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IBM Spectrum Protect (TSM) V7.1.5 Directory Container Storage pools Overview

02:20 Posted by Anil K Y Ommi No Comments

Starting from Tivoli Storage Manager Version 7.1.3, you can use the new storage pool type called directory-container storagepool to protect backup and archive data. Data that is stored in a directory-container storage pool can use either inline data deduplication, client-side data deduplication, inline compression, or client-side compression. Tivoli Storage Manager offers the following features when you use directory-container storage pools for data storage

You can apply data deduplication and disk caching techniques to maximize data storage usage.

You can retrieve data from disk much faster than you can retrieve data from tape storage.

Inline data deduplication or inline compression reduces data at the time it is stored. By using directory-container storage pools, you remove the need for volume reclamation, which improves server performance and reduces the cost of hardware. You can protect and repair data in directory-container storage pools at the level of the storage pool by using AUDIT CONTAINER command.

The directory-container storage pool provides the following benefits:

Simplified storage management.

Optimized data-deduplication processing.

Reduced database growth and size.

Increased server performance and scalability.

Improved recoverability of damaged extents

Also Read: Points to remember when taking backup to multiple storagepools simultaneously

Some TSM internal process does not support for directory-container storage pools. You cannot use any of the following functions with directory-container storage pools:

Migration
Reclamation
Aggregation
Collocation
Simultaneous-write
Storage pool backup
Virtual volumes

How to define directory container storagepool

Check the below syntax to define a direcory container storagepool. Please read the description of the parameters which are provided in the syntax to get better customization of this feature.

Example: define stgpool prod_stg stgtype=directory compression=yes

Auditing Directory-Container Storagepools

Use the AUDIT CONTAINER command to scan for inconsistencies between database

information and a container in directory container storage pool.

Also Read: DISK vs FILE device classes performance

This command is used to complete the following actions for a container in a directory-container storage pool

Scan the contents of a container to validate the integrity of the data extents.

Remove damaged data from a container.

Mark an entire container as damaged

Example: audit container stgpool=newdedup action=removedamaged

IBM Spectrum Protect (TSM) V7.1.5 Cloud Container Storage pools Overview

02:48 Posted by Anil K Y Ommi No Comments

Starting from Tivoli Storage Manager Version 7.1.3, we can define a new storagepool type called cloud-container storage pool. We can back up the data to either an IBM SoftLayer or OpenStack Swift cloud computing system as of now. Hoping IBM will let us take backups to AWS and Azure in future as well but now we can only configure cloud backups to either IBM SoftLayer or OpenStack Swift cloud storage.

The cloud storage can be on premises or off premises. The cloud-container storage pools that are provided by Tivoli Storage Manager can store data to cloud storage that is object-based. By storing data in cloud-container storage pools, we can exploit the cost per unit advantages that clouds offer along with the scaling capabilities that cloud storage provides.

Tivoli Storage Manager manages the credentials, security, read and write I/Os, and the lifecycle for data that is stored to the cloud. When cloud-container storage pools are implemented on the server, we can write directly to the cloud by configuring a cloud-container storage pool with the cloud credentials. This type of storage pool is used for data deduplication. Cloud storage pools are not supported on Linux on Power Systems and Linux on System z.

Also Read: TSM Server Performance Tuning Parameters

The Tivoli Storage Manager server can write deduplicated and encrypted data directly to the cloud. We can back up and restore data or archive and retrieve data directly from the cloud-container storage pool. We can define the following types of Tivoli Storage Manager cloud-container storage pools

On premises

We can use the on premises type of cloud-container storage pool to store data in a private cloud, for more security and maximum control over our data. The disadvantages of a private cloud are higher costs due to hardware requirements and on-site maintenance.

Off premises

We can use the off premises type of cloud-container storage pool to store data in a public cloud. The advantage of using a public cloud is that we can achieve lower costs than for a private cloud by eliminating administrative & maintenance costs. However, we must balance this benefit against possible performance issues due to connection speeds and reduced control over your data.

