the production system is

affected.

The indexes and folders are composed of binary files, which are difficult

to be searched, backed up, or recovered.

When the centralized indexing system is adopted, the amount of indexes

grows rapidly to hundreds of megabytes. If the indexes are lost, it usually

takes several days or even a week to recover them.

Each module (such as backup, data migration, or snapshot) adopts an

independent indexing mechanism. It is very complex to manage and

maintain these indexing systems, and large quantities of manual O&M

operations are required. In this case, the software cannot provide even

basic services, let alone extended functions.

CommVault adopts a unified distributed indexing system.

Indexes are hierarchically managed by CommServe and MediaAgent.

− MediaAgent manages tier-1 indexes, and CommServe manages tier-2

indexes.

− Tier-1 indexes and backup data are stored in the same backup

medium.

There is no need to back up tier-1 indexes, and the indexes can be

quickly recovered when an exception occurs.

− MediaAgent keeps a cache to manage tier-1 indexes.

− A tier-1 index contains the location of the backup data in the backup

medium.

Random tape reading and writing

Small backup and recovery granularity

− Tier-2 indexes are managed by the database of CommServe, which

facilitates data search, backup, and recovery.

− It greatly enhances the flexibility and extensibility of the system.

Backup and data migration adopt a unified indexing mechanism, which is simple to manage and maintain and provides high technical reusability

and flexible extended functions.



2 iDA

2.1 File System iDA

2.1.1 Backup and Recovery Module of the File System

The file system iDA of CommVault provides centralized data protection and

recovery for unstructured files, such as Windows, Unix, Linux, NetWare, and

Mac files. It provides options for deleting redundant data, managing

operations, and generating advanced reports, which allows simpler backup,

recovery, and search of data in a file system.

The file system iDA has the following technical characteristics:

Simple data management: The file system iDA provides the simple data

backup and recovery function. Automatic backup policies can be

customized on a centralized graphic console.

Point-in-time recovery: When a system-level fault occurs, the file system

iDA supports quick point-in-time data recovery.

Redundant data block deletion: In cooperation with the redundant data

deletion module, CommVault can delete redundant data blocks during

file transfer to reduce the backup window and save storage space.

2.1.2 Data archiver of the File System

Storage space management focuses on unstructured files that occupy a large

part of the storage space but are seldom accessed.

As more service data is generated, large quantities of local primary hard disks

are required if the traditional online storage mode is adopted. It leads to more

investment and complex management. Most data (such as videos and old data

on the file server) in the disks is seldom accessed but still occupies disk space

and wastes investment. In this case, storage tiering can be adopted to ensure

the balance between performance and price.

CommVault provides the storage tiering function. It can store most of the data

that is seldom accessed in an offline medium (such as a SATA disk array, tape

library, or CD-ROM library) and only a small amount of data that is relatively

frequently accessed in the primary storage medium. When the data stored in

an offline medium is accessed, the system automatically sends the data to the primary storage medium. Similarly, the system can automatically move the

data that is not accessed for a long period of time from the primary storage



medium to an offline medium. This can reduce the investment and

management cost.

2.2 Oracle iDA

The Oracle iDA of CommVault Simpana provides a simple end-to-end backup

and recovery solution for Oracle data. It allows users to perform full backup

and recovery of the entire Oracle database, backup and recovery of single data

files or table spaces, or backup of archived logs and point-in-time recovery.

CommVault Simpana adopts the SnapProtect technology for backing up

Oracle databases. Based on the snapshot and clone technologies of

mainstream storage disk arrays, a point-in-time snapshot and recovery

mechanism is provided on the management GUI of CommVault Simpana.

2.2.1 Backing up an Oracle Database

The prerequisite for Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) backup is as follows:

The database is running in ARCHIVELOG mode.

The Oracle backup is a graphic operation process. The operations are simple

and do not involve large quantities of scripts. The basic procedure is as

follows:

Create an Oracle backup instance.

Figure 2-1

Select the data to be backed up (entire database or a table space) and

storage policy.



Figure 2-2

Figure 2-3

After the database NoCatalog is backed up, run the control file backup script. Then,

the database can be recovered even if the control file is damaged. If the control file is

backed up in script mode on the local computer, it is necessary to back up it in file

mode to a storage device. Therefore, a file backup set needs to be added.

After the backup instance is created, start the backup manually or

perform the backup as planned.



Figure 2-4

Figure 2-5

The backup progress is displayed in the console window. Users can

double-click an activity to view details and the RMAN logs.

Figure 2-6



Figure 2-7

After the Oracle database is backed up, CommVault can automatically

initiate backup of the control file to ensure time consistency between the

backups.

Figure 2-8

Figure 2-9



Figure 2-10

2.2.2 Recovering the Oracle Database

On the CommVault GUI, users can invoke the RMAN to recover an Oracle

database and perform inter-computer recovery. The specific procedure is as

follows:

Recover the control file to the destination computer.

Figure 2-11

Select the control file to be recovered.

Figure 2-12

Specify the destination computer.



Figure 2-13

Recover the control file.

Figure 2-14

Figure 2-15

Rename the recovered control file according to the standard in the

SPFILESID.ORA file on the destination server, and make three copies of the

file.

Figure 2-16



Recover the database file. Before the recovery, switch the database to

MOUNT state.

Figure 2-17

Initiate recovery on the CommVault console.

Figure 2-18

Select the destination computer and contents to be recovered.



Figure 2-19

The recovery progress is displayed in the console window. Users can

double-click an activity to view details and the RMAN logs.

Figure 2-20

Figure 2-21



Figure 2-22

Run the following command on the SQL*Plus of the destination computer.

recover database using backup controlfile until cancel;",

Type CANCEL after Specify log.

Run the alter database open resetlogs; command to rebuild the redolog and

open the database.

After the preceding operations are performed, the inter-computer Oracle

recovery is complete. The database has been started on the destination

computer.

2.3 Microsoft SQL Server iDA

Before using CommVault to back up or recover the SQL Server, users must

have an understanding of the common backup and recovery concepts of the

SQL Server.

2.3.1 SQL Server Transaction Log and Automatic Recovery

The SQL Server transaction log refers to the recording of database changing.

All operations on a database can be recorded and saved as independent files.

Each transaction is recorded in detail in the transaction log. Users can restore

a data file to a previous state based on the log. The transaction logging begins

when a transaction starts. Any operation on a database during the transaction

process is recorded. The logging does not stop until users click Commit or

Rollback. Each database has at least a transaction log and a data file.

Microsoft SQL Server checks each database in the system at each start to

perform automatic recovery. It checks the master database first, and then starts

a thread to cover all databases in the system. The automatic recovery

mechanism checks the transaction log of ach SQL Server database. If a

transaction log contains any incomplete transaction, the transaction will be

rolled back. Then, the automatic recovery mechanism checks the transaction

log to locate the incomplete transactions that are not written into the database.

If any incomplete transaction is found, the transaction will be completed and

rolled forward.

The SQL Server transaction log combines the Oracle rollback segment and

online Oracle redo log functions. Every database has its own transaction log,

which records all changes of the database. The log is shared by all users of the

database. After a transaction begins and a data change is made, a BEGIN



TRANSACTION event (similar to the modification event) is recorded in the

log. This event is used for determining the start of the transaction during

automatic recovery. When a data modification event is received, the change is

recorded in the transaction log and written preferentially into the database.

2.3.2 Backup of the SQL Server Database

Microsoft SQL Server provides the following data backup modes:

Full backup

Differential backup: After a full backup of the database is performed, the

system periodically uses BACKUP DATABASE WITH

DIFFERENTIAL to back up changed data and indexes.

Transaction log backup: The part of the transaction log that is not needed

will be removed during the backup. An independent file group is

provided for the transaction log of Microsoft SQL Server. This file group

can be repeatedly added during backup or after being deleted. By default,

the SQL Server transaction log increases automatically until it uses up all

available space or reaches a preset limit. When the transaction log uses

up all available space or reaches the preset limit, an error occurs, and no

data modification is allowed until the log is backed up or deleted.

File or file group backup: The SQL Server can back up data files or data

file groups.

Backup can be performed when a database is being used. In this way, the

systems whose running cannot be interrupted can be backed up. The

transaction log backup data or differential backup data can be saved to a full

backup in point-in-time mode. The backup data can be used to recover the

data of the database.

Users can stop the Oracle archiver to skip backup. Similarly, members of the

user group db_owner can forcibly remove folders from the transaction log in

point-in-time mode. This process can be accomplished by using the SQL

Server Enterprise Manager (deleting the transaction log in point-in-time

mode), Transact-SQL (sp_dboption storage process), or SQL-DMO.

2.3.3 Recovery of the SQL Server Database

A database can be restored to a previous state by using the transaction log

backup. The transaction log backup, however, cannot recover the database by

itself. It needs the cooperation of the database file that has been backed up.

Before the database recovery, the data file must be recovered. Before the

entire data file is completely recovered, users must not set it to be finished.

