Advanced – OSSV Plug-In Backup

Table of contents

Related Topics

Full Backups

Incremental Backups

Backing up OSSV volumes to Media

Browse and Back up Snapshots

Performing Backups with Deduplication

Scheduling a Backup

Managing Jobs

Restarting Jobs

Controlling Jobs

Configure Bandwidth for Data Transfers during Backup

Additional Options

Scheduling

Provides comprehensive information on scheduling jobs.

Job Management

Provides comprehensive information on managing jobs.

Full Backups

A full backup involves the creation of an OSSV volume, which contains all the data associated with a subclient. During this process, the data on your client computer is copied to a destination volume on the file server.

A full backup is a one-time operation. Once the data is replicated on the destination volume, you cannot perform incremental backups on the OSSV volume.

Follow steps given below to create an OSSV volume:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  2. Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
  1. Select Immediate.
  2. Click Advanced.
  3. Click the Specify Destination Volume check box.
  4. Click the volume that needs a destination volume association from the Source Volume list.
  5. Select the volume on the file server where all the data will be copied from the Destination Volume drop-down list and click Apply.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click OK to start the backup.

You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller. When the backup has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

 

 

Incremental Backups

After the OSSV volume is created, subsequent incremental updates can be applied on the baseline based on the schedule pattern defined during backup. Incremental backups consume less media and use less resources than full backups as they only contain data that is new or has changed since the last backup. 

Incremental backups need to be scheduled and cannot be performed on demand.

Follow steps given below to create an OSSV volume with incremental updates:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  2. Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
  1. Click Configure to schedule the next incremental backups after the OSSV volume is replicated on the file server and then click OK.
  2. Click Advanced.
  3. Click the Specify Destination Volume check box.
  4. Click the volume that needs a destination volume association from the Source Volume list.
  5. Select the volume on the file server where all the data will be copied from the Destination Volume drop-down list and click Apply.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click OK to start the backup.

You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller. When the backup has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

Backing up OSSV volumes to Media

During full or incremental backup operations, you have the option to backup a copy of the OSSV volume to media. After the backup completes, a snapshot of the volume is created using the NAS backup process and it is automatically copied to the media.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  2. Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
  1. Click Backup Snapshots.
  2. Click Configure to schedule the next incremental backups after the OSSV volume is replicated on the file server and then click OK.
  3. Click OK.

You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller.

Browse and Back up Snapshots

You can create and back up a copy of the OSSV volume by performing a browse operation on the OSSV Plug-In agent.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client>.
  2. Right-click the OSSV Plug-In agent and click All Tasks | Browse.
  3. Right-click the snapshot you want to copy to media and click Backup Snapshot to Tape.
  4. Click OK.

You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller.

Performing Backups with Deduplication

During full or incremental backup operations, you have the option to run deduplication operations on the snapshot that was created/updated in the file server. The deduplication operation will detect which blocks on the OSSV volume are identical in order to eliminate any duplicate items from the backup.

The following steps describe an incremental backup with deduplication enabled:

Ensure the destination volume on the file server allows deduplication operations.
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  2. Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
  1. Click Run Deduplication on destination volume after transfer.
  2. Click Configure to schedule the next incremental backups after the OSSV volume is replicated on the file server and then click OK.
  3. Click OK.

You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller.

Scheduling a Backup

Follow the steps given below to schedule a data protection operation:

1.
  • From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  • Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
2.
  • Select the backup operation you want to perform.
  • Click Configure to set the schedule for the backup job.

    The Schedule Details dialog displays.
3. Select the appropriate scheduling options. For example:
  • Click Weekly.
  • Check the days you want the run the backup job.
  • Change the Start Time to 9:00 PM.
  • Click OK to close the Schedule Details dialog.
  • Click OK to close the Backup Options dialog.

The backup job will execute as per the schedule.

Managing Jobs

Jobs can be managed in a number of ways. The following sections provide information on the different job management options available:

Restarting Jobs

Jobs that fail to complete successfully are automatically restarted based on the job restartability configuration set in the Control Panel. Keep in mind that changes made to this configuration will affect all jobs in the entire CommCell.

Configure Job Restartability for Data Transfer

By default, when a backup job is copying the data to the destination volume on the file server, you cannot suspend or restart the job during this phase. You can enable the nSvRetry registry key to set the number of times the file server will retry the data transfer before reporting an error.

Follow the steps below to create the registry key:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers.
  2. Right-click the <Client> where the OSSV Plug-In is installed, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Registry Key Settings tab.
  4. Click Add.
  5. In the Name box, type nSvRetry.
  6. In the Location box, select or type ReplicationIDAAgent.
  7. In the Type box:

    Select REG_DWORD.

    Select Value.

  8. In the Value box, type the number of retry attempts.

    For example, to retry the data transfer ten times before reporting an error, type 10.

  9. Click OK.

Configure Job Restartability at the CommServe Level

  1. From the CommCell Browser, click Control Panel icon.
  2. Select Job Management.
  3. Click Job Restarts tab and select a Job Type.
    • Select Restartable to make the job restartable.
    • Change the value for Max Restarts to change the maximum number of times the Job Manager will try to restart a job.
    • Change the value for Restart Interval (Mins) to change the time interval between attempts for the Job Manager to restart the job.
  4. Click OK.

