Application Integration - How To

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Configure CDR to Replicate Application Data

Change Account for Accessing Application Servers/Filers (CDR on Windows only)

Using ContinuousDataReplicator with Microsoft Exchange

Using ContinuousDataReplicator with Microsoft SQL Server

Using ContinuousDataReplicator with Oracle

Configure CDR to Replicate Application Data

Related Topics:

• Application Integration

Required Capability: Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To configure CDR to replicate application data:

1. In the CommCell Browser, right-click the ContinuousDataReplicator icon of the source machine, and select Properties.
2. Select the Authentication tab of the Agent Properties screen, and select one of the following:
   • Exchange/SQL tab - select either Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft SQL Server, click Edit, then supply the necessary credentials for the server. For more information, see specify the Account for Accessing Application Servers/Filers.

     • For a clustered Exchange Server, if you are not using VSS to perform an online quiesce, sufficient permissions are required in order to be able to perform an offline quiesce; in such cases, ensure that the User Name specified has Exchange Administrator rights.

   • Oracle tab - click Add Instance and supply the necessary credentials and information for Oracle. Supply a user account with administrator privileges to access the Oracle application.
     • For Oracle on Unix, you can use the operating system user account to verify the rights to perform all data protection and recovery operations for the associated Oracle instance.
     • For Oracle on Windows, you can click the Change button and use the Impersonate User option for this purpose.
3. Click OK to save your changes.

To create a Replication Pair for application data, see Add or Edit a Replication Pair.

Change Account for Accessing Application Servers/Filers

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To change most Agent user account for accessing an application server or filer:

1. From the CommCell Browser, expand the tree if necessary to view the affected agent icon. Then right-click the agent icon and click Properties.
2. From the General tab, click the Change Account button associated with the User Account information.
3. For Active Directory, if you want to use NTLM Bind, Enter Administrator as the user and then enter the administrator's password in the Change User Account dialog box.
4. For NetWare/NDS, File Archiver for NetWare, or Active Directory, enter the requested information in the Change User Account dialog box.
5. For the affected Exchange-based agent or QR Agent, enter the requested information in the Exchanged-based Change User Account dialog box.
6. For SharePoint, enter the requested information in the SharePoint-based Change User Account dialog box.
7. Click OK to save the settings.

To change a Quick Recovery Agent user account for accessing an application server or filer:

1. From the CommCell Browser, expand the tree if necessary to view the affected agent icon. Then right-click the agent icon and click Properties.
2. Click the Authentication tab.
3. From the default Exchange/SQL sub-tab, click the appropriate application and then click Edit.

   When configuring the Exchange server(s) for the Quick Recovery Agent on a cluster, be sure to enter the Exchange server name into the Exchange Server Name field of the Change User Account dialog box. If you do not enter the server name, the agent may not be able to detect the Exchange Server.

4. Enter the required information in the Change User Account dialog box.
5. Click OK.

To change a ContinuousDataReplicator user account (Windows only) for accessing an application server:

1. From the CommCell Browser, expand the tree if necessary to view the affected agent icon. Then right-click the agent icon and click Properties.
2. Click the Authentication tab.
3. Click the appropriate application in the list and then click Edit.
4. Enter the required information in the Change User Account dialog box.
5. Click OK.

Using ContinuousDataReplicator with Microsoft Exchange

The following section provides the steps required to use CDR for data replication and recovery for Microsoft Exchange data based on a single source and single destination. If your environment uses a different scenario, adjust your steps accordingly.

Before You Begin

• A full understanding of the following subjects will prove helpful:
  • Overview - ContinuousDataReplicator
  • Data Replication
  • Application Integration
  • Recovery Points
  • Recover Replicated Data

Data Replication and Consistent Recovery Points for Microsoft Exchange

Required Capability: Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To use CDR to replicate Microsoft Exchange data and create Consistent Recovery Points:

1. Select two computers on which to install CDR, one designated as the source computer, and one designated as the destination computer.
   • Verify that they both meet the System Requirements.
   • Install the ContinuousDataReplicator software for Windows on both computers.
2. If you are using VSS, you may want to use a separate shadow storage area for Consistent Recovery Points since exchange uses a large amount of cache space.
3. If you are replicating data for a clustered Exchange Server, and you are using the legacy offline method to quiesce the Exchange Server to facilitate Consistent Recovery Point creation, CDR will need to be configured with account information for the Exchange Server; for instructions, see Change Account for Accessing Application Servers. If you are using VSS to quiesce the Exchange Server, you can ignore this step.
4. Configure CDR to Replicate Application Data.
5. Create a Replication Set.
6. Configure Consistent Recovery Points for the Microsoft Exchange data; see Configure CDR Recovery Points.
7. Add a Replication Pair.
8. Start Data Replication Activity.
9. Create a Consistent Recovery Point Using CDR.