Otherwise, the transaction log cannot be recovered. When the data file is

completely recovered, the system restores the database to the expected state

based on the transaction log backup. If multiple transaction log backups exist

after the last backup of the database, the system will recover the transaction

logs one by one according to their creation time.

2.3.4 Characteristics of the SQL Server iDA

CommVault invokes the virtual device interface (VDI) of the SQL to back up

and recover the SQL server. In the GUI, users can select a server, type the user,

account, and password, and select the backup policy and medium server. The

SQL Server iDA has the following characteristics:



High performance

The MSDN API is used for performing online backup and recovery. This

allows databases to be protected at any time.

The VDI provides faster data transmission during backup and recovery.

It is seamlessly integrated with the slice function of the SQL. It can write

multiple data flows into multiple tape drives, speeding up the backup.

Multiple database backup and recovery processes can be performed

simultaneously. This reduces the requirements for system resources and

backup windows.

LAN-free backup by using the built-in sharing storage is supported.

Users can select databases and perform inter-computer recovery and

point-in-time recovery.

High reliability

The automatic hot disaster recovery policy can reduce the breakdown

time due to data damage and hardware fault.

The resumable backup function can reduce the backup time and ensure

the completion of data protection operations.

Various recovery modes (such as point-in-time recovery and gradual

database recovery) are supported to quickly locate the scope of data loss.

New SQL databases can be automatically discovered during backup. This

ensures that new data can be protected.

Ease of use

An integrated GUI and wizard ensure quick deployment and convenient

management.

Access control and security policies can be configured. Node table (NT),

Exchange, and SQL user groups can be created. Operation rights can be

authorized. Operation rights of unauthorized user groups can be

automatically restricted.

Unified event monitoring and observing is provided. Events can be

filtered.

Figure 2-23



Import scripts can be invoked in a recovery plan to perform automatic

recovery.

If an import script is embedded in the recovery task, the system automatically

runs the import script to recover the database after the backup file is recovered.

The entire process is automatic and does not need any manual intervention.

2.4 Microsoft Exchange iDA

2.4.1 Backup and Recovery of the Exchange

The Exchange backup and recovery agent of CommVault can be integrated

with the Exchange through the Messaging Application Programming Interface

(MAPI) to protect storage groups, information stores, mailboxes, public

folders, and web folders. It can also recover single contact items, calendar

items, tasks, and emails by small granularity. It provides the single instance

storage (SIS) backup function to capture the actual target storage of the

Exchange, which is rapider and reduces storage space usage than traditional

full backup. In cooperation with the backup agent of the Windows file system,

it can provide unified protection for the entire Exchange environment.

In terms of Exchange protection, CommVault has the following advantages:

A simple unified GUI is provided.

The data availability is maximized. Emails, attachments, public folders,

web folders, and their contents can be recovered by small granularity.

The Exchange database and system can be quickly recovered.

The VSS and Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, or Exchange 2010 can be

transparently integrated.

The data protection, archiving, copy, and snapshot functions can

conveniently invoked, and a unified administration console is provided.

The major functions of CommVault are as follows:

Ease of use: CommVault is easy to install, configure, manage, and learn.

Web-based browsing management: It can manage the Exchange data at

any position across the networks that are accessible by web.

Reliable recovery: The Microsoft IT team in Redmond has been using

CommVault to manage the Exchange data during Exchange and Office

R&D processes since 1999. Many internal departments of Microsoft also

use it to protect the Exchange data, such as DogFoodLab, the largest

Microsoft Exchange R&D laboratory.

Integration with Microsoft Cutting-Edge: CommVault can speed up the

upgrade of the Windows system where the Exchange system belongs and

restore the data of the source version to the target version.

Hybrid environment: CommVault supports the hybrid Windows

environment that consists of new and old software versions, which

facilitates deployment and upgrade and extends the life-cycle of old

systems.

Automatic discovery: By protecting active directories, the automatic mailbox discovery function of CommVault is extended. After users are

added to the user group AD, CommVault can automatically discover and

protect their Exchange mailboxes.



The Exchange backup modes are as follows:

Table 2-1

Data Type Description Backup Type

Database Information storage

Organizational structure of

the Exchange

Shared documentation of

the Exchange

Log files and patches

Full backup

Differential backup

Public folders All public folders

Emails or other files in the

folders

Attachments

Full backup

Incremental backup

Synthetic full backup

Web folders All web folders

Emails or other files in the

folders

Attachments

Full backup

Incremental backup


Emails Mailboxes of all users

Folders in the mailboxes

Files in the folders

Attachments

Full backup

Incremental backup


CommVault provides the following Exchange recovery functions:

CommVault provides a GUI for recovering the Exchange data in various

modes.

It can recover an entire Exchange server and its information storage, including

private storage, public storage, storage groups, and transaction log. This

ensures quick recovery of the Exchange system when a disaster occurs.

The following figures shows the recovery of the entire Exchange system:

Figure 2-24

CommVault provides online data recovery by small granularity. It can recover

single emails, contact items, calendar items, and notes. Users can browse all



mails and folders protected by CommVault conveniently without knowing

their corresponding mailbox or storage group. This avoids endless scanning of

tape sets. Inter-mailbox recovery is supported. By using the ranking and

search functions, users can rank and search information by sender, recipient,

date, and topic.

Figure 2-25

In the CommVault environment, each individual Outlook user can

independently recover the mailbox data that has been backed up. CommVault

provides the ADD-IN module for Outlook users. This easy-to-use module

reduces the workload of Exchange system administrators.

Figure 2-26

2.4.2 Exchange Data Archiver

Email data has a life-cycle. Its meaning varies at different periods. When the

data is just generated, it is most frequently accessed and brings most benefits

to enterprises. As time goes by, the frequency of access and benefits fall. The

data volume that is seldom accessed is much more than the data that is

frequently accessed. The mailbox of each user has a limited capacity, which

cannot store all emails. An enterprise cannot afford the cost to expand storage

devices to store all email data, which is irrational in terms of IT development.

The frequency of access of email data falls gradually from generation to

storage, use, archiving, and deletion. To improve the usage of storage devices

and reduce the storage cost, the storage position of email data also changes



along with the frequency of access. CommVault adopts the storage tiering

mechanism. To ensure data availability, key email data is stored by using

expensive storage technologies and modes, such as RAID disk array, copy,

scheduled copy, and hierarchical backup. When the email data cannot bring

benefits for the enterprise any more, the data will be moved to a less

expensive storage medium. When the email data is not accessed any more, it

will be deleted or moved. If the email data is required by law or governmental

regulations to be stored for many years, it will be moved to a nearline or

offline storage medium to be archived, which is safe and cost-effective.

The tiering storage mechanism can meet the requirement of customers for

minimized storage cost. The specific advantages are as follows:

Minimized total storage cost: The data that is seldom accessed is stored

in a less expensive storage medium. In this way, the performance

advantage of disks and the cost advantage of tapes are combined.

Optimal performance: Tiering storage of email data maximizes the

advantages of different types of storage devices.

Improved data availability: In tiering storage mode, the historical data

that is seldom used is moved to an auxiliary storage device or archived to

an offline storage pool. In this way, the data does not need to be saved

repeatedly, and the save time is reduced. This improves the availability of

the online data. The available space in disks can be maintained above the

level required by the system.

Transparent data migration to applications: After the tiering storage

mechanism is adopted, the header of an email is stored on the source

storage device when the email is moved to another storage device. This

allows users to access the email without changing the access mode and

data migration to be transparent to applications.

Emails can be archived by preset rules, for example, by the quota of each

mailbox.

Figure 2-27

Emails can also be archived by their attributes.



Figure 2-28

After emails are moved, users can view the following information in the

personal Outlook window.

Figure 2-29

The icon of each email has been changed into the CommVault icon and

marked with ARCHIVED, indicating that the body and attachments of the

email have been moved to a secondary storage medium. To access this data,

users can double-click the email. CommVault will automatically recover the

email.

In the Outlook window, an individual user can delete the header information

of the archived emails that are seldom used. When the user finds that such an

email is still useful, the email cannot be recovered since the header

information of the email has been deleted. In this case, the user can use the

ADD-IN module provided by CommVault for Outlook to search and recover

the data. The GUI for this function is the same as that for searching backup

data of mailboxes.



Figure 2-30

User authorities are involved when this recovery mode is adopted.

CommVault can perfectly combine the recovery and search rights and active

directory rights of users to prevent data loss.

Figure 2-31

2.4.3 Legal Hold of the Exchange

CommVault adopts the log mechanism of the Exchange database to meet legal

hold requirements. After the log mechanism is adopted, any email that comes

to or leaves the Exchange server will be copied to a specified mailbox. This

allows all emails to be managed and monitored but has no impact on

individuals. Individual users can continue to receive, delete, and archive

emails without changing habits.

In this mode, the mailbox that stores all emails increases unlimitedly, which

uses large a large deal of storage resources and affects the performance of the

Exchange server. CommVault can move emails from the mailbox to keep the

size of the mailbox below an acceptable level and reduce the load of the

Exchange server.



