SnapManager Restore options

SnapManager Restore operating conditions

You can use SnapManager Restore if SnapRestore is licensed on the filer that contains your virtual disks.

SnapManager Restore options

You can use SnapManager Restore to do either of the following types of restore:

An up-to-the-minute restore (recommended)
A point-in-time restore

Up-to-the-minute restore

In an up-to-the-minute restore, all the transaction logs that were not committed to the Data directory, from the time the backup set was created up to the most current time, are played forward and applied to the Data directory.

For example, if you run SnapManager Backup every lunchtime, and on Wednesday at 4 p.m. you decide to restore the backup set from Tuesday lunchtime, SnapManager Restore restores that backup set. Then, all the transaction logs are played forward and applied to the restored Data directory, starting with those that were not committed when you created Tuesday's backup set and continuing through the latest transaction log written on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Note
For an up-to-the-minute restore to work, all the archived transaction logs that are needed must be in the SnapInfo subdirectory, which is taken care of by SnapManager. SnapManager archives the transaction logs in the SnapInfo folder at the time of backup. Network Appliance does not recommend that you perform an up-to-the-minute restore with a snapshot that is not the most recent snapshot because the archived transaction log files would not be consistent with the transaction logs in the active file system.

Note
If you do anything to change a DBIID, you need to take an immediate backup after you change the DBIID, or you cannot do an up-to-the-minute restore. This is because when you change a DBIID for any reason, the corresponding transaction log IDs are not updated unless you take an immediate snapshot of the Data directory. For example, running compact -j is a scenario where the DBIID changes.

Point-in-time restore

In this type of restore, no transaction logs are played forward because you restored to the instant the backup was taken.

After a point-in-time restore is executed, all existing snapshots are not restorable for up-to-the-minute restores. You can use these existing snapshots for point-in-time restores only. New backups will be available for up-to-the-minute restores.

You can use this method to restore the Data directory up to a snapshot where you think corruption occurred.

After a point-in-time restore of a snapshot that is not the most recent one, all backup sets prior to the chosen backup set become point-in-time restorable only.