The Backup window of the NetWorker User for SQL Server GUI displays data that is available for backup based on the SQL Server database settings. The SQL database items that cannot be backed up are not displayed in the Backup window.
The SQL database items include, but is not limited to databases in the following states:
l Standby
l Recovering
l Suspect
Manual Backups
l Offline
l Not recovered
l Loading
l Pre-recovery
l Restoring
l Recovery pending
l Single user with active user connections
You must complete the required steps to perform a manual backup.
Procedure
1. From the Start menu, select Programs > EMC NetWorker > NetWorker User for SQL Server.
If multiple instances of SQL Server are active on the computer, the Select SQL Instance dialog box appears.
2. Select the SQL Server instance for NMM backup, and click OK.
The NetWorker User for SQL Server GUI connects to the selected SQL Server instance and the main window appears.
3. To select a NetWorker server other than the server that was specified during the NMM installation, click the Select NetWorker Server button on the toolbar.
The Change Server dialog box appears.
4. Select a NetWorker server from the list, and click OK.
5. To select the SQL Server data to back up, select Backup from the Operation menu.
The Backup window displays a hierarchical list of SQL Server data objects available for backup. The NetWorker User for SQL Server GUI always performs a full backup for the SQL Server data.
Figure 18 The Backup window with a hierarchical list of SQL Server data objects
6. To expand an object, click the plus sign (+) beside the object name in the left pane.
The descendants of the object are listed in the right pane.
7. Mark one or more objects for backup. Some SQL Server data items are visible in the Backup window, but cannot be marked. If certain database options are set, the SQL Server prohibits a file or filegroup backup. These unavailable objects appear grayed out to distinguish them from those that are available to back up.
Manual Backups
Performing manual backups from the NetWorker User for SQL Server GUI 55
8. Select the required attributes in the Backup Options dialog box before starting the backup.
Figure 19 The General tab in the Backup Options dialog box
The selected attributes are applied to each marked object for all backup operations performed until the NetWorker User for SQL Server GUI is closed. Selected pools, however, are stored in the registry and persist from one session to another. If a field is not selected, then the default option is used.
9. Select the Compress the backup content (using NetWorker) option to apply XBSA compression to all marked databases before writing the backup data to the storage device. In the same manual backup, certain databases cannot be backed up with compression and others without.
Compressing data for a backup generates less network traffic and uses less backup media space, but it consumes additional CPU resources. Most tape devices perform compression, which makes software compression unnecessary.
10.Select the Create a striped backup option to create a striped backup by using the SQL Striped feature. If this attribute is checked, the Stripes list is enabled. Striped Backup and Recovery on page 119 provides more information about striping.
To select the number of stripes for backup, select a number from the list box.
The maximum number of stripes NMM supports is 32. However, the maximum number of stripes cannot be more than the value set for NetWorker client parallelism.
11.Select the Perform DBCC consistency checks option to run consistency checks on a database. If the DBCC check fails, then the database backup is skipped and backup status of the protection group appears as failed. This ensures that all backed up databases are suitable for recoveries.
12.Select the Use pools for media management option to view the list of media volume pools for storing the backup contents. This attribute applies only to manual backup operations performed from the NetWorker User for SQL Server program or from a
Manual Backups
command prompt. If this attribute is checked, the Full Backup Pool list and the Log File Pool list are enabled.
13.To select volume pools, check the Use pools for media management attribute.
14.Select a pool from the Full backup pool list to store full SQL Server backups, including databases and filegroups.
15.Select a pool from the Log file pool list to store transaction log or differential (level 1) SQL Server backups.
The pool names in the Full backup pool list or Log file pool list are previously created by using NMC and are stored in the operating system registry.
16.Select the Select debug level option to define the level of debug information to be sent to the backup status window during the backup operation. Levels range from 1-9, with 1 representing the least amount of information.
17.Select the Use encryption option to specify that data is backed up with AES
encryption. Data is encrypted with the default or current pass phrase provided by the NetWorker Server. If the NetWorker Server has a different pass phrase at recovery time, you must specify the pass phrase used at the time of backup. The NetWorker Administration Guide provides complete information about AES encryption, and setting the pass phrase.
18.Under Deduplication, select either of the following:
l None - If data deduplication is not required.
l Data Domain backup - To enable client-side Data Domain Boost deduplication backups.
19.Click OK to close the Backup Options window.
20.Set backup properties for each marked database before starting the backup operation. If a property is not specified, the default is used. After the backup operation is complete, and the Backup window is closed, the property values revert back to the defaults options.
21.To set the backup properties for each marked database, mark one or more databases in the backup window, and then right-click the marked databases and select
properties from the shortcut menu.
The Properties dialog box appears.
Manual Backups
Performing manual backups from the NetWorker User for SQL Server GUI 57
Figure 20 Properties dialog box
22.Select the Truncate content before performing backup option to truncate the transaction logs before backup.
23.Select the Perform checksum before writing to media option to perform a checksum operation with the backup and saves the information to the backup media. Another checksum is performed before a restore to ensure that it matches the backup.
A checksum is used to detect a piecemeal backup or restore state. NMM verifies the checksum by calculating a local result and comparing it with the stored value. If the values do not match, you can choose to continue the backup or restore operation.
24.Select the Continue on checksum error option to back up and restore if errors are detected.
25.Select the Perform DBCC consistency checks option to run consistency checks on the database. If the DBCC check fails, then the database backup is skipped and backup status of the group appears as failed. This ensures that all backed up databases are suitable for recoveries. This ensures that all backed up database is suitable for recoveries.
26.Click OK.
27.Before starting a backup, ensure that a labeled media volume is mounted in the backup device because otherwise a backup cannot run. The volume should be labeled for the volume pool where the backup is to be directed. If there is no volume in the backup device when a backup is started, no messages appear in the Backup Status window and the backup waits for operator intervention.
28.To start the backup, select Start Backup from the File menu.
29.Monitor the backup messages in the Backup Status window from NMC.
Manual Backups
After the backup is finished, a Backup Completed message appears. The amount of time required to back up a database depends on database size, network traffic, server load, and tape positioning.
30.Close the Backup Status window.
31.To cancel a backup, select End Backup from the File menu.