Figure 2-32

CommVault can automatically scan Exchange mailboxes to locate the mailbox

that adopts the log mechanism, which can reduce the configuration difficulties

for email server administrators. After the emails in the log mailbox are

successfully archived, the emails can be deleted to save mailbox space.

2.5 IBM Lotus Domino iDA

CommVault Simpana provides various modular solutions for IBM Lotus

Domino data management.

The Domino database backup protects mailbox data.

The data archiver for the Domino mailbox system controls the growth

and cost of the primary storage medium.

The data archiver for Domino legal hold can be associated with the email

log function of the Domino system to archive all emails and attachments

that comes to or leaves a mailbox.

Singly or in cooperation with other functions, the Lotus Domino data agent

provided by CommVault Simpana can protect the Domino data, control the

growth of Domino data, reduce cost, and detect and manage the risks that

result from non-compliance with laws or regulations. The data archiver

provides services for the terminal users, administrators, and regulation

compliance check team. It helps the email system maintain high performance

with increasing data volume.

2.5.1 Domino Backup

The iDA provides two backup and recovery modes for Lotus Domino:

Lotus Domino database backup and recovery

Lotus Domino document backup and recovery

The Lotus Domino Server iDA can protect Domino databases, including:

Lotus Domino database of the FAT file system

Lotus Domino database of the NT file system



Domino transaction log (if the transaction log function is enabled)

All Notes databases and templates

The Lotus Domino Server iDA can protect Domino databases, including:

Back up single or all Domino mailboxes and emails.

Recover single or all Domino mailboxes and emails.

Back up and recover database logs or non-log templates.

2.5.2 Domino Archiver and Legal Hold

CommVault provides the Domino archiver to help users comply with laws and

regulations, prepare e-Discovery, improve the Domino server performance,

reduce NSF problems, and cancel restrictions on mailbox quotas and

information capacity.

Large quantities of important emails need to be stored in the Domino server

for a long period of time. These emails are seldom accessed. They occupy

much of the space of the primary storage medium, affects the system

performance, and leads to increasing backup data and insufficiency in backup

windows. The data archiver provided by CommVault provides tiering

management of Notes emails.

As a hierarchical storage management (HSM) solution, the email archiver can

archive emails to a secondary storage medium to release the space in the

primary storage medium. When a user wants to access these emails, the

system automatically recovers the data from the secondary storage medium to

the primary storage medium. By configuring policies for selecting,

transferring, and retaining constant data, enterprises can obtain huge benefits

in terms of economy and productivity. Old emails are stored in a hierarchical

architecture (consisting of primary and secondary disk arrays and tapes). This

architecture can efficiently cope with the rapid increase in emails. The archive

mechanism is transparent. The archived data can be recovered directly to the

original storage position. Users can access the data at any time. System

administrators do not need to undergo expensive trainings to understand the

mechanism. Segmented physical transmission or folder maintenance within

the life-cycle of the data is not involved. Administrators can maintain the

efficiency of the primary storage medium. The tiering storage mechanism

reduces the cost of data storage and access.

The legal hold module of CommVault can archive Notes emails in compliance

with the related laws or regulations. In legal hold mode, all sent or received

emails will be archived to a safe storage library.

2.6 Microsoft SharePoint iDA

The integrated information management® solution of CommVault provides

high-performance data management, activity archiving, backup and recovery,

redundant data deletion, and search for enterprises in compliance with related

laws and regulations. CommVault has enhanced the Microsoft SharePoint

management. It uses Microsoft® FAST to invoke data based on contents. It

also makes use of the advantages of the 64-bit Windows ServerTM

environment where SharePoint belongs.

It can search the online, nearline, and offline data within the enterprise

by using Microsoft FAST.



It is integrated with the SharePoint Search Index.

It provides archiving, data migration, recovery, and copy functions that

are independent of versions.

It provides OnePass backup and archiving.

Data can be archived by document size, time, and version. This allows

SharePoint database operations to be performed more quickly and neatly

and users to invoke any or all versions of a document.

Interrupted backup and recovery, archiving, and reclaiming can be

resumed from the breakpoint.

It is seamlessly integrated with the onsite or hosted SharePoint versions.

Integrated disaster recovery and application recovery can be performed

by small granularity.

It is integrated with CommVault SnapProtect and VSS.

It is seamlessly integrated with the Azure and other cloud storage

platforms.

Redundant data deletion and SIS are supported..

Redundant client data can be deleted. Delete the redundant data before

data migration.

It can perform search in Microsoft® Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft®

LyncTM, Windows, and heterogeneous data simultaneously.

Data can be automatically imported to the SharePoint Records Center.

It provides data management for SharePoint and the Windows server

where the SharePoint belongs.

CommVault Simpana provides a browser-based GUI for Hyper-V data

management. Users and administrators can perform micro data management

to control data growth and storage cost.

As each CommVault version is independent, users can quickly install or

upgrade them to Office Server 2010 or various SharePoint 2010 versions

(enterprise, standard, and basic). CommVault provides small-granularity

management (backup, archiving, and recovery) for various SharePoint items

(such as sites, documents, lists, ASPX pages, templates, and contacts). This

allows users to manage all versions of various SharePoint items.

2.7 SAP iDA

The integrated platform provided by CommVault for SAP has passed the

NetWeaver certification. This platform provides extensible end-to-end data

protection and management functions.

2.7.1 SAP Backup and Recovery

SIMAPNA provides backup and recovery functions for SAP R3 and

NetWeaver, which can help the customer face various challenges (such as

powerful extensibility and quick data protection) to reduce risks and cost. This

solution integrates the SAP seamlessly and safely into a cloud platform for

cost-effective and reliable SAP operations.



It uses the SnapProtect technology to provide quick data management

and protection for large-scale SAP environments. Backup and recovery

in this case takes only a few minutes.

It supports various sophisticated databases (MaxDB, Oracle, DB2, and

MS SQL Server) that can be used in cooperation with the SAP to protect

the data in underlying databases.

It can use the SAP GUI to provide all features and functions through the

integrated SAP BACKINT, BAPI, and certified support services.

It provides the function of recovering data in point-in-time mode. In

cooperation with the simplified automatic log reclaiming function for

SAP databases, it can protect service processes and transactions and

prevent system breakdowns.

The audit-ready report provides complete data for enterprises to comply

with related laws and regulations.

The built-in redundant source and destination data deletion function can

delete all manageable data related to the SAP from disks, tapes, and

cloud systems to reduce storage time, storage size, and cost.

Real-time copy of systems and sites allows centralized disaster recovery

and management of SAP data and systems.

The seamless integration with cloud platforms provides new approaches

to SAP data management and an efficient method for reliable protection

of the SAP environment.

2.7.2 SAP Archive Management

The rapid growth of the SAP environment leads to the deterioration of the

overall performance and response time, which has impacts on service

processing and enterprise revenues. The SAP data archiving solution provided

by CommVault can help customers move the SAP data reliably, efficiently,

and economically to any storage device or cloud system to maintain the high

performance of the SAP deployment.

The automatic indexing and cataloging of SAP documents and

transaction data allows users to quickly search information during

lawsuits or legal hold.

The legal hold and e-discovery functions help customers integrate the

SAP and non-SAP data into an reviewable platform.

CommVault is completely integrated with the SAP ArchiveLink interface,

which has passed the related certification.

The SAP data archiving solution is an organic component of CommVault

integrated data management and protection platform. It provides

all-round protection (such as backup, recovery, and archiving) for SAP

and non-SAP environments.

The virtual storage pool management function allows data and

information to be archived to any disk or tape, which reduces the

complexity and cost of storage.

The data protection and management of SAP and non-SAP systems is

unified. This reduces the total ownership cost, resource cost, and various

risks caused by independent solutions.



2.8 NAS iDA

2.8.1 NAS Backup

The network-attached storage (NAS) iDA of Simpana provides an end-to-end

data backup and recovery solution for NAS servers. It supports the following

mainstream NAS storage brands: NetAPP, HDS, and EMC.

The NAS iDA has the following characteristics:

Comprehensive backup and recovery capability: The NAS iDA provides

flexible data backup and recovery capability for NAS servers. Simpana

can invoke the Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) provided

by the NAS server to perform full backup, incremental backup, and

differential backup. The data that is backed up can be restored to various

NAS servers or Windows file servers.

Point-in-time recovery: In the case of data loss, the NAS iDA provides

quick point-in-time data recovery.

Redundant data deletion: The NAS iDA provides the function of deleting

block-level redundant data and backing up the only NAS data block.

2.8.2 NAS Data Archiver

The NAS data archiver provides the data archiving, recovery, and online

reclaiming functions for mainstream NAS products (NetAPP, EMC, and HDS).

Period of storage, transparent reclaiming, and e-discovery can be set for the

archived data.

The NAS data archiver can move the NAS data from the primary storage

medium to a secondary storage medium or tape according to predefined rules.