The cloud-container storage pool provides the following benefits:

Reduced on-premises storage requirements and cost.
Simplified storage management
Improved server performance
Use of public, off-premises, or private, on-premises cloud storage
Secure data through server-side encryption

How to define Cloud Container Storagepool

Check the below syntax to define a direcory container storagepool. Please read the description of the parameters which are provided in the syntax to get better customization of this feature.

Example:

define stgpool cloud_stgpool stgtype=cloud

cloudtype=swift cloudurl=http://192.168.133:5000/v2.0

identity=admin:admin password=password description="OpenStack Swift cloud"

Also Read: Steps to configure TSM V5 Operational Reporting with V6 and V7

Auditing Cloud container storagepools

Use the AUDIT CONTAINER command to scan for inconsistencies between database information and a container in a cloud-container storage pool.

This command is used to complete the following actions for a container in a cloud-container storage pool:

Scan the contents of a container to validate the integrity of the data extents.

Remove damaged data from a container

Mark an entire container as damaged

IBM Spectrum Protect (TSM) V7.1.X Storagepools Concepts (Revised)

00:44 Posted by Anil K Y Ommi No Comments

IBM is adding new features into TSM architecture in a regular basis, and as a TSM backup specialist we need to understand and apply these new features as applicable in our backup environment and check if we can save any hardware or storage resources. In this post we will review on the new features added to the important TSM component STORAGE POOLS.

Storagepools are the important components in the IBM Tivoli Storage Manager infrastructure. With the new features introduced in TSM 7.1.X, we can optimize the usage of storage devices by manipulating the properties of storage pools and volumes.

TSM Storagepools or Server Storage:

As we all know that Storagepool is the logical group of similar media where we save our client backup/archive. We can have number of storagepools configured in our TSM environment and this group of storagepools is also known as TSM Server Storage. Any TSM infrastructure can have 3 types of storage-pools.

Primary storage pools

Copy-storage pools

Active-data storage pools

Primary storage pools

Primary storage pools are the first destination of all the backups whether FILE-LEVEL or TDP backups. So when a user tries to restore, retrieve, recall, or export file data, the requested file is obtained from a primary storage pool. So it is TSM administrator responsibility to make sure that the backup data on primary storagepools are safe and restorable when needed.

You can arrange primary storage pools in a storage hierarchy so that data can be transferred from disk storage to lower-cost storage such as tape devices. Depending on the type of primary storage pool, the storage pools can be located on site or off site. Starting from TSM V7.1.3 there are 2 new types of primary storagepools and depending on the type of primary storage pool, the storage pools can be located on site or off site. There are 4 types of primary storagepools

Random Access Storage pools

Sequential Access Storage pools

Directory-container storage pools

Cloud-container storage pools

Random Access & Sequential Access Storagepools

Random Access Storagepool uses DISK devices to store the clients backup/archive and Sequential Access Storagepool uses TAPE or FILE devices to store the client backup/archive. Since these are old types, we are not going deep about these storagepool types. Please refer my previous post for their explanation....

Also Read: Monitoring and Managing Tape Volumes

Directory-container storage pools

This type of storage pools contain containers that are stored in storage pool directories. In directory-container storage pools, data can be deduplicated at the same time that the data is stored. By using directory-container storage pools, there is no need for volume reclamation, which improves server performance and reduces the cost of storage hardware. We can protect and repair data in directory-container storage pools at the level of the storage pool itself.

Cloud-container storage pools

This type of storagepool can store data to an object-store based cloud storage provider. By storing data storage in cloud-container storage pools, you can exploit the cost per unit advantages that clouds offer along with the scale-up and scale-out capabilities that cloud storage provides.

Tivoli Storage Manager manages the credentials, security, read and write I/Os, and the data lifecycle for data that is stored to the cloud. When cloud-container storage pools are implemented in the server, you can write directly to the cloud by configuring a cloud-container storage pool with the cloud credentials.

The Tivoli Storage Manager server writes deduplicated and encrypted data directly to the cloud. You can back up and restore data or archive and retrieve data directly from the cloud-container storage pool.

cloud-container storage pools also supports ON-premises cloud and OFF-premises cloud to store the backup data. ON-premises feature can be used to store data in a private cloud, for additional security and maximum control over your data. The disadvantages of a private cloud are higher costs due to hardware requirements and on-site maintenance.

