HP RISS Components manual Preparing the backup server for disaster recovery, Things to back up

Preparing the backup server for disaster recovery

The following steps and procedures describe how to restore the backup server (not the entire RISS system) in case the server itself or storage volumes are lost or destroyed. Restoring the backup server involves performing backups of the primary storage pools and the backup server database and configuration, and then storing this data off-site.

Familiarize yourself with chapter 24, “Protecting and Recovering Your Server,” and chapter 25, “Using Disaster Recovery Manager,” in the Tivoli Storage Manager Administrator’s Guide. Those chapters contain more complete instructions than does this document, which is intended as an introduction to disaster recovery. (See "Tivoli Storage Manager" on page 99 for information about how to obtain a copy of the guide.)

Things to back up

In order to protect the backup server, the following information has to be backed up and stored off-site:

1.Backups of storage pools, so that entire storage pools or individual volumes can be recovered.

2.A backup of the TSM database and recovery log. The database contains information about the client data that is stored in storage pools. The recovery log contains changes that have been made to the database.

3.A backup of the TSM configuration, including all of these components:

•A copy of the Volume History File: Volume history information is stored in the database, but is not available during a database restore. Among other things, this file contains information about database backups and volumes that have been added, removed, or reused.

•A copy of the Device Configuration File: This file contains information that is required to read backup data, such as library, path, device, and device class definitions.

•A copy of the Server Options File: This file contains general settings for the server. For more details about these components, please consult the TSM Administrator’s Guide, particularly pages 707 to 709 and pages 721 to 729.

TSM Disaster Recovery Manager

The Disaster Recovery Manager (DRM) is a function of the TSM Extended Edition. The DRM generates a recovery plan and automates some of the steps that prepare the server for a disaster and help it recover afterward.

The recovery plan file is a set of macros and instructions that can be broken down into individual files to automate the recovery process and guide administrators through it. The file contains the Volume History, Device Configuration, and Server Options files, among others.

Perform frequent (for example, daily) backups of the storage pools and the database. Then generate the recovery plan file and store this data off-site. The DRM also helps to keep track of the media that is stored off-site. After the data on the media has expired, the media can be brought on-site again and used in the next backup cycle.

The following example provides a backup scenario.

Example: Preparing the backup server for a disaster

The following steps show how to gather all of the necessary data to be able to restore the backup server and its volumes. Replicate the entire cycle at least once in order to become familiar with the tasks.

In this example, the RISS system is configured to back up smart cell group data. The backup server contains four tapes; the first one holds the backup of the smart cell data.

Details and a further explanation of how to automate these tasks can be found in the TSM Administrator’s Guide, pages 749 and 780.

Administrator Guide 107