Restoring your SQL Server environment

The following topics describe the recovery from catastrophic loss of an SQL Server environment that integrates SnapManager and storage systems:

SQL Server environment recovery processes

Recovery from catastrophic loss of an SQL Server environment that integrates SnapManager and storage systems is outlined in the following process.

All procedures in this document assume that you already recovered your Windows environment.

For more information about recovering your Windows environment, see the Microsoft documentation listed in Guides you should read and have at hand.

This process is performed using the backup application you used to back up the SQL Server.

This process is performed using SnapManager.

Before you create a disaster recovery plan using SnapManager, be sure that you understand the following rules and guidelines.

The following rules and guidelines apply to disaster recovery using SnapMirror replication of SnapManager backups:

In a SnapMirror configuration, you can use an up-to-the-minute restore operation to restore your databases to the point in time of the last complete backup set that was replicated.
In order to be able to perform an up-to-the-minute restore in a SnapMirror configuration, you would need to have incorporated supplemental rolling Snapshots in conjunction with more frequent mirroring of transaction logs.
This is described in Minimizing your exposure to loss of data.

The following rules and guidelines apply to disaster recovery using archived Snapshot copies containing SnapManager backup sets:

Successful disaster recovery from an archive requires that the archive contains an entire SnapManager backup set. A SnapManager backup set consists of the Snapshot copies of the following items:
- Snapshot copies of the LUNs on which the data files reside
- Snapshot copies of the LUNs on which the transaction log files reside
- Snapshot copies of either the related SnapInfo directories or the LUNs on which the related SnapInfo directories reside
When using SnapManager to restore databases from an archive, the LUN files from the archive must be restored into their original location in the active file system of the storage system's volume.

The following rules and guidelines apply to both types of disaster recovery methods:

The drive letters assigned to the LUNs that are restored must be the same drive letters that were used when the archive was created.
You cannot recover a LUN or transaction logs into a read-only file system, such as a Snapshot copy.
For SnapManager Restore to work properly, SnapManager and SnapRestore must be licensed on the storage system that stores the SQL Server databases.
The recovery processes in this guide do not address a large-scale disaster in which supporting Windows infrastructure, such as Active Directory and DNS, is damaged or lost. Before attempting recovery of the SQL Server or the storage system, you must recover the supporting infrastructure.

You can use the following table to determine which recovery process most closely matches your needs.

If...	Then use...
You want to recover SQL Server databases from a SnapMirror destination volume	Recovering SQL Server databases using SnapMirror
Your SQL Server computer is online and you want to recover SQL Server databases from archive	Recovering SQL Server databases using archives
Your storage system volume has failed or been destroyed and you used SnapVault archiving	Restoring a storage system volume using backups archived with SnapVault
Your SQL Server computer has failed or been destroyed	Recovering a failed SQL Server computer
Both your SQL Server computer and your storage system have failed and you want to recover on the same hardware	Recovering both a failed storage system and a failed SQL Server computer