Configure Job Restartability for an Individual Job

To configure the job restartability for a specific job, you can modify the retry settings for the job. This will override the setting in the Control Panel.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  2. Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
  1. In the Advanced Backup Options dialog box, click Advanced.
  2. Click the Job Retry tab.
  3. Select Enable Total Running Time and specify the maximum elapsed time before a job can be restarted or killed.
  4. Select Enable Number Of Retries and specify the number of retries.
  5. Click OK.

Controlling Jobs

The following controls are available for running jobs in the Job Controller window:

Suspend

 Temporarily stops a job. A suspended job is not terminated; it can be restarted at a later time.

Resume

 Resumes a job and returns the status to Waiting, Pending, Queued, or Running. The status depends on the availability of resources, the state of the Operation Windows, or the Activity Control setting.

Kill

 Terminates a job.

Suspending a Job

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Suspend.
  2. The job status may change to Suspend Pending for a few moments while the operation completes. The job status then changes to Suspended.

Resuming a Job

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Resume.
  2. As the Job Manager attempts to restart the job, the job status changes to Waiting, Pending, or Running.

Killing a Job

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Kill.
  2. Click Yes when the confirmation prompt appears if you are sure you want to kill the job. The job status may change to Kill Pending for a few moments while the operation completes. Once completed, the job status will change to Killed and it will be removed from the Job Controller window after five minutes.

Configure Bandwidth for Data Transfers during Backup

By default, the data transferred to the destination file server during a backup operation uses all available bandwidth. By setting up the nSvThrottle registry key, you can limit the bandwidth used during data transfers. This registry key will affect all backup operation types on Unix computers, and only full backups on Windows computers.

Follow the steps below to create the registry key:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers.
  2. Right-click the <Client> where the OSSV Plug-In is installed, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Registry Key Settings tab.
  4. Click Add.
  5. In the Name box, type nSvThrottle.
  6. In the Location box, select or type ReplicationIDAAgent.
  7. In the Type box:

    Select REG_DWORD.

    Select Value.

  8. In the Value box, type the number of kilobytes per second (kbps).
  9. Click OK.

Additional Options

The following table describes the available additional options to further refine your backup operations:

Option Description Related topics
Specify Destination Volume This option allows you to associate or disassociate a destination volume on the file server for the volume on your client computer.
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  2. Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
  1. Click Advanced.
  2. Click the Specify Destination Volume check box.
  3. Click the volume that needs a destination volume association from the Source Volume list.
  4. Select the volume on the file server where all the data will be copied from the Destination Volume drop-down list and click Apply.
  5. Click OK.
  
Specify Mount Point for Destination Volume This option allows you to associate or disassociate a mount point for the volume located on the file server.
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  2. Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
  1. Click Advanced.
  2. Click the Specify Mount Point for Destination Volume check box.
  3. Click the volume that needs a mount point association from the Source Volume list.
  4. Specify a mount point in the Mount Point box and click Apply.
  5. Click OK.
  
Startup Options

The Startup Options are used by the Job Manager to set priority for resource allocation. This is useful to give higher priority to certain jobs. You can set the priority as follows:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  2. Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
  1. Click Advanced.
  2. Click the Startup tab.
  3. Select the Change Priority checkbox.
  4. Enter a priority number - 0 is the highest priority and 999 is the lowest priority.
  5. Select the Start up in suspended State check box to start the job in a suspended state.
  6. Click OK.
 Refer to Job Priority and Priority Precedence. 
Alerts

This option enables users or user groups to get automatic notification on the status of the data protection job. Follow the steps given below to set up the criteria to raise notifications/alerts:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | OSSV Plug-In.
  2. Right-click the subclient and click Create OSSV Volume(s).
  1. Click Advanced.
  2. Click the Alert tab.
  3. Click Add Alert.
  4. From the Add Alert Wizard dialog box, select the required threshold and notification criteria and click Next.
  5. Select the required notification types and click Next.
  6. Select the recipients and click Next.
  7. Click Finish.
  8. Click OK.
 Refer to Alerts.
Backup Job Summary Report The Backup Job Summary Report provides you with information about all the backup jobs that are run in last 24 hrs for a specific subclient. You can get information such as status, time, data size etc. for each backup job. It is useful to run this report after performing the backup. Follow the steps given below to generate the report:
  1. From the Tools menu in the CommCell Console, click Reports.
  2. Navigate to Reports | Jobs | Job Summary.
  3. Click Data Management on the General tab in the right pane.
  4. Select the Computers tab.
  5. Click Subclient and select the Edit tab.
  6. Navigate to <Client> | OSSV Plug-In | Subclient.
  7. Click Run.
 Refer to Backup Job Summary Report.
CommCell Readiness Report The CommCell Readiness Report provides you with vital information, such as connectivity and readiness of the Client, MediaAgent and CommServe. It is useful to run this report before performing the data protection or recovery job. Follow the steps given below to generate the report:
  1. From the Tools menu in the CommCell Console, click Reports.
  2. Navigate to Reports | CommServe | CommCell Readiness.
  3. Click the Client tab and click the Modify button.
  4. In the Select Computers dialog box, clear the Include All Client Computers and All Client Groups check box.
  5. Select the client from the Exclude list.
  6. Click the Include > button.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Click the MediaAgent tab.
  9. Clear the Include All MediaAgents checkbox.
  10. Select the MediaAgent from the Exclude list.
  11. Click Include >.
  12. Click Run.

    The generated report is displayed.

Refer to CommCell Readiness Report.