OFF-premises feature can be used to store data in a public cloud and achieve lower costs than for a private cloud, for example by eliminating maintenance. However, these benefits must be balanced against possible performance issues due to connection speeds and reduced control over your data.

Copy storage pools

Copy storage pools contain active and inactive versions of data that is backed up from primary storage pools.

A directory-container storage pool cannot be used as a copy storage pool. In addition, data from a directory-container storage pool cannot be copied into a copy storage pool. Copy storage pools provide a means of recovering from disasters or media failures.

For example, when a client attempts to retrieve a damaged file from the primary storage pool, TSM server will choose copy storage pool if the file is damaged or non-restorable from primary storagepool. A copy storage pool can use sequential-access storage only, such as a tape device class or FILE device class.

Active-data storage pools

An active-data pool contains only active versions of client backup data. In this case, the server does not have to position past inactive files that do not have to be restored.

A directory-container storage pool cannot be used as an active-data storage pool. You use active-data pools to improve the efficiency of data storage and restore operations, for example this type of storage pool can help you to achieve the following objectives:

Increase the speed of client data restore operations

Reduce the number of onsite or offsite storage volumes

Reduce the amount of data that is transferred when you copy or restore files that are vaulted electronically in a remote location

Also Read: Restoring damaged Storagepool volumes

Data that is migrated by hierarchical storage management (HSM) clients and archive data are not permitted in active-data pools. As updated versions of backup data are stored in active-data pools, older versions are removed during reclamation.

Active-data pools can use any type of sequential-access storage. However, the benefits of an active-data pool depend on the device type that is associated with the pool. For example, active-data pools that are associated with a FILE device class are ideal for fast client restore operations because the FILE volumes do not have to be physically mounted and the client sessions that are restoring from FILE volumes in an active-data pool can access the volumes concurrently, which improves restore performance.

How to backup or protect the applications which are installed inside Virtual Machines (VMs) ?

07:11 Posted by Anil K Y Ommi No Comments

Data Protection for VMware can protects Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and Active Directory Domain Controllers that run inside VM guests. In prior releases (before V7), Data Protection for VMware used VMware functions to quiesce applications that run on the VM guest.

During backup processing, the application server was not notified that the backup to the Tivoli Storage Manager server completed successfully. As a result, logs were not truncated on the application server. Data Protection for VMware V7.1 backs up VM guests with both guest level application consistency and log truncation which is not available in previous versions. You can back up these VM guests with the following interfaces

Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI

Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client command-line interface

Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client Web client

Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client GUI based on Oracle Java

However, to implement this function, you must specify the following Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client V7.1 option in the dsm.opt file (Windows) or dsm.sys file stanza (Linux).

INCLUDE.VMTSMVSS vmname

This option notifies VM applications that a backup is about to occur. This notification allows the application to truncate transaction logs and commit transactions so the application can resume from a consistent state when the backup completes. By default, this option is not enabled. You must set this option to enable application protection for a VM.

Also Read: Full and Incremental backups types for taking VM backups

When a virtual machine is included by this option, Tivoli Storage Manager, provides application protection. That is, Tivoli Storage Manager freezes and thaws the VSS writers and truncates the application logs. If a virtual machine is not protected by this option, application protection is provided by VMware, and VMware freezes and thaws the VSS writers, but application logs are not truncated.

The vmname value specifies the name of the VM that contains the applications to quiesce. Specify one VM per INCLUDE.VMTSMVSS statement. To protect all VMs with this option, use an asterisk as a wildcard (INCLUDE.VMTSMVSS *). You can also use question marks to match any single character. For example, INCLUDE.VMTSMVSS vm?? protects all VMs that have names that begin with "vm" and followed by any two characters (vm19, vm27).

After a backup is completed, you can use the QUERY VM command with the -Detail option to view the status of application protection for your VM backups

Choosing the protection type for database & applications inside the VM's

With TSM for VE you can protect database and application products that are typically hosted in VMware virtual server environments and gives guidance on choosing between three generic types of data protection.

Off-host data protection solutions that feature a backup/recovery agent that can be hosted on a machine other than the hypervisor host, for example, Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments (Data Protection for VMware) and Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware.

