Using a Windows backup utility to archive SnapManager backups

The following topics discuss archiving SnapManager backups using a Windows backup utility:

About this method

When you use a Windows backup utility to archive your SnapManager backups, you mount the LUNs backed by the backup Snapshot copy you want to archive, and then use NTBackup or another Exchange-aware Windows backup utility to copy the archive data to your archive medium. In this case, the NTFS data is backed up, rather than the raw LUNs.

This archive method is represented by the following diagram:

Note
The LUN does not need to be mounted on the Exchange server; another computer can be used for this function.

Components that must be included in the archive

The archive must include the following two components:

The SnapInfo directory as it was backed up directly from the Exchange server
The Exchange data as extracted from the LUN backed by Snapshot copy

Advantages

Using a Windows backup utility to archive SnapManager backups provides the following advantages:

Because you are archiving NTFS data, not raw LUNs, you can archive exactly the data that you need, and no more.
The procedures and tools used for this method are probably familiar and available to you.

Disadvantages:

The advantages of using a Windows backup utility to archive SnapManager backups must be weighed against the following disadvantages:

Because this method relies on mounting a Snapshot copy, you must be careful to avoid scheduling any backups while the archiving is performed. This is because creating a Snapshot copy of a mounted Snapshot copy results in a Snapshot copy that cannot be deleted. For more information about busy Snapshot copies, see Problem deleting backups due to busy Snapshot copy error.
You must make sure that you get both required components from different locations into the same archive.

Usage example

Suppose you want to use a script to mount a Snapshot copy of the LUNs that contain the Exchange databases, back up the databases using NTBackup, dismount the LUNs, and then back up the SnapInfo directory in the following environment:

The script is run on the computer running Exchange and SnapManager.
The drive letter for the Exchange database is S:.
The Snapshot copy is mounted as drive V:.
The drive letter used for the LUN mount must be available when the script is run.

Example script

The following script mounts a Snapshot copy of the LUNs that contain the Exchange databases and backs them up using NTBackup. It then dismounts the LUNs and backs up the SnapInfo directory. The /N and /D options are used to demonstrate the options to name the tape and add a description.

REM Mount a LUN backed by the Snapshot copy of the Exchange

REM database as drive letter V:\.

sdcli snap mount -k s -s %1 -d v

REM Use NTBackup to back up the database files. The path

REM to the databases in your environment might be different.

ntbackup backup "V:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata" /N %1 /D %2

REM Dismount the Snapshot copy mounted as drive letter V:\.

REM The below example is shown with an optional parameter (-f)

REM to forcefully disconnect the drive letter.

sdcli snap unmount -d v -f

REM Use NTBackup to back up the snapinfo directory.

REM This backup appends the media so as not to

REM overwrite the database backup. The path to the

REM snapinfo directory is passed as the third

REM parameter on the command line used to launch

REM this script.

ntbackup backup %3 /T%1 /A

Invoking the script and passing parameters

To invoke this script using the SnapManager Run Command After Operation feature, use the following command:

C:\SnapManager Scripts\scriptname.txt $ExchSnapshot $SnapInfoName $SnapInfoPath

The command-line parameters %1, %2, and %3 might provide values similar to the following, respectively:

%1: exchsnap__SRVR3_01-20-2006_12.05.58__Daily
%2: 01-20-2006_12.05.58__Daily
%3: I:\SME_SnapInfo\SRVR3\SG_First Storage Group\01-20-2006_12.05.58__Daily

For more information about the Run Command After Operation feature, see Using Run Command After Operation to archive automatically.