This helps customers reduce the cost of the primary storage medium. The

tiering storage management mechanism can make use of the storage resources

of enterprises to the maximum degree.

Users can create headers for the archived files. By accessing headers, terminal

users can transparently reclaim the archived files without browsing or

recovering data from the GUI of a third-party application, no matter whether

the files are stored in a secondary storage medium or copied to tapes.

The NAS data archiver has the following Characteristics:

Reclaiming control: Users can configure the parameters of head files. For

example, users can set the maximum number of headers in a reclaiming

task. Once the number of headers in a reclaiming task reaches the upper

limit, the task needs to queue for the processing.

Point-in-time recovery: Users can recover multiple archived files

uniformly on the recovery GUI.

Clearance of headers: Users can set the period of storage for headers. The

system will automatically clear the overdue headers to release the storage

space.

Setting NAS archiving



Figure 2-33

Archive contents

Figure 2-34

NAS archiving rules



Figure 2-35

2.9 DB2 iDA

The DB2 iDA of CommVault Simpana provides online backup and recovery

for DB2 databases.

The DB2 iDA is one of the various iDAs provided by CommVault. It provides

a GUI for the online protection of DB2 systems, user libraries, historical files,

and log files.



3 Virtual Server Agent

3.1 VMware Data Protection

The virtual server agent (VSA) of CommVault Simpana is located on a server

that is not the virtual server to be backed up. It can be a virtual server. In this

case, no local agent on virtual machines is required. The common VSA uses

built-in tools (VMware VADP and Microsoft VSS) of the virtual platform to

perform block-level incremental image backup, volume-level backup, and

file-level backup. Various recovery solutions are provided for each backup

type, including entire virtual machine backup and small-granularity backup

(such as single file backup). Inter-platform (between VMware and Microsoft)

recovery is also provided for data migration or test.

The vStorage API Data Protection (VADP) interface is a new backup interface

of VMware ESX 4 and later versions. Compared with the VMware

Consolidated Backup (VCB) method, it provides enhanced functions and

performance.

Besides locating problems in the current data environment, the revolutionary

data management solution of CommVault Simpana can also help users quickly

transit to the virtual and cloud environment of the future data center with

various technologies to enjoy the various benefits brought by the modern data

center.

CommVault Simpana provides the following advantages in terms of virtual

machine protection:

Hundreds of virtual machines can be protected within minutes without

affecting the physical production servers.

The built-in source/destination redundant data deletion function reduces

the backup data volume.

The consistency between the internal applications of virtual machines is

100% ensured.

Data recovery, search, and e-discovery can be performed by small

granularity.

All-round storage resource management is provided. The environment

and virtual architecture can be conveniently managed by detailed reports.

In a word, Simpana provides reliable data management. It can help users

switch quickly to the virtual machine environment.



3.2 MS Hyper-V Data Protection

The integrated data management® solution of CommVault considers the

Windows-based software as a whole and provides high-performance data

management, archiving, backup and recovery, redundant data deletion, and

search functions for Hyper-V and applications in the Hyper-V environment.

The VSA-Virtual Server Agent of CommVault enhances the Hyper-V and

increases the data volume managed by the virtual Windows server and virtual

machines. It can also invoke virtual data by using Microsoft® FAST. All

VMware data backed up or archived by CommVault can be recovered by the

entire server, volume, or file. CommVault can also help customers move

virtual machines from VMware to Hyper-V.

Single backup can be performed by server, volume, or file.

The data of all applications (Microsoft® Exchange, Microsoft®

SharePoint®, Microsoft® SQL ServerTM, and Active Directory®) in the

Hyper-V framework can be managed.

It is integrated with the VSS.

Automatic VMs discovery ensures that new servers are also protected.

The redundant data deletion function can release the storage space.

Data can be archived by document size, time, and version. This allows

SharePoint and Exchange database operations to be performed more

quickly and neatly and users to reclaim any or all versions of a

document.

It is seamlessly integrated with the Azure platform and adopts the tiering

storage mechanism.

Synthetic full backup can reduce the number of full backups and the total

requirement for storage resources.

Interrupted backup and recovery can be resumed from the breakpoint.

It is integrated with CommVault SnapProtect and VSS.

Synchronous data search can be performed in the Hyper-V, Exchange,

SharePoint, Microsoft® LyncTM, and Windows.

It can automatically send data to the SharePoint recording center.

It is seamlessly integrated with the Cluster Shared Volume (CSV).

It is integrated with the copy function of CommVault to meet the

requirement for high availability.

VMs can be easily cloned.

CommVault Simpana provides a browser-based GUI for enhanced Hyper-V

data management. Users and administrators can perform micro data

management to control data growth and storage cost.

CommVault provides the following enhanced functions for Hyper-V data

management:

It can back up, recover, move, archive, mine, search, and quick recover

emails, information, folders, contacts, calendar items, or the entire

SharePoint environment with Windows Server SystemTM by various

granularities.

The redundant data deletion and SIS functions greatly reduce the total

storage resources required for backing up and archiving data, including

storing the deleted data to the Azure and tapes.



FAST can used to search contents within an enterprise. Heterogeneous

search and SharePoint search are supported.

Active Directory and ADAM provides object and property management.

Users can use the Security Identifying Information (SID) to create

objects in the Windows server environment.

The VSA of CommVault supports the Hyper-VTM. Each VSA can serve

multiple VMs.

Simpana provides continuous data copying.

The HTTP server provides the random scheduling function, which

increases the transmitted data volume.

The SnapProtect technology provides the immediate snapshot function,

which can quickly recover servers and applications.

A web desktop console is provided for remote offline browsing.

A browser-based GUI is provided for global management.

Multiple languages are supported. Multiple languages are also supported

by Microsoft® Outlook for active archiving. This allows users to use

their native languages.

The operations for generating reports, including customizing reports, are

simple. The reports can be sent to mobile devices and the Microsoft®

system center.

Inter-server recovery is provided for moving small- or large-scale data

from one SharePoint environment to another.

SharePoint 2010 upgrade is sped up. Data can be safely obtained from

previous SharePoint versions.

The 64-bit optimization of CommVault ensures high system performance

and maximizes the advantages of the 64-bit server technology and 64-bit

Windows server software.

CommVault provides quota-based mailbox management. This function

allows users to manage old and useless emails by storing a certain

amount emails to a less expensive secondary storage medium (such as

the Windows storage server) to maintain a limited data volume in the

mailbox.

The offline data management is simple. Various storage medium types

(disks, SAN, NAS, tapes, magneto-optical disks, and DVDs) can be used

in hybrid mode.

It is integrated with the VSS for Exchange, SharePoint, and SQL data

management. The common requester function is provided for uniformly

processing snapshots by hardware or supplier without considering the

vendor.

Synthetic full backup can significantly reduce the number of full backups

and the number of required storage media.

It can be partially integrated with the web for obtaining files seamlessly

from a secondary or tertiary medium.

CommVault provides extensive professional services and support for

global customers. It supports quick installation and can be customized

according to the actual environment.



3.3 SnapProtect for Virtual Server Agent

In cooperation with the built-in snapshot engine of the storage medium, the

SnapProtect for Virtual Server Agent can quickly create recoverable data

copies for the datastore of virtual machines. These snapshots can also be used

for quick virtual recovery.

The SnapProtect for VSA and MediaAgent are deployed on a Windows

platform. If the VSA is deployed on a virtual machine, it is recommended that

the virtual machine run on an ESX server that is dedicated for backup to avoid

resource competition with other tasks. The ESX server dedicated for backup

can run on the ESXi version.

Each SnapProtect process is the same as that of standard backup. The

improvement is as follows: This process initiates a snapshot instead of

copying all data blocks immediately.

The specific process is as follows:

Automatically search and discover new virtual machines according to

predefined rules.

Quiesce the virtual machines to ensure the consistency between image

files.

Locate the datastore where the virtual machines to be backed up belongs.

Create the hardware snapshot of the storage system. This step takes a few

seconds, depending on the technology of the hardware vendor.

Unquiesce the virtual machines for them to run normally.

Generate indexes for the snapshots according to predefined rules.

As snapshot protection is created by using the SnapProtect technology, it takes

only a few minutes to protect the data. Quiescing virtual machines also takes

only a few seconds. This allows multiple data copies of virtual machines to be

generated with the minimized impact on the system. Better recovery can be

provided, and the recovery level is improved.

In the typical environment, a snapshot-based data copy is created every four to

eight hours, and one of them is selected at a certain time and saved to a

backup medium (a disk or tape).

The advantages are as follows:

Quick and reliable virtual data protection is provided, whose impact on

the system is minimized. More important systems can be virtualized,

resulting in high return on investment (ROI).

Usually, the VMware is the strategic choice, and the storage platform is

the technological choice. The SnapProtect for VSA is independent of the

storage system. It provides data management functions and methods for

various storage brands. More flexible technological choices are provided

for strategic decisions.

