SnapManager provides an integrated data management solution for Microsoft Exchange that dramatically boosts the availability, scalability, and reliability of Exchange databases. See the following topics for more information:
SnapManager 3.2 for Microsoft Exchange introduces the following new features:
NTFS volume mount point support enables SnapManager 3.2 to manage Exchange databases stored on mounted NTFS volumes (on dedicated disks or shared cluster resource disks) or standard Windows volumes. This removes the 26-drive-letter limitation you might have encountered with previous releases of SnapManager with a large number of databases that need to be restored individually.
For more information, see Understanding NTFS volume mount points, Understanding SnapManager support for volume mount points, and Migrating an existing SnapManager for Exchange configuration from using drive letters to using mount points.
If a storage system volume is configured with fractional space reservation (also called "overwrite reserve") of less than 100 percent, write operations to LUNs on that volume are not guaranteed unless the reserve level is monitored and preventive action is taken when overwrite reserve utilization becomes too high. SnapManager 3.2 provides an Exchange-aware space management tool for this type of volume, designed specifically for LUNs that reside on volumes with fractional space reservation set to less than 100 percent and that store Exchange databases or SnapManager SnapInfo directories.
For more information, see Managing fractional space reservation.
During a SnapManager backup operation, SnapManager archives transaction log files on the live file system to the SnapInfo directory. SnapManager 3.2 automatically optimizes backup operations in which the storage group transaction log files and the associated SnapInfo directory are located on the same NTFS volume. When archiving transaction log files to a SnapInfo directory on the same NTFS volume, SnapManager creates NTFS hard links instead of performing a file copy operation. This conserves storage system disk space and improves system performance during the transaction log archival phase of the backup operation.
To enable SnapManager to apply this optimization feature even when your transaction log files reside on multiple NTFS volumes, you can configure your Exchange data to use multiple SnapInfo directories, with each SnapInfo directory located on the LUN that stores the transacgtion logs for the respective storage group
For more information, see Understanding transaction log archiving using NTFS hard links.
Both automatic and explicit Snapshot copy deletion functionality have been enhanced to support the deletion of backups older than a specified number of days.
For more information, see the following topics:
With previous releases of SnapManager, you have two options for decreasing the load that database verification places on the Exchange server and on the NetApp storage system: remote database verification and deferred database verification. In both cases, the load is managed by separating the database verification step from the database backup operation. Remote verification distributes the load between two hosts. Deferred verification occurs when automatic verification is disabled during the backup operation and checksum verification of the backup is performed later, either as a separate operation or as a part of a restore operation that uses that backup. When it is used with Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2), SnapManager 3.2 offers a third option for decreasing the database verification load: throttling of Eseutil checksum verification in order to decrease the verification throughput rate.
For more information, see Configuring Eseutil throttling for database verification.
SnapManager provides rapid online backup and near instantaneous restoration of Exchange databases by using online SnapshotTM technology that is part of the Data ONTAP® software and integrating the Microsoft Exchange backup and restore APIs and VSS. SnapManager can also leverage the SnapMirror capabilities of storage systems to provide on-site or off-site SnapManager backup set mirroring for disaster recovery.
SnapManager supports the following data management capabilities:
You can use SnapManager to create offline archives of Snapshot copies containing Exchange backup sets for long term or remote backup storage. Three different archive methods are supported:
The SnapVault software can be used to archive backup sets.
The archival of Exchange database backup sets using SnapManager is described in Chapter 14, Archiving SnapManager Backups and in Chapter 13, Performing Disaster Recovery with SnapManager.
When used with SnapMirror, SnapManager provides the ability to automatically replicate databases stored on the source volume to its mirrored target volume situated locally or remotely.
Data replication using SnapManager with SnapMirror is described in Chapter 12, Using SnapMirror with SnapManager and in Chapter 13, Performing Disaster Recovery with SnapManager.
SnapManager 3.2 for Microsoft Exchange does not support the following uses:
You can run SnapManager on your Exchange server or on a different Windows host system. When you run SnapManager on a different Windows network host, it is called SnapManager remote administration.
Typically, you install SnapManager on the same Windows host system as your Exchange server.
System requirements for a SnapManager local administration system are described in Understanding Windows host system requirements.
If you install SnapManager on a computer remote from the Exchange server, you can run SnapManager remotely to perform any task that you can on a locally installed SnapManager system.
System requirements for a SnapManager remote administration system are described in Requirements for a remote administration server.
From a remote administration server that is configured with SnapDrive and Exchange server, you can also perform remote database verification. Remote verification offloads the CPU-intensive database verification operations that can affect the performance of your production Exchange server.
System requirements for a SnapManager remote administration system used for remote verification are described in Requirements for a remote verification server.
The setup and use of a remote verification server is described in Chapter 9, Backing Up Databases with SnapManager.
The SnapManager graphical user interface enables you to manage backup and restore operations of Exchange database files and transaction log files on LUNs. The user interface also enables you to schedule backups and verify the integrity of databases in SnapManager backup sets. You can also use the SnapManager user interface to administer SnapManager for Exchange on another Exchange server computer on the network. SnapManager includes the following components.
SnapManager Configuration Wizard ensures that Exchange data is migrated correctly for SnapManager to perform backup and restore operations.. It dismounts the databases in an Exchange storage group and moves the database and transaction log files from the Exchange server to the selected LUNs. It then remounts the databases and creates a SnapInfo directory for storing information about backed-up data sets and transaction logs.
For more information, see Chapter 7, Configuring the Exchange Data for SnapManager.
SnapManager Backup enables you to perform and schedule frequent, automatic online full backups. Each SnapManager backup consists of Snapshot copies of the Exchange databases, transaction log files, and the SnapInfo directory.
For more information, see Chapter 9, Backing Up Databases with SnapManager.
SnapManager enables rapid recovery of an Exchange storage group or database. You can select a particular backup, restore your Exchange database using that backup, and then recover the database to its current state by replaying the transaction logs.
For more information, see Chapter 10, Restoring Databases with SnapManager.
Use the SnapManager Reports tab to access the operational reports that SnapManager automatically creates for all log files, database configurations and migrations, deleted Snapshot copies, backups, and restores. A separate report is created for all configuration, backup, restore, and delete backup operation. Each report is essentially a history file that includes step-by-step details of the operation, the final status of the operation, and error messages for any errors encountered during the operation.
For more information, see Chapter 15, Managing SnapManager Reports.
The SnapManager command line interface enables you to initiate a backup or verification job. The command supports all of the options available through the Backup and Verification tab or the Backup Wizard in the SnapManager graphical user interface.
You can run SnapManager on your Exchange server or on a different computer. When you run SnapManager on a different computer, it is called "SnapManager remote administration". Using a SnapManager remote administration system, you can perform any task you can on a locally installed SnapManager system. When you perform database verification on a remote system, it is referred to as "remote verification".
The following steps describe a typical way to use SnapManager:
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