Additional Recommendations

• On both the source and destination computers, it is recommended that you Configure Throttling for CDR Replication Activities.
• It is recommended that you Configure Alerts. For more information, see Alerts.

  When using QSnap on a source computer it is recommended that you also see Space Check for the Quick Recovery and ContinuousDataReplicator Agents and configure the Disk Space Low alert to provide warning that the source computer is running out of disk space, which will ultimately cause replication activity to be System Aborted.

• Optionally, you can Configure CDR for Backups of Recovery Points.

  To perform backups of Recovery Points, you must also install the Windows File System iDataAgent on both the source and destination computers.

• Monitor Data Replication Activities.
• View the Recovery Point Creation History.
• Run and review the CDR Replication Job Summary Report.

Copyback of Microsoft Exchange Data

Exchange data is restored at the Storage Group level. While you can restore Exchange data from a Recovery Point, a backup of a Recovery Point, or the Live Copy, these methods will not ensure consistency of the application data; only a restore from a Consistent Recovery Point, or a backup of one, will ensure consistency of application data. Copyback is recommended as the primary method of moving the replicated data back to the production Exchange Server, in addition to restoring a backup of a Consistent Recovery Point where that is appropriate. Exchange circular logging can be either enabled or disabled, with no impact on the Copyback operation. To ensure application integrity, you must use Add App to create your Replication Pairs. (Refer to Add or Edit a Replication Pair and Application Integration.) Add App discovers the location of the Exchange .chk file and tmp.edb file, which means the Exchange .chk file will not have to be deleted before performing the Copyback operation, since it is restores from the same point-in-time as the database and log files.

For step-by-step instructions, see Copy Back Exchange Data from a Consistent Recovery Point.

Additional Recommendations

• View the Recovery Point Copyback History.
• Run and review the CDR Copyback Job Summary Report.

Using ContinuousDataReplicator with Microsoft SQL Server

The following section provides the steps required to use CDR for data replication and recovery of Microsoft SQL Server data based on a single source and single destination. If your environment uses a different scenario, adjust your steps accordingly.

Before You Begin

• A full understanding of the following subjects will prove helpful:
  • Overview - ContinuousDataReplicator
  • Data Replication
  • Application Integration
  • Recovery Points
  • Recover Replicated Data

Data Replication and Consistent Recovery Points for Microsoft SQL Server

Required Capability: Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To use CDR to replicate Microsoft SQL Server data and create Consistent Recovery Points:

1. Select two computers on which to install CDR, one designated as the source computer, and one designated as the destination computer.
   • Verify that they both meet the System Requirements.
   • Install the ContinuousDataReplicator software for Windows on both computers.
2. For VSS, you may want to use separate volume for shadow storage.
3. Configure CDR to Replicate Application Data.
4. Create a Replication Set.
5. Configure Consistent Recovery Points for the SQL Server data; see Configure CDR Recovery Points.
6. Add a Replication Pair.
7. Start Data Replication Activity.
8. Create a Consistent Recovery Point Using CDR.

Additional Recommendations

• On both the source and destination computers, it is recommended that you Configure Throttling for CDR Replication Activities.
• It is recommended that you Configure Alerts. For more information, see Alerts.

  It is also recommended that you also see Space Check for the Quick Recovery and ContinuousDataReplicator Agents and configure the Disk Space Low alert to provide warning that the source computer is running out of disk space, which will ultimately cause replication activity to be System Aborted.

• Optionally, you can Configure CDR for Backups of Recovery Points.

  To perform backups of Recovery Points, you must also install the Windows File System iDataAgent on both the source and destination computers.

• Monitor Data Replication Activities.
• View the Recovery Point Creation History.
• Run and review the CDR Replication Job Summary Report.

Copyback of Microsoft SQL Server Data

SQL data is restored at the database level. While you can restore SQL data from a Recovery Point, a backup of a Recovery Point, or the Live Copy, these methods will not ensure consistency of the application data; only a restore from a Consistent Recovery Point, or a backup of one, will ensure consistency of application data. Copyback is recommended as the primary method of moving the replicated data back to the production SQL Server, in addition to restoring a backup of a Consistent Recovery Point where that is appropriate. To ensure application integrity, you must use Add App to create your Replication Pairs. (Refer to Add or Edit a Replication Pair and Application Integration.) Add App discovers the location of, not only user-defined databases (.mdf, .ndf, .ldf) but also any system databases on the client, which you can select for data replication.

For step-by-step instructions, see Copy Back SQL Data from a Consistent Recovery Point.