Multiple data copies are created every day. Data can be recovered from

the latest copy. Compared with data recovery from the backup at night, it

can effectively reduce the data loss volume.

The unified data management provided by Simpana can be easily

extended to cloud platforms. This allows other future data management

technologies to be used.



4 SnapProtect

The SnapProtect technology provided by Simpana can recover billions of

bytes of key data within minutes.

Simpana SnapProtect™ is integrated with the quick and continuous

hardware-based snapshot function. It can protect the largest virtual and

physical server environment and meet the strictest data protection

requirements. It can recover the server environment within minutes. A quick

recovery copy can be created by creating an internal hardware snapshot copy

of the storage disk array. This has little impact on the production server.

Hundreds of systems and related applications can be protected within minutes.

When other solutions protect systems and applications through network,

CommVault is trying to capture the entire environment without affecting

production applications. To this end, the hardware-based snapshot technology

is adopted.

It can create recovery copies without moving any data. This can

minimize the load of the production server.

It can create multiple recovery points every day. This minimizes service

risks and improves the service level.

The protection and recovery function is independent of the underlying

hardware. Simpana can be used on any disk array hardware.

Applications and data can be easily recovered, no matter where they are

stored.

With the integrated CommVault, administrators do not need to create and

maintain scripts or manage various independent storage disk arrays,

technologies, or products. It simplifies the management, protection, and

recovery of the application data on each storage medium or tape layer without

affecting the production system.

Most advanced recovery functions

The recovery of single objects, single files, entire volumes, or entire

applications is performed on the Simpana administration console. In any of

the following scenarios, users do not need to install or run recovery scripts or

perform any manual operations: Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, SAP,

Oracle, DB2, and SAP. Simpana SnapProtect will perform all the operations

automatically. Enabling object recovery in a database is as simple as selecting a check box on the administration console. Users can enable the functions of

accessing the SharePoint documents and mailboxes and archiving emails by

using the SnapProtect.



Simpana is a practical tool. Users can browse their backup tasks, including the

tasks of virtual machines, physical servers, volumes, files, objects, and entire

applications, directly on the Simpana administration console.

Maximized ROI of storage systems and networks

The SnapProtect technology provides 7 x 24 protection for the tier-1, tier-2,

and tier-3 key tasks and service data with the investment in the high-speed

Ethernet and optical network and the high performance of storage disk arrays.

Free of constraints due to solutions

Many enterprises use the disk array-based snapshot technology to create

point-in-time data copies to protect online data access. The snapshot

technology has certain advantages. To make use of these advantages, however,

users are facing new challenges. In this case, users must ensure that data

copies can be managed on different storage and tape layers to meet storage,

cost, and recovery requirements.

Solution-related constraints usually involve the creation and maintenance of

complicated scripts. Multiple products and technologies are independently

managed. These technologies and products include various application-based

snap-type products, data migration technologies, and archiving and backup

products. They can ensure that the data can be moved between different

storage layers and positions and leave tapes at last. If the storage systems and

tapes are not uniformly cataloged or managed, it is a heavy and

time-consuming task to manually recover the data. Usually, a system

administrator with various professional skills has to restore the data from

various storage layers to the product system and manually ensure the

consistency and timeliness of the application data.

Bottom line: business operation advantages and low cost

By reducing the storage and management time, the SnapProtect technology

can reduce the business operation cost and investment related to the

management and protection of key application data. This can save input and

manpower, which can be used in other projects. The data is reliably protected

and can be recovered easily when it is required.



5 Continuous Data Replicator

Enterprises and governments may have offices and data centers in different

regions. They are very concerned about how to use Simpana to protect

large-scale distributed data. Traditionally, local backup devices are used.

Local backup is very expensive, and disaster recovery backup is not supported.

Due to the deficiency of operators in skills, remote data protection and

recovery becomes a knotty problem. CommVault offers a solution to this issue.

Simpana has many options that ensure cost-effective high-quality remote data

protection and availability and provides a unified enterprise-level data

management environment for decentralized enterprises.

As a CommVault module, the Continuous Data Replicator (CDR) can protect

data in cooperation with other modules. Both CDR and SnapProtect are on the

recovery management layer of the data center. The CDR adopts a special

method to meet the recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point

objective (RPO). Changes are continuously copied. In most cases, the

destination recovery time is only seconds later than the time of the original

data. In combination with the recovery point during copying, the recovery

time can be minimized. Data can be recovered from a volume backup or from

a valid snapshot at an appropriate time.

The CDR and the entire data management module of CommVault use the

same GUI and policies to protect copy data during the entire life-cycle of the

data.

5.1 Recovery Management Layer

The difference between the recovery management layer and data protection

layer is how to quickly recover data and meet the RTO and RPO set by the

customer. For typical data protection modes such as backup, these values are

counted by day. On the recovery management layer, data is protected by copy

and snapshot technologies. The original format of the data is used. Data is

recovered by loading volumes or copying back the data, while traditionally

data is recovered based on the backup data in a disk or tape. The CDR

combines the file-based copy and snapshot functions to meet the RTO and

RPO set by the customer. Changes are continuously copied. In most cases, the

destination recovery time is only seconds later than the time of the original

data. In combination with the recovery point during copying, the recovery time can be minimized. Data can be recovered from a volume backup or from

a valid snapshot at an appropriate time.



5.2 Role of the CDR on the Recovery Layer

The CDR provides the following special function: It can copy the data with

byte-level changes. Combined with the SnapShot technology, it provides an

ideal solution for WAN-based environment.

Many customers with multiple remote offices or data centers are looking

for a stable centralized data protection solution. The byte-level data copy

function provided by the CDR can optimize the valid bandwidth of the

WAN. In transparent combination with the Galaxy backup function, it

protects an all-round data protection solution for remote offices and data

centers.

Customers are looking for a cost-effective disaster recovery (DR)

solution for their application data. For example, they want a solution to

protect the data in the email system and databases. By combining the

copy technology and the application-sensitive snapshot technology, the

CDR can automatically maintain the updates of remote copies. If the data

is damaged or a disaster occurs, the remote copies can be quickly loaded

and put in use.

5.3 CDR Process

The CDR copies data from the source computer to the destination computer in

almost real time to protect applications and file systems. Remote key data is

defined as a member of the copy set. It corresponds to the destination file in

the data center through the WAN. The CDR can also provide the data

availability service with low-cost copies. When data is written on the source

computer, the copied data will be obtained, and the byte-level changes will be

transmitted to and written on the destination computer. Data transmission

during the copy process is divided into two stages: Create a basic copy (or

image), and update the data in the data set continuously and incrementally. To

ensure that the incremental change data can be sent reliably to the destination

computer, a recording mechanism is adopted. During copying, the network

bandwidth is also controlled to restrict the traffic of data transmission from the

source computer. The copy function provides a cost-effective solution for

protecting remote data resources by data type, data set size, or data change

rate.

Compared independent copy products, Simpana CDR provides richer entire

data protection. For example, the product of a vendor needs to create a

snapshot on the source computer and then send the snapshot to the destination

computer, which means that a large deal of image data needs to be transmitted

over the network. The CDR can invoke copied data to provide snapshots to

ensure the consistency between applications. The recovery points are stored

on the destination computer. They can be used as the data source for DR

backup. The copy configuration and central backup policies are transparently

integrated. The following figure shows the procedure for copying data and

creating recovery points.

5.4 Copy Modes

CommVault CDR supports the following copy modes:



One-to-one copy

Figure 5-1

Multiple-to-one copy

Figure 5-2

One-to-multiple copy

Figure 5-3



5.5 Data Protection for Multiple Remote Offices and Data Centers

The CDR is seamlessly integrated with the data life-cycle management

function of Simpana. A powerful unified GUI is provided, which allows users

to control the copy process and the data protection and archiving of remote

offices. In this way, administrators can extend the data life-cycle management

to remote offices with a policy and a console.

The following figure shows how to protect the data of multiple remote file

systems, email systems, database systems, and local servers in centralized

mode. The application data is copied to a central server. A backup policy is

created on the server to provide offline data backup. This backup set can be

directly browsed. If a backup agent is installed on the client, the data can also

be restored directly to the client. This greatly reduces the workload of

administrators in tracing backup sets, especially those of remote servers.

Figure 5-4

After the data of a remote office is copied and the corresponding recovery

point is created, the data of the remote office becomes a part of the data

protection policy. Recovery points are created by COW. A COW is a

space-saving snapshot volume that contains the copied data. This type of

snapshot can recover data in various modes.

Snapshots can be loaded as read-only volumes for users to browse, read,

and copy the file data.

Administrators can process any recovery point on the COW and change

it into a complete volume. This volume has a specified time for any

server in the network environment.



Each recovery point is associated with a storage policy after it is created,

and a backup set is automatically created. This backup set can be

browsed and recovered like a common part of the recovery process.

This special function combines copy and backup. It allows users to browse

and recover their backup sets in their remote offices. After a user creates a

backup set on a local computer, the CDR can automatically maps the copy

data to the primary backup server.