In-guest data protection solutions that require the deployment of a backup/recovery agent in the guest machine, for example, Tivoli Storage Manager for Mail (Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server) or Tivoli Storage Manager for Databases (Data Protection for Microsoft SQL Server).

Hybrid solutions that use elements of both off-host data protection and in-guest data protection solutions.

Also Read: Quick Steps to configure TSM for Database (TDPOracle & TDPSQL) and TSM for Mail (TDPExchange & TDPDomino)

There are several considerations that need to be taken into account when choosing the appropriate data protection solution, for example:

Recovery time objectives (RTO) - block-level recovery from an off-host backup may give shorter recovery time as compared to recovery from an in-guest backup.

Recovery point objectives (RPO) - recovery of transaction logs produced by in-guest backup may minimize data loss in a recovery scenario.

Type of storage - raw device mapping disks in physical compatibility mode cannot be the target of a VMware snapshot operation and would be better suited for in-guest solutions.

Other considerations including storage vendor, data layout, Tivoli Storage Manager server configuration, long-term recovery requirements, and so on.

Also you should consider that the following types of virtual disks do not support VMware snapshot operations. If you have data stored on these types of disks, it is generally recommended to use in-guest agents to protect the data on these disks

Raw device mapped volumes created in physical compatibility mode (pRDM)

Independent disks

iSCSI disks attached directly to the virtual machine

Restoring a full VM that was backed up with self-contained application enabled, is the same as restoring a full VM that did not have self-contained application protection enabled. When the VM is powered on after a restore, the applications resume automatically, unless they are configured to be started manually.

Protecting Microsoft SQL Server database inside the VM

Off-host solutions such as Data Protection for VMware are well suited for single instance deployments of Microsoft SQL Servers that don't have strict recovery point objectives. For more sophisticated Microsoft SQL Server deployments that have many databases and/or require more granular recovery points, it might be desirable to use a cooperative solution that allows an in-guest agent to recover a single database without disrupting the entire Microsoft SQL Server or virtual machine. Such a cooperative solution can also be used to allow an in-guest agent to manage log backups so that recovery can be accomplished to any specific point in time.

Also Read: Steps to take MS SQL DB backup and Restore using TDP for SQL

Finally, in-guest agents need to be used in situations where disks cannot be protected by off-host solutions (for example, physical raw device mapped volumes) or there are very specific recovery use cases.

When to use only Off-host data protection

If one or more SQL databases are configured in full recovery mode, Data Protection for VMware is recommended as it provides the ability to truncate logs after a successful backup operation. However, use of the self-contained application protection feature of Tivoli Storage Manager is required to truncate logs. Choose Off-host data protection if you have below settings.

Microsoft SQL Server database files are already stored on disks that can be protected by virtual machine snapshots.

Not having AlwaysOn Availability Groups, AlwaysOn Failover Clusters, or SQL servers deployed in cluster configurations.

No requirement to recover to any specified point in time and databases are configured in simple recovery mode.

SQL databases are configured in full recovery mode but log roll-forward is not a requirement.

No need to recover individual databases or already protecting Microsoft SQL Server database in some other way.

If you can use a global policy on a per-virtual machine or per-datastore basis to manage retention of Microsoft SQL Server data

When to use Hybrid solution using off-host data protection with an in-guest agent

With the hybrid solution, full database backups are contained within the Data Protection for VMware virtual machine backups & Data Protection for Microsoft SQL Server can be deployed in-guest to recover an individual Microsoft SQL Server database from a virtual machine backup. Choose hybrid solution (Off-host & in-guest) data protection if you have below settings.

If you have Microsoft SQL Server database files stored on disks that can be protected by virtual machine snapshots.

If you don't have AlwaysOn Availability Groups, AlwaysOn Failover Clusters, or SQL servers deployed in cluster configurations.

If you need to recover individual databases without disrupting other databases on the same server.

If you need to recover to any specified point in time using transaction logs

When to use only In-guest data protection

Choose only in-guest data protection if you have below settings.

If you have Microsoft SQL Server databases deployed on physical compatibility raw device mapped (pRDM), independent, or direct iSCSI mounted disks.