Additional Recommendations

• View the Recovery Point Copyback History.
• Run and review the CDR Copyback Job Summary Report.

Using ContinuousDataReplicator with Oracle

The following section provides the steps required to use CDR for data replication and recovery of Oracle data based on a single source and single destination. If your environment uses a different scenario, adjust your steps accordingly.

Before You Begin

• A full understanding of the following subjects will prove helpful:
  • Overview - ContinuousDataReplicator
  • Data Replication
  • Application Integration
  • Recovery Points
  • Recover Replicated Data

Data Replication and Consistent Recovery Points for Oracle

Required Capability: Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To use CDR to replicate Oracle data and create Consistent Recovery Points:

1. Select two computers on which to install CDR, one designated as the source computer, and one designated as the destination computer.
   • Verify that they both meet the System Requirements.
   • Install the ContinuousDataReplicator software on both computers.
2. Consistent Recovery Points can only be created for Oracle if the database and archive logs are not on the same volume on the source computer (the production server.) The archive logs can be in more than one location, as long as none of them is on the same volume as the database. If necessary, use the Oracle ALTER command to set the archive log location to a different volume. For example:

   ALTER SYSTEM SET LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_10 = 'LOCATION=F:\ORALOG1';

3. If you are using QSnap, consider the following:
   • To use QSnap with CDR on UNIX, before you can begin creating Replication Sets and Replication Pairs, you must first configure source and destination volumes as CXBF devices. For more information, see QSnap for ContinuousDataReplicator.
   • For VSS, you may want to use separate volume for shadow storage.
4. Configure CDR to Replicate Application Data.
5. Create a Replication Set.
6. Configure Consistent Recovery Points for the Oracle data; see Configure CDR Recovery Points.
7. Add a Replication Pair. The database itself, as well as all Oracle log destinations, e.g., archivelog_dest1, archivelog_dest2, etc., must be replicated to ensure that a Copyback operation can succeed. When you use the Add App button during Replication Pair creation, all log file location will be discovered, and all necessary Replication Pairs will be created.
8. Start Data Replication Activity.
9. Create a Consistent Recovery Point Using CDR. Each Consistent Recovery Point for a given Oracle database will comprise two snapshots:
   • The first snapshot will include all Oracle data volumes.
   • The second snapshot will include all Oracle log volumes and backup control file for the database at the time the Consistent Recovery Point was created.

   • If Replications Pairs for Oracle log and database replication are configured to use the same destination volume, the actual number of Recovery Points retained will be the number specified in Maximum Number of Recovery Points divided by two, because separate snapshots will be created for the logs and the database. For example, if you have specified 10 as the maximum number of Recovery Points, but use the same destination volume for the logs and database, only 5 Recovery Points will be retained, with 2 snapshots in each.

Additional Recommendations

• On both the source and destination computers, it is recommended that you Configure Throttling for CDR Replication Activities.
• It is recommended that you Configure Alerts. For more information, see Alerts.

  It is also recommended that you also see Space Check for the Quick Recovery and ContinuousDataReplicator Agents and configure the Disk Space Low alert to provide warning that the source computer is running out of disk space, which will ultimately cause replication activity to be System Aborted.

• It is recommended that you do not configure Oracle log and database to use the same destination volume.
• Optionally, you can Configure CDR for Backups of Recovery Points.

  To perform backups of Recovery Points, you must also install either the Windows File System iDataAgent on both the source and destination computers, or the Unix File System iDataAgent on both the source and destination computers. You cannot replicate Windows data to a UNIX computer, nor the converse.

• Monitor Data Replication Activities.
• View the Recovery Point Creation History.
• Run and review the CDR Replication Job Summary Report.

Copyback of Oracle Data

Oracle data is restored at the database level. While you can restore Oracle data from a Recovery Point, a backup of a Recovery Point, or the Live Copy, these methods will not ensure consistency of the application data; only a restore from a Consistent Recovery Point, or a backup of one, will ensure consistency of application data. A Consistent Recovery Point is recommended as the source when moving replicated data back to the production Oracle server. To ensure application integrity, you must use Add App to create your Replication Pairs. (Refer to Add or Edit a Replication Pair and Application Integration.) Add App discovers the location of all user-defined and system databases on the client, which you can select for data replication.

For step-by-step instructions, see Copy Back Oracle Data from a Consistent Recovery Point.

For Unix, sparse files attributes are not retained during Copyback, neither from a Live Copy nor a Recovery Point; the files assume the attributes of regular files on the recovery host.

Additional Recommendations

• View the Recovery Point Copyback History.
• Run and review the CDR Copyback Job Summary Report.

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