5.6 Cost-Effective Disaster Recovery

Currently, the CDR supports the following products: Windows, Unix, and

Linux file systems, and Exchange, SQL, and Oracle applications. The CDR

can copy and manage the time points of application data consistency. When

the data center requires a DR policy, the CDR can provide a cost-effective

choice, which is a remote image solution same as the Symmetrix Remote Data

Facility (SRDF).

The CDR can automatically discover the applications that are installed and the

folders (logs and databases) that need to be copied. When the applications are

running, it can create an initial copy for these key data. It can handle locked

files.

Various CDR configuration options are provided. One-to-multiple mode can

be set to copy a key database from the central server to multiple DR scenarios.

Recovery points can be created in a special mode or as planned. This allows

key applications to be quickly and reliably started in DR scenarios. The

following figure shows a possible configuration solution. The central email

server and database server are copied to two different places over the WAN to

prevent the occurrence of disasters. The application data is copied to a remote

center. Recovery points are created at specified intervals to ensure that a valid

snapshot is available when any disaster occurs.

5.7 Troubleshooting Method for Network Interruptions

The reliability of the remote copy solution depends on the network. If the

network is to be interrupted or is interrupted, whether the disaster recovery

solution is capable of rectifying the network interruption becomes a key issue.

The CDR provides reliable network interruption recovery capability to ensure

the synchronization of data sets.

Considering the impact of network interruption on copying, two factors must

be taken into account:

Small network interruption: A small network interruption can be rectified

within minutes or hours. The copying system can obtain file changes from the

source computer according to the interruption duration and the copied data volume and save them into the log. After the network connection is recovered,

the system can send the copied log to the destination computer. Like most

copy solutions, the CDR records content changes on the source computer into



the log and makes changes on the destination computer according to the log.

After the network connection is recovered, the copied data is sent back to the

system. Both normal copying and running of applications are not interrupted.

Large-scale network interruption: A large-scale network interruption refers to

an interruption during which the copy data obtained from the source computer

exceeds the available log space. In this case, the copied change data during

network interruption will be lost, and the copied data on the destination

computer is incomplete. Users can re-create a copy on the destination

computer and send all data on the source computer to the destination computer.

This method, however, is inapplicable to large-scale databases. Some

solutions initialize copy by comparing files one by one between the source

and destination computers. With this method, users do not need to copy all

files. In the case of a large complex copy set, it consumes too many resources

and too long time.

The CDR provides an intelligent synchronization mechanism for

automatically recreating the complete copy data after the network connection

is recovered. In this way, users do not need to copy all files or endure the

process of comparing each file. The CDR adopts a new mechanism. It invokes

the change log file of the Windows file system and quickly locates the files

that are changed during network interruption instead of comparing them one

by one. It is very important for an enterprise-level database.

5.8 Maximized Use of the Available Network Bandwidth

The CDR provides various enterprise-level functions to improve the

efficiency of network resource use. On both enterprise's private networks that

connect remote offices and Internet, the CDR allows administrators to control

and protect data during data transmission.

Data compression: If the available network bandwidth is limited,

administrators can compress and copy data flows. After data compression is

set on the source computer, all data in the copy log is compressed before it is

sent to the destination computer. The data will be decompressed and written

into the destination volume on the destination computer. The space that is

saved by data compression depends on the type of data to be copied.

Data encryption: Private networks are not suitable for copying key service

data between remote offices. When copying data on open networks,

administrators can encrypt data to protect privacy. The CDR can encrypt data

flows by using the Blowfish algorithm on the source data. Data flows will be

decrypted and written into the copy volume after they reach the destination

computer.

Bandwidth restriction: Network resources are expensive. A private network is

seldom used only for copying. In most cases, private networks also need to

handle other services during copying. In this case, the copying process

competes with other service processes for network bandwidth. The CDR

provides the bandwidth restriction function. It allows administrators to

allocate the certain available bandwidth to the copying process. The

bandwidth allocation can be automatically adjusted according to the plan made by administrators. For example, 90% bandwidth is allocated to copying

at night and weekends and 40% bandwidth is allocated to copying at work

hours in a typical office environment.



Boundless synchronization: Compared with daily changes, a data set is too big.

The network bandwidth may meet the requirement for daily change copying,

but it takes several days to create the initial copy. In this case, users can use

the boundless synchronization mode to quickly copy the initial data to the

destination computer.

The CDR provides a tool for processing large-scale data sets. This tool is

integrated with the copy process. After the initial copy data is obtained,

administrators can upload the initial data to the destination computer. A

backup set or disk cloning can be adopted. During data transmission, the CDR

obtains and records data changes on the source computer. After the

initialization is complete, the CDR transmits the changed data. The normal

copy process starts.

When a remote disaster occurs, this is also an effective method for recovering

the remote system. When the primary system becomes faulty, the secondary

system becomes the production system. The administrator can use the

boundless synchronization mode to restore the data quickly to the primary

system from the secondary system and copy the changed data to the primary

system. In this way, the primary system can be quickly recovered.

5.9 Integrated Management with the Copy Function

The CDR is integrated with the uniform data management platform of

Simpana. Its powerful function has exceeded the backup function. It can

manage data archiving and data copying efficiently in combination.

Data archiving is a capacity management solution on the Simpana platform. It

can move large quantities of files that are seldom accessed to a secondary

storage medium according to predefined rules, leaving only small stubs at the

original place. When the data is accessed, the system can automatically and

transparently recover the data from the secondary storage medium to the

primary storage medium.

The CDR and data archiving functions work in transparent cooperation. The

CDR copies stubs but does not obtain the data from the secondary storage

medium. After stubs are copied, the data can still be normally accessed.

The data archiver is very important for the CDR, no matter it is installed on

the source or destination computer. On the source computer, the data archiver

can reduce the data sets to be copied and the time taken for initial copying. On

the destination computer, the data archiver serves as a capacity management

tool. It is an effective tool for managing the data of multiple remote offices in

a central system.

5.10 Conclusions

The CDR extends the functions of Simpana modules on the recovery layer. It

is integrated with the data protection and capacity management functions

through a single unified GUI. The settings, operations, and recovery points of

data copying can be managed and monitored. The CDR provides various

enterprise-level functions, such as data compression, data encryption,

advanced connection recovery, and boundless synchronization. It is the first



choice solution for remote office data management and disaster recovery. The

advantages of the CDR solution are as follows:

Impact on the performance of the source system: Owing to its special

technical advantages, it uses only a few resources of the source system.

In the production system, the impact of the CDR on the source system

depends on the data volume of the source system to be copied. In a

system whose copy data volume is normal, the CPU usage of the CDR is

less 8%, and the memory usage of the CDR is only dozens of MBs.

Low network bandwidth: The CDR copies data by byte. It can ensure

timely copy in the case of limited bandwidth. It provides the data

compression function to further reduce the requirement for bandwidth.

Powerful error tolerance: It provides powerful error tolerance during

network failures. When the copying process is interrupted due to a

disaster or transmission exception, the services of the primary system are

not affected. After the network connection is recovered, the cached data

can be automatically copied to the disaster recovery center.

Convenient management: It provides a perfect GUI. All operations can

be performed and managed in one window. It provides rich reports,

which can be used to manage all storage resources and clients. It is

completely localized, which facilitate the maintenance and management

by users.



6 Other Technical Features

CommVault Simpana data protection software is an important part of Simpana

integrated information management. It provides strong and complete functions

and supports data backups by using all series of magnetic tapes, disks, and

compact disks. Simpana disk-based data protection solution allows the

administrator to use disks as high-performance backup devices. In addition, it

supports all storage structures, such as the DAS, NAS, SAN, or IP-SAN, and

all data transfer methods, such as IP-based or data block-based data transfer.

CommVault disk-based data protection technology has a faster backup speed

and smaller backup window. In addition, it provides faster concurrent

restoration performance and randomly accessed data backups, and moves data

to tier-2 storage media with policy-based means for long-term reservation.

Simpana supports various operating systems, major applications, and

databases.

Figure 6-1



Simpana provides a series of data protection solutions from centralized LAN

backup to SAN server-less backup. Users can select required data protection

solutions to protect their UNIX or Windows environments. In addition, they

can select stores with different performance to match their service

requirements, greatly reducing the total cost in the data life cycle.

CommVault disk-based data protection solution can be used in other media,

such as magnetic tapes or compact disks. Even if data is saved in different

media, the user can view protected data in a unified browser interface.

Simpana can directly restore data from any media. In any stage of the data life

cycle, the user only need to describe data types according to related policies.

Then, data is moved and storage devices are controlled automatically and

stably. The user can store data at the proper time and in a proper place to cope

with restrictions on availability and expenses.