If you have AlwaysOn Availability Groups, AlwaysOn Failover Clusters, or Microsoft SQL Server deployed in a cluster configuration.

If you need to define policy at an individual database level

Protecting Microsoft Exchange Mail Server inside the VM

Off-host solutions such as Data Protection for VMware are well suited to help optimize recovery of an entire virtual machine into a DAG by seeding the Microsoft Exchange Server databases on the virtual machine so that the native Microsoft Exchange Server database facilities don't have to resynchronize entire databases but only the set of changes since the latest recovery point.

If you require frequent mailbox or mailbox item recoveries beyond what native Microsoft Exchange Server features provide, it might be desirable to use a cooperative solution that allows an in-guest agent to recover individual mailbox or mailbox items.

Finally, in-guest agents need to be used in situations where disks cannot be protected by off-host solutions or there are very specific recovery use cases.

When to use only Off-host data protection

For Microsoft Exchange Server databases not using continuous replication circular logging, Data Protection for VMware is recommended as it provides the ability to truncate logs after a successful backup operation. Choose Off-host data protection if you have below settings.

If you have Microsoft Exchange Server database files stored on disks that can be protected by virtual machine snapshots.

If you don't need to recover an individual database.

If you can use a global policy on a per-virtual machine or per-datastore basis to manage retention of Microsoft Exchange Server data.

If you are using native Microsoft Exchange Server features to satisfy individual mailbox/mailbox message recovery or you do not need to recover individual mailbox/mailbox messages.

If you do not have any special recovery point objective requirements that would necessitate log recovery or if you are using continuous replication circular logging.

If you need to be able to recover an entire virtual machine to rebuild a Microsoft Exchange Server configured in a database availability group.

Also Read: Integrating TDPO with RMAN to configure Oracle DB backups

When to use Hybrid solution using off-host data protection with an in-guest agent

You can protect full database backups by using Data Protection for VMware & Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server can be deployed in-guest to recover individual Microsoft Exchange Server mailboxes and mailbox items from a virtual machine backup. Choose hybrid solution (Off-host & in-guest) data protection if you have below settings.

If you have Microsoft Exchange Server database files stored on disks that can be protected by virtual machine snapshots.

If you have no special recovery point objective requirements that would necessitate log recovery or you are using continuous replication circular logging.

If you can use a global policy on a per-virtual machine basis to manage retention of Microsoft Exchange Server data and any of the following conditions are met.

If you need to perform frequent individual mailbox or mailbox item recovery operations and concerned with recovery time objectives.

If you need to be able to recover an entire virtual machine to rebuild a Microsoft Exchange Server configured in a database availability group.

When to use only In-guest data protection

With In-guest data protection, you can have below advantages

Recovery of individual databases and/or servers can be coordinated with other resources (for example, for clustered servers or database availability group configurations).

Recovery to specific point-in-time states based on log recovery can be achieved to satisfy recovery point objective requirements.

Mailbox and mailbox item recovery is integrated in the native in-guest agent interfaces

Choose In-guest data protection, if you

Have Microsoft Exchange Server databases deployed on physical compatibility raw device mapped (pRDM), independent, or direct iSCSI mounted disksneed to perform frequent individual mailbox or mailbox item recovery operations.

Have special recovery point objective requirements that would necessitate log recovery.

Need to perform frequent recoveries of individual databases.

Need to define policy at an individual database level

Protecting File/web/print server/workstation (unstructured data)

Protecting virtual machines that are primarily managing unstructured data such as file servers, web applications, or workstations.

Off-host solutions such as Data Protection for VMware are well suited for most backup and recovery use cases as they provide efficient block-level, incremental backups to reduce the steady-state backup windows and provide administrators with the ability to perform recoveries of the entire virtual machine or recoveries of only specific files and directories.

In-guest agents need to be used in situations where disks cannot be protected by off-host solutions (for example, physical raw device mapped volumes) or there are very specific recovery use cases.

