Agent software is installed on a client computer to perform data protection and
data recovery operations for specific operating systems or applications. Multiple
agents may be used to protect all types of data residing on a computer. For example,
to secure all the data on a computer where a Microsoft SQL Server resides, you would
need the following iDataAgents:
One Windows File System iDataAgent
to back up the computer’s file system.
One Microsoft SQL Server iDataAgent
to back up the database.
In the CommCell Console, such a configuration would appear as two
iDataAgents on a client computer.
Most agents must be installed. Once installed, agents are displayed in the CommCell
Browser as levels under the client computer in which they are installed. Each agent
has sub-levels in the CommCell Browser. These sub-levels are organized into
one or more of the following logical levels as a level in the client computer. Depending
on the agent, sub-levels can be displayed as follows:
instances
backup sets
subclients
These logical groups of data along with the agent itself are organized according
to a parent-child scheme, which varies depending on the agent. In effect, each scheme
determines the order in which the logical groups of data must be created per agent.
Basically, a child cannot be created and used until a parent for that child is created.
For most agents, the agent is always the primary parent.
For example, suppose that an agent allows for the creation of instances, backup
sets, and subclients and that this order reflects the required creation dependency
order for these logical group types. In such a case, a subclient for this agent
cannot be created until a backup set (i.e., the subclient's parent) for the subclient
is created; similarly, the backup set containing this subclient cannot be created
until the instance (i.e., the backup set's parent) for the backup set is created.
Typical agent/logical information group schemes include the following:
For most agents that support backup sets, a default backup set and a default
subclient are automatically created once the agent is installed. When created,
these logical groups contain all the available data for backup. For some
agents that support instances, an instance can be created during agent
installation, while other agents require that you create instances after agent
installation. Also, for some agents, an instance may be restricted to contain
just a single database.
Most agents allow you to create multiple logical data groups and also multiple
children for these groups. These are regarded as user-defined items, and
they allow you to distribute the data for backup. For example, you may be able to
create three backup sets for an agent, and you may be able to create two subclients
for each backup set. To facilitate the processing of data, you can also create series
of backups and subclient groups for some agents.
Per agent, each logical group of data that is created appears as a level under
the agent level. For agents where a logical group of data is created by default
after the agent is installed, the corresponding level also appears by default under
the agent and is assigned a name. For example, for agents for which a default backup
set is automatically created, the name defaultBackupSet
is typically assigned to the backup set and therefore appears as the level name.
In some cases, levels appear only after you create the affected item.
You can click or expand the agent level to view the level immediately below the
agent as long as the appropriate logical group of information for the agent has
been created. For most agents, if you click the agent level, the level that lies
immediately under the agent level is also displayed in the right-hand pane of the
CommCell Browser.
SRM Agents are software modules that perform data collection operations for specific
file systems or applications,
each designed to handle a different kind of data. Each computer that you want to monitor
must have at least one SRM Agent or SRM Proxy Agent installed to analyze its storage resources. If
a given computer has more than one data type, (e.g., Windows file system and Exchange
database) it requires a different SRM Agent for each data type to obtain complete
information from that computer.
The SRM Agent must be installed on the client computer before it can perform
data collections. Once installed, the agent is displayed in the SRM Browser as a level
in Client Manager under the client computer in which it is installed.
For agents
that support
subclients, a default
subclient is automatically created upon agent installation, and it contains all the data for data collection
until user-defined subclients are created and configured. For such agents, a "Subclient"
level is automatically created and displayed under the agent, and a "Default (Subclient)"
level is automatically created and displayed under "Subclient". For agents that support
subclients, you can create one or more user-defined subclients to distribute
your data. Each user-defined subclient that you create is displayed
as a level under the "Subclient" level for the agent.
Depending on your agent, one or more icons indicating components that are
associated with the agent may be displayed automatically under the agent level
following the agent install.
