Topics | How To
Media Explorer for Lotus Notes Database provides the ability to restore, without the use of the CommServe, Lotus Notes Database data secured by data protection operations. This tool is intended for use in situations where it is not possible to use the CommServe to perform the restore. The Media Explorer on Windows software should be installed on the computer to which the data will be recovered. See Install the Media Explorer - Windows in Books Online for step-by-step instructions.
After cataloging the media, you are ready to select the appropriate archive file entries and perform a data recovery operation on the files from your media that were secured by data protection operations.
Media Explorer on Windows platforms uses a cataloging process to obtain information about the files secured by data protection operations and stored on your media. Media Explorer creates a local catalog database of media archive file entries through which you manually select the archive files containing the data you need to restore. For more information, see the Catalog the Media.
For any procedure, understanding your archive files and backup cycles is critical.
Regularly running the Media Information report and the CommCell Configuration report prior to the need for a disaster recovery will dramatically facilitate your identification and location of media archive files. With this information at hand, you can catalog only the tapes you need and not the entire library. The CommCell Configuration Report shows the association of a subclient to a storage policy. The Storage Policy Report shows media used. Also, during the cataloging process, you could some information in the Media Explorer dialog box to help you identify affected items for the restore, such as chunks, volumes and volume filemarkers.
The following error message will be displayed if the Erase Data license was enabled in the CommCell when the data protection operation to the media was performed:
Password decryption problem! The CommServer this media belongs to may have an Erase Data License.
If you see this error message, you cannot restore the data from this media using Media Explorer.
For more information, see Catalog the Media.
Archive files are containers in which data protection operations store data objects. Examples of data objects are: File System files and folders; Lotus Notes databases and transaction logs; Exchange stores or storage groups. Index data, used for browsing by the product, is also stored in archive files.
A single data protection operation creates one or more archive files to store the iDataAgent data. An archive file will contain data from only one iDataAgent.
| You must recover the entire archive file entry. Media Explorer does not allow recovery of specific objects (i.e., files, folders, databases, type dependent on application). |
The goal of any data recovery is to reconstruct the state of the system as it existed at a given point in time. You must determine how many and which of the archive file types you will require Media Explorer to recover.
A backup cycle is defined as a group of data recovery operations starting with a full and includes all other data recovery operations up to, but not including, the next full.
Each subclient has its own collection of backup cycles. A subclient backup cycle is considered to be all the data required to recover the individual subclient content. Collectively all subclient backup cycles should be considered as the set of data necessary to recover an object (i.e., File System or application Database) to a specific state or point in time. Depending on the type of data being recovered and your immediate needs, it may or may not be necessary to recover all subclient cycles at one time.
In this scenario, you will only need to select the database archive file entries that constitute a snapshot of the last pre-catastrophe data secured by data protection operations.
In a disaster recovery scenario, log and database archive file entries must be recovered in a particular order. The goal in this scenario is to select the last transaction log and the last database archive file entries for the partition being recovered. Doing so for each client re-creates a snapshot of the last pre-catastrophe backup cycle.
| All recoveries must be in place, meaning, data
must be restored to the same server and path from which it was secured
by data protection operations. When using Media Explorer to recover a Domino Server that has multiple Domino partitions, you must recover each partition separately. |
The selections will include many archive files if your last data protection operations were incrementals, because you will need to select both the log and database archive files relating to the last full data protection operation together with the archive files relating to however many incremental data protection operations that occurred after the last full and before the CommServe became non-functional.
For example, if you set Maximum Log Space to 500 MB, Domino creates 500 MB worth of extents to ensure that the required amount of space is available to the transaction log. Initially, these files are inactive and do not contain any transaction records. Transactions for all databases within the partition are written to one extent file, the transaction log's active extent. When this file is full, it becomes inactive, and transactions are written to the next extent in the series.
Normally, when a database is recovered, Domino brings it up to date by replaying transactions that occurred after the last database data protection operation. If these transactions are not available in the transaction log directory, the Notes API uses the Media Explorer to retrieve the necessary log extents from the data secured by the data protection operations.
However, if the active extent of the transaction log is lost, Domino Server or the Notes API may not work, and old logs can't be played back. In this case, you must follow the Disaster Recovery procedure. This procedure recovers the most recently archived log extent, making it possible to re-create the log control file, retrieve the necessary transaction logs from backup, and replay the transactions.
| Use the Disaster Recovery scenario only when the current log file is irretrievably lost. Do not modify or delete the contents of the transaction log directory unless you are sure that Disaster Recovery is necessary. |