Also Read: Steps to configure SAP Oracle DB backup with TSM for ERP using BRTools

Protecting Microsoft Active Directory

Off-host solutions such as Data Protection for VMware are well suited to help optimize recovery of an entire virtual machine into a site that has a pre-existing domain controller by seeding the Active Directory databases on the virtual machine so that the Active Directory database replication facilities dont have to resynchronize an entire database but only the set of changes since the latest recovery point.

Microsoft and VMware have provided built-in tools to facilitate recovery and replication with Windows Server 2012. Prior versions of Windows Server required explicit changes in the data protection products in order to ensure that Active Directory replication was aware when a machine was being recovered to a site with at least one pre-existing domain controller.

In-guest agents need to be used in situations where disks cannot be protected by off-host solutions or recovery of individual Active Directory objects is required.

Protecting Other applications

If you are using any other applications other than the above discussed applications, it is recommended to use In-guest data protection software to protect them. For example

If you are using Lotus Domino, SAP ERP or Oracle Databases within the VM's, it is recommended to use In-guest data protection (TDP Domino, TDP Oracle etc.) to protect the application data.

If you are using DB2 database, you can use only BA Client to configure the backup to TSM server.

How to backup VMware Virtual Machines (VMs) using TSM for VE ?

09:06 Posted by Anil K Y Ommi 5 Comments

To protect your VMWare infrastructure, you can either take manual backups through BA Client GUI or command line or define a backup schedule through Data Protection for VMware Vsphere GUI. The following are some the advantageous parameters which you can use to schedule your VM backups. You need to consider these parameters according to your VMware & TSM infrastructure.

Multiple VM Backups

The TSM backup-archive client now has the ability to backup multiple virtual machines simultaneously from the same backup instance. Simplified configuration by eliminating the need to configure multiple backup instances as a means to process more than one virtual machine backup simultaneously. Instead, multiple threads are used within one backup instance to process virtual machines in parallel up to a user specified limit. The limit is specified with the new vmmaxparallel option. Data Protection for VMware provides parallel backup processing: a single data mover node can back up multiple VMs at the same time.

It can also optimizes backup throughput by load balancing across multiple threads from the entire domain of virtual machines to backup. New options vmlimitperhost and vmlimitperdatastore are available to control the maximum number of virtual machines that can be simultaneously processed on a given VMware host or datastore. These three parallel processing options are only valid in the dsm.opt file (Windows) or dsm.sys file stanza (Linux) that is defined for each data mover node.

To take multiple VM's backup the TSM server must be configured to allow multi-session backups. You need to define MAXNUMMP node parameter and server MAXSESSION option for allowing sufficient number of sessions for the multi-session VM backups.

Also Read: Full and Incremental backups types for taking VM backups

Using the ASNODE Capability

The TSM Backup-Archive client and server provide the ability to grant a proxy relationship between two nodes such that one of those nodes can be used for purposes of authentication while the other is used to store backup data. This proxy relationship is defined with the grant proxy command on the TSM server, and the node transition is controlled using the -asnode option on the backup-archive client. In addition, the Data Protection for VMware solution uses several nodes to represent VMware elements such as the Virtual Center. There are two types of nodes involved in a proxy relationship

Agent node - An agent node is used to authenticate to the TSM server, and is also associated to a specific defined schedule on the TSM server using the define association command. An agent node should be created for each TSM backup instance which in most cases will be one agent node for each datamover. The agent nodes will have proxy granted to a common target node.

Target node - The target node is used to store backup data for all virtual machines in a group. A group should correspond to one of the grouping types within VMware, such as, a datacenter. By having the backup instance for each VMware cluster store backups to the same target nodename, problems such as redundant backups are avoided in cases where a virtual machine is migrated from one VMware host to another. Since VMware does not allow for migration across datacenters, the VMware datacenter becomes the best level of grouping to use for a target node.

Incremental-forever backup Strategy

Incremental-forever backup uses TSM grouping technology to create new synthetic-full recovery points by combining required blocks from previous backups with the changes from daily incremental backups. Eliminates the requirement to take a periodical full backup which eliminates the need to manage two separate schedules for weekly full and daily incremental backups. It also reduces the number of vStorage backup servers required due to the reduction in the volume of data to backup.