The following sections describe backup and recovery advantages of Simpana:

6.1 Smart Clients

On the Windows platform, the smart client can improve operating

performance, eliminate lengthy and repeated file scans, save time for backups,

archiving, and resource management, and provide online data for content

index. The smart client optimizes the following:

System efficiency during backups or archiving

Incremental file backup policy

File archiving policy

Storage management report

Online content index policy

Figure 6-2

6.2 Synthetic Full Backup

Synthetic full backup is a process of synthesizing the last full backup and

associated incremental backups to a new full backup. Synthetic full backup

has the following advantages:

A new full backup is generated without reading the original data, avoiding

impacts on the CPU of the application server.

The generated new full backup can be used for data protection, new site

setting, or system test setting.



Figure 6-3

To improve ILM (Information Life-cycle Management) efficiency, the user

can complete synthetic full backups in different media. For example,

last-week full backups are performed on magnetic tapes and daily incremental

backups are performed on disks for fast backup and recovery. The synthetic

full backup function can synthesize full backups on magnetic tapes and

incremental backups on disks to a new full backup for remote storage or

disaster recovery. This flexible function allows IT technical personnel to tailor

a restoration plan and maximize performance and efficiency by using all tiers

of storage.

6.3 Auxiliary Copy

Using the auxiliary copy function, Simpana can create or migrate backup data

copies between different media or locations. The policy-based tiered storage is

performed in the background and does not require manual intervention. Data

copy creation is based on schedule policies while data reservation and deletion

are based on reservation policies. Therefore, if a storage method is out of date

and needs to be changed, data copying is terminated or data copies are

re-created in the entire storage set.

The auxiliary copy function plays a key role in reducing storage expenses.

Using this function, the user can copy out-of-date data to inexpensive media

and quickly store key data to expensive media, which is also the intention of

ILM. Making full use of this function can efficiently improve Return on

Investment (ROI) and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) for an

enterprise.

The priority of auxiliary copy is lower than that of scheduled backup.

Auxiliary copy is activated in the background when the system load is not

heavy. The built-in automatic restart function allows it to be resumed after

being suspended. When an activity with a higher priority needs to be

performed, the user can suspend auxiliary copy to accelerate the activity and

resume it from the interruption point after the activity is complete. The

built-in automatic restart function can effectively use storage resources,

reduce dependence on human intervention, and ensure that key data is backed up on time.



6.4 Storage Policies

As a major factor of ILM, storage policies define all key decisions. Storage

policies provide a logical method to respond to physical resources and target

locations. Storage resources contain the following configurable items:

Data copy location

Target store type

Compact disks

Disks

Magnetic tapes

Tape library

Drive pool

Media type

Capacity

Data directory

Number of data copies to be created

Retention period of each copy

Maximum reuse times

Figure 6-4

Once a storage policy is defined, data can be assigned with a storage policy in

one-click mode. This changes data management methods and the change is

complete without reconfiguring hardware, connection, and networks.

Back-end operations for assigning and defining storage policies are complete

separately within Simpana. This reduces maintenance expenses and

complexity for IT personnel. For example, using Simpana storage policies can

simplify complicated activities, such as configuration, maintenance,

management, and reporting, and greatly reduce expenses for managing data

storage environments.



6.5 Granular Restores

As described above, Simpana can restore a single object instead of the entire

system by backing up and indexing some applications, such as Exchange,

Lotus Notes, and Active Directory with one instance. This means that an email

can be restored and directly written back to the user's mailbox or that users

can be restored by using AD attributes to avoid data losses. Key user

information is recorded and can be directly restored from backup media. The

administrator does not need to restore the entire system and search the system

for required information. That's why many competitors claim that they can

provide granular restores. Built into Simpana, granular restores for

applications reduce system breakdown time and potential expenses for

restoring unnecessary data. In addition, granular restores are an easy data

restoration method that reduces the time and expenses spent on multi-step data

restoration, searching data, and discovering data.

6.6 Restart/Checkpoint

All data transfer operations of Simpana, such as data backups, recovery,

auxiliary copy, and synthetic full backups, have checkpoints to ensure that

operations can be resumed after interruption. This function is important for

backup and recovery on the WAN and improves the backup and recovery

success rate. Compared with Simpana, competing products provide this

feature only for some functions and therefore have lower success rate.

Figure 6-5

6.7 GridStor

When the SAN is used, dynamic drives can be shared by multiple

MediaAgents, which improves resource usage and reduces redundant

resources. However, the SAN structure cannot eliminate errors caused by

hardware (both network and storage devices), resulting in data losses.

The QiNetix GridStor technology enables Simpana to provide error failover,

load balancing, storage pool, and prevention capability, which simplifies

management and improves data accesses. In addition, both near-line storage

and off-line storage can be used, reducing system TCO. Different from other

solutions in the market, GridStor can be used across different operating

systems and store types. For example, a backup activity in a Windows

operating system can be switched from Windows MediaAgent to MediaAgent

in a Solaris operating system. If data recovery is required, the user does not

need to know where the data is saved and the system can automatically find it.



Figure 6-6 GridStor — sharing storage devices and data directory

This means that the changed directory is always effective and allows

accessing the specified store even when the data written by the MediaAgent is

ineffective. Both original online storage resources and near-line or offline

storage resources may be used for backups. Priorities of storage resources are

set by users. Once priorities are set, storage resources are used automatically

and transparently, which optimizes resource utilization. Importantly, the user

can perform resource management in advance to balance load, perform

redirect activities to access unused storage resources, and correct errors in

backup and recovery to improve data access. In a word, GridStor is an

advantage and feature of Simpana.

6.8 Data Verification

After data is stored in media, no methods for determining what data can be

restored and restoring data instantly are provided. This results in doubled

expenses, time, and resources spent on data protection and low efficiency.

Therefore, ensuring data restorability is necessary. The cyclic redundancy

check (CRC) protects writing data to magnetic tape drives but cannot ensure

that the written data is restorable. The data verification tool of CommVault

checks whether backups are restorable.

The data verification tool can be set to verify data after all backups or full

backups, when the required data starts to be backed up, or after the required

data is backed up. The data verification tool helps the user to restore required

data reliably.

6.9 Content Index

CommVault can index online data, backup data, and archived data. Searched data by using the search function includes indexed CommVault backups and

archived copies. The searched data can be auxiliary or offline copies of the

following data:



Any file system data

Microsoft Exchange information and accessories

IBM Lotus Domino information and accessories

Microsoft SharePoint documents and objects

Data stored in disks and magnetic tapes

The user can select and restore file or email information items for local

browse or separate uses. Restored items can be stored in work result

directories on the local network server. In addition, restored items can be

directly opened and browsed in the search window and exported to PST and

CAB files quickly and easily. The user can read, modify, and copy locally

stored files and information by using a file system or information application

program. Standard CommVault search (from archived data) or restoration

(from backups) is performed to search files or email information from the

management pool. The related work is usually tracked and reported and their

statuses can be browsed in the search window.

6.10 Media Remote Storage

To improve data reliability, magnetic tapes are considered to be remotely

restored for disaster recovery. CommVault can provide the following

technologies to store data remotely:

6.10.1 Auxiliary Copy

Using the auxiliary copy function, the user can copy important data backups

to a different magnetic tape or transfer them to a remote storage device over

the network when the system is idle. In this way, the loss or corruption of

major copies will not affect data recovery and therefore data is protected.

Auxiliary copy can be performed regularly or automatically triggered after a

backup is complete.

Using the auxiliary copy function, Simpana can create or migrate backup data

copies between different media or locations. The policy-based tiered storage is

performed in the background and does not require manual intervention. Data

copy creation is based on schedule policies while data reservation and deletion

are based on reservation policies. Therefore, if a storage method is out of date

and needs to be changed, data copying is terminated or data copies are

re-created in the entire storage set.

The priority of auxiliary copy is lower than that of scheduled backup.

Auxiliary copy is activated in the background when the system load is not

heavy. The built-in automatic restart function allows it to be resumed after

being suspended. When such a high-level activity needs to be performed, you

can suspend auxiliary copy to accelerate the high-level activity and resume it

from the interruption point after the high-level activity is complete. The

built-in automatic restart function can effectively use storage resources,

reduce dependence on human intervention, and ensure that key data is backed

up on time.

In addition, the user can use the auxiliary copy function to regularly copy data from old magnetic tapes to new magnetic tapes, avoiding data losses due to

magnetic tape corruption. During a device upgrade (for example, using tape



libraries or magnetic tapes in new format), the user can migrate data by using

the auxiliary copy function.

You are advised to copy backup data to a remote disaster recovery center by

using DASH Copy.

6.10.2 Magnetic Tape Outbound Storage

A critical part of the disaster recovery plan is to store key data to a separate

location. Usually, data is stored in magnetic media such as magnetic tapes and

its copy is created and stored in a different offsite location. If data in the data

center is destroyed by disaster events, the user can perform data restoration by

using data stored in the offsite location. Generally, this process is named Vault

that is composed of outgoing from the magnetic tape library and manual

transport.

Vault Tracker provides a solution that manages and tracks remotely stored

portable storage media. In addition, it defines a series of tracking policies.