Taking VM's backup using BA Client GUI & Command-line

Use backup VM command to backup the VM's in the VM infrastructure. You can either backup single VM or multiple VM's at a time. For example

backup vm <vmname>

You can also customize the type of VM backup you want with the backup VM command. Use -vmbackuptype and -mode options along with backup VM command to choose the type of backup you want. Check the above link for more options.

backup vm vmname -vmbackuptype=fullvm -mode=full

You can also use BA client GUI to backup the VM's. Open the BA client GUI and click ACTIONS tab.

Then, just like a regular BA client backup window, you will see all the VM's which you you can select to be backed-up as shown below.

Taking VM's backup using Data Protection for VMware Vsphere GUI

Data Protection for VMware provides the ability to schedule backups of a large collection of VMware virtual machines providing an automated backup solution that allows for the automatic discovery of newly created virtual machines as well as providing parallel backup of multiple virtual machines. This can be implemented in a way which minimizes the impact to any single VMware ESX or ESXi host. The combination of the new incremental-forever and multi-session backup capabilities enables a larger VMware environment to be protected with fewer vStorage backup servers.

Also Read: How to Configure Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environment (TSM for VE) ?

The vCenter plug-in interface provides the ability to create these backup schedules from a convenient interface where you can select the VMware components to include in the backup scope. The vCenter plug-in interface provides a wizard that simplifies the process of defining the backup schedules. To launch the wizard for schedule creation, select the Schedule a Backup link from the backup tab of the vCenter plug-in as shown below.

Next, you need to choose the VM's which need to be backup and in the below screen you can schedule the timing for the backup to be run in regular intervals.

Manually defining the VM backup schedules on TSM Server

You can also manually configure VM backup schedules on the TSM server. A single schedule can be defined to perform incremental-forever backups. During the backup, TSM automatically performs a full backup when needed for cases like the initial full backup of a virtual machine of for incidental full backups of some virtual machines when required by VMware's changed block tracking.

The following commands can be issued to the TSM server to define schedules that perform VMware incremental-forever backups once per day. One or more associations should be defined to associate this schedule with each datamover node.

DEFINE SCHEDULE vmdomain vm_ifincr TYPE=CLIENT ACTION=BACKUP SUBACTION=VM OPTIONS='-ASNODENAME=dc_prd -MODE=IFINCR' STARTDATE=23/01/2015 STARTTIME=23:00 SCHEDSTYLE=ENHANCED DAYOFWEEK=ANY

DEFINE ASSOCIATION vmdomain vm_ifincr dm_prdvm

Customizing VM backups

You can customize the VM backups by using certain parameters with backup vm command. Below are some of the options you can use to manage the VM backups depending on your requirement.

Also Read: Quick Steps to configure TSM for Database (TDPOracle & TDPSQL) and TSM for Mail (TDPExchange & TDPDomino)

Use management classes to determine how to manage your VM backups on the Tivoli Storage Manager server. Use the vmmc option to store the VMware backups with a management class other than the default management class. The vmmc option is only valid when vmbackuptype=fullvm.

dsmc backup vm "vmname" -vmmc=vmmgmt

You can use include options to specify the VMs that you want to include for backup services. When VMware virtual machine data is backed up, it is bound to a management class that is specified by the vmmc option. You can use the include.vm option in the options file to override the management class that is specified by vmmc and bind the backed up data for a virtual machine to a different management class.

include.vm vmtest* MCFORTESTVMS

You can use include and exclude statements to control the disks to be processed. Use this feature to exclude a virtual disk during a backup operation. When the VM is restored, the excluded disk is created on the restored VM. However, no actual disk data is restored. Only the disk definition is restored. Therefore, make sure that the disk is properly formatted before using.

EXCLUDE.VMDISK <vmname> "Hard Disk 3"

A secondary method for excluding a virtual disk is to specify the -vmdk option in the backup-archive client command-line interface. For example

dsmc backup vm "<vmname>:-vmdk=Hard Disk 3"

Use the INCLUDE.VMDISK statement to back up only certain disks. When the include disk statement is specified, this statement implies that only disks specifically included are backed up. As a result, other hard disks are not backed up.

INCLUDE.VMDISK vm5_fin_com "Hard Disk 1"

Other types of TSM backups which can be used to reduce backup window timings

06:01 Posted by Anil K Y Ommi No Comments

File List backup

Use filelist option during backup to control which files are to be backed up. The Tivoli Storage Manager client opens the file you specify with this option and processes the list of files within according to the specific command. You can use the filelist option with the following commands. ---- archive, backup group, delete archive, delete backup, expire, incremental, query archive, query backup, restore, retrieve, selective

For example:

selective -filelist=/home/filelist.txt

How it works

An application creates a list of files for backup and passes the list to the client.

The client runs a selective backup of the files that are specified in the list.

When to use

The scheduled backups are not completing within the allotted time.

The list of changed files is known.

Advantages

Selective backup eliminates the query of the server database and the scan of local file system.

Also Read: Full vs Differential vs Incremental vs Progressive Incremental Backups

Disadvantages

You must find a way to create the file list.

You must explicitly specify the files. You cannot use wildcard characters or directory recursion in the file list.

Backup of Virtual Mount Points

Use virtual mount points to back up large, balanced, AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Solaris file systems that can be efficiently divided into logical partitions.. You can save processing time when you define a virtual mount point within a file system because it provides a direct path to the files that you want to back up.

If the directory that you want to specify as a virtual mount point is a symbolic link, set the followsymbolic option to Yes. If that option is set to no (the default), you are not permitted to use a symbolic link as a virtual mount point. Also, if you back up a file system, then add a virtual mount point, and then do another incremental on the file system, the files and directories in the virtual mount point directory are expired, because they are logically contained within the virtual mount point directory and not the file system.

When you specify a virtualmountpoint option, the path that it specifies is added to the default backup domain (domain all-local). The virtualmountpoint path is always considered a local "mount point" regardless of the real file system type it points to.

virtualmountpoint /tmp/userfile/home/username

How it works

Instead of backing up an entire file system to a single file space on the server, you can logically partition a large file system into smaller file systems, and then define mount points for backup processing.

The file system that are represented by the mount points can be managed as separate file spaces on the server.

Advantages

Backup processing of virtual mount points provides a balanced approach to the backup of large file systems by effectively dividing them into smaller file systems. It is more efficient than defining the file system with the domain option, and then specifying the exclude option to exclude the files you do not want to back up.

Also Read: Installation and configuration steps of TSM Journal Based Backup

Disadvantages

This method of backup processing is not appropriate for a single directory that contains a large number of files.

Virtual mount points are static and cannot be changed.

This method requires monitoring to ensure that new directories are still backed up in one of the virtual mount points, along with other processing that is required to maintain the virtual mount point definitions.

Command-line restore operations require the use of braces ( { } ) to delimit the virtual mount point name in the file specification.

This method is only available for AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Solaris operating systems.

Snapshot Differential Backup

If you are backing up NetApp filer or vFiler volumes or N-Series file server volumes, you can use a snapshot differential backup to streamline the incremental backup process. Using the snapdiff option with the incremental command streamlines the incremental backup process. The command runs an incremental backup of the files that were reported as changed by NetApp instead of scanning all of the volume for changed files.

incremental -snapdiff -diffsnapshot=latest /data/datafile

How it works

The first time that you run an incremental backup with the snapdiff option, a snapshot is created (the base snapshot) and a traditional incremental backup is run by using this snapshot as the source. The name of the snapshot that is created is recorded in the Tivoli Storage Manager database.

The second time an incremental backup is run with the snapdiff option, a newer snapshot is either created, or an existing one is used to find the differences between these two snapshots. The second snapshot is called diffsnapshot. The client then incrementally backs up the files that are reported as changed by NetApp to the Tivoli Storage Manager server.

Also Read: Different types of Image Backups

When to use

Use this method to back up NetApp filer or vFiler volumes or N-Series file server volumes on Windows, AIX 64-bit, and Linux x86/86_64 clients.

Advantages

Snapshot differential backup processing can save you time by not having to scan the whole volume for changed files.

Disadvantages

Snapshot differential backup processing has the following limitations:

On Windows systems, it does not work for any of the NetApp predefined shares, including C$, because the client cannot determine their mount points programmatically.