These tracking policies help the user to define what media must be moved,

where it must be moved to, and when it needs to be moved. Compared with

competing products, Simpana performs only logical management instead of

moving media. The management data is created to determine data to be

vaulted, vaulting location, and vaulting time. Media are only physical objects

containing data. The Vault Tracker solution supports some advanced concepts

and is important for managing remote media, such as virtual mail slots.

After tracking policies are defined, Vault Tracker activities can be performed

in a scheduled manner or triggered by events. Tracking policies contain

multiple types of mobile tracking as follows:

Library to location

Location to location

Location to library

Library to library

After the Vault Tracker activity is initialized, media are immediately removed

after being moved to library mail slots or media are assigned to be moved to

the reserved area of virtual mail slots. Virtual mail slots are a series of

neighboring slots in the tape library. They can be set to reserved areas for

vaulting media, which help to easily differentiate and move media.

During a remote movement, the status of media in transit must be monitored

and the related identifier generated in the Vault Tracker solution must ensure

that moved media can be correctly picked up. After a medium is moved to a

certain place and the related identifier is generated by Vault Tracker activities,

the medium can be viewed in the tracking history report of Vault Tracker with

CommCell browser and reporting mechanism.

In library-to-library tracking, expected backup reports and activities are added

to the pick-up list that is used for collecting related media in offsite locations.

These media will be returned to the source location for reuses. On the contrary,

identifiers are used to track media until they are returned to the source library

for reuses.

Vault Tracker is easy to use. Integrated to the QiNetix platform, it expands the

QiNetix platform and combines local and remote management on key data. It maintains media local statuses and statuses in the offsite location and easily

accesses media by using Simpana and QiNetix data management tools. In



addition, it greatly reduces invalid data and data losses and provides an

intelligent method for remote media storage.

6.11 Image-Level Backup

The following problems may be encountered when the user backs up an

application system with millions of files and pictures:

Backup speed is slow and backup time is expressed in units of days.

The backup index is large. An index is generated for a single file in each

backup. Due to the large number of files, the size of the traditional

software index may reach TB as time elapses, affecting backup system

maintenance. For example, the index fails to be backed up.

The recovery speed is slow. Generally, the time for recovering data is

double of that for backing up data for traditional software. Recovery time

equals breakdown time. The data recovery speed is slow mainly due to

the large index (slow query speed) and tape use method of traditional

software.

CommVault adopts a two-level index structure, scientific magnetic tape use

method, and the image-level backup technology to quickly back up and

recover the preceding file system.

Image-level iDA can perform quick block-level backups for volume-level data.

Block-level backups greatly reduce the backup window. Compared with a

common file system, image-level iDA performs faster full backups and

incremental backups.

The value of an image-level backup lies in that a point-in-time data image is

created using the snapshot technology that imposes a small impact on

applications and still provides file-level granular restores. A typical

volume-level backup or snapshot restores only the entire volume while the

advanced indexing technology of Simpana allows the user to index and

recover a single file or folder from volume-level image backups.

Therefore, CommVault obtains data block changes from data block images by

using the block-level increment technology and updates backup copies based

on the obtained data block changes. Image-level technology is applicable to

the following environments:

A large file system with more than millions of files

An environment requiring a minimized backup interval and full backup

speed faster than recovery speed

An environment in which restoring the entire volume is more suitable

than granular restores.

CommVault Software Snapshot (CSS) captures snapshot images on the

production server with server breakdown time set to 0. These images are data

backup copies created by image-level iDA. Image-level backup supports

common file systems.

6.12 Deduplication Exponential data increases bring multiple challenges for IT departments.

The challenges include quickly backing up and recovering increasingly



growing data, meeting stricter regulatory requirements, and realizing a

demanding recovery time object (RTO) with a tight budget. To tackle

these challenges, more and more users tend to use disks to back up data

and remotely replicate data over the network. This improves backup

system performance but brings the following challenges: Disk storage is

more expensive than traditional magnetic tape storage.

Unlike magnetic tapes, disks have no separated storage media and

read/write devices and cannot be expanded indefinitely.

Replicating massive data over the network imposes stricter requirements

on bandwidths.

How do I tackle these challenges? The deduplication technology is exact for

you to resolve the preceding problems. Deduplication eliminates duplicate

data in a storage system, geometrically reduces data actually stored or

transferred over the network, and greatly reduces storage and transmission

costs.

Deduplication is different from the common compression technology.

Compression reduces file sizes by eliminating redundant file data with the

compression algorithm but deduplication eliminates duplicate files or data

blocks scattered in a storage system with an algorithm.

Deduplication is different from the common incremental backup. An

incremental backup intends to back up only newly generated data but

deduplication reserves only unique data instances. Therefore, deduplication

gets an upper hand in reducing the data storage amount. The basic principle of

the deduplication technology is that data is filtered by blocks and same data

blocks are replaced by pointers pointing to the unique instance.

The deduplication solution built into Simpana is efficient, distributed, scalable,

and hardware-free. It helps to meet requirements on fast data increases and

long data storage and has no impact on fast recovery. The intelligent

integrated deduplication solution is applicable to the entire infrastructure from

a single client to back-end storage while other software adopts an isolated

deduplication solution. iDA, MediaAgent, and CommCell management

software components are used together, making full use of Common

Technology Engine, the core function of Simpana.

Global deduplication is applicable to all backup and archived data

regardless of data types, data sources, or platforms.

Adding the number of recovery points stored on the current disks

facilitates fast and direct data recovery.

Hardware-free deduplication allows the user to adopt any type of disks

for backing up or archiving data.

After deduplication, duplicate data is deleted from disk-based to

magnetic tape-based archiving storage layers, reducing the numbers of

required magnetic tapes and magnetic tape drives.

When stores are added, policy-based global deduplication does not need

to move or restore current data.

Data blocks do not need to be reorganized, having a small impact on

recovery speeds.

Deduplicated data can be quickly and easily recovered to the backup

system and other locations for tests, trial run, and disaster recovery.

Deduplication on a client site sends only unique data to disks, reducing

bandwidth and handling requirements on the target disk.

Deduplication can be performed on compressed or encrypted data.



Policy-based built-in global deduplication deletes all duplicate data that

complies with the global deduplication policy regardless of the number

of data directories in the policy, data types, or data flows, avoiding

isolated deduplication.

Hardware-free deduplication is applicable to all disk types and therefore

no special hardware or VTL interface is required.

Strong index and randomly accessed disks avoid reorganizing data

blocks during read operations. Read operations do not need hash because

MediaAgent directly reads required data blocks in a correct order and

sends them to the client, minimizing impacts on data restoration speeds.

Automatic forward reference ensures that the required data does not

reference very early data blocks, avoiding data block corruption. This

also avoids single point of failure and improves the scalability of the

deduplication storage area. Specifically, deduplicated data can be

seamlessly moved (not restored) from disks to magnetic tapes, reducing

the number of magnetic tapes and tape drives used for long-term copy

archiving.

Transparent restoration from magnetic tapes allows the user to

seamlessly and selectively restore the required data on magnetic tapes

instead of copying data on the entire magnetic tape to a disk, greatly

increasing data restoration speeds.

The hash generated on the client site can allocate deduplication workload,

improving throughput performance.

Integrated with the encryption function, deduplication on the client site

can deduplicate encrypted data. This minimizes network flows, protects

data security, and avoids unexpected losses or theft.

Deduplication can better calibrate data between multiple backups by

identifying contents to optimize deduplication effects.

Deduplication in the memory allows only unique data to be written to

disks, reducing input and output costs and improving backup throughput

performance.

Duplicate data is not transferred, avoiding transferring duplicate data to

disks and reducing valuable network bandwidths and resource

consumption on target storage devices.

Deduplication can be quickly deployed on the current infrastructure.

Specifically, Simpana is easy to install, configure, and manage. In

addition, it supports multiple platforms and application programs and

therefore it is easy to be integrated with the current system environments.

6.13 Global Deduplication

Global deduplication can be used across hundreds of clients and various data

storage policies. Each storage policy has its own data retention period but

shares the deduplication database. Global deduplication does not destroy data

protection or retention period, meeting service requirements.

6.14 DASH Copy

Using the Deduplication Accelerated Streaming Hash (DASH) copy function,

IT managers can replicate deduplication backup copies and therefore they can



have multiple copies. Each copy has its own retention period that determines

how long a copy needs to be reserved. For example, a source data set is copied

to site A and reserved for 30 days. Then, its backup can be copied to site B

and reserved for 90 days or copied to site C and reserved for two years. IT

managers can copy backup data to different locations where the data has

different retention periods and manage the data in a centralized manager.

6.15 DASH Full

The DASH Full function transfers only data identifiers instead of actual data

to the target store. In this way, the synthetic full backup takes only several

minutes decreasing from several hours. The DASH Full function minimizes

disk read operations, saves duplicate data decoding and repeated

deduplication operations, and reduces time and resource occupation.

Date post:	13-Sep-2018
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