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By default, every day at 10:00 AM, the CommServe DR backup process is executed. This process first dumps the CommServe SQL database to a local folder path. An export process then copies the folder contents to a user-defined drive letter or UNC path. A backup phase subsequently backs up the DR Metadata and any user-defined log files to a location based on the storage policy associated with the backup phase of the DR process. All processes, schedules, and export/backup location are customizable in the DR Backup Settings applet in the Control Panel.

Additionally, a copy of the DR backup can be uploaded to Commvault^® Cloud Services, which guarantees that an offline copy exists and is accessible during recovery if a disaster was to occur.

CommServe^® DR backup process overview

Database Dump

During the dump phase, the system stores the dump files in the following location:

• V11 upgraded environment:

<install path>\CommVault\Simpana\CommServeDR

• V11 New Installation:

<install path>\CommVault\Content Store\CommServeDR

If available space is low, the location of the dump can be modified using the 'ERStagingDirectory' in the CommServe Additional Settings tab.

Export

The Export process copies the contents of the \CommServeDR folder to the user-defined export location. A drive letter or UNC path can be defined. The export location should NOT be on the local CommServe server. If a standby CommServe server is available, define the export location to a share on the standby server.

By default, five metadata backups are retained in the export location. It is recommended to have enough disk space to maintain one weeks' worth of DR exports and adjust the number of exports to the DR backup schedule frequency.

Backup

The Backup process is used to back up the DR Metadata to protected storage. This is accomplished by associating the backup phase with a storage policy. A default DR storage policy is automatically created when the first library is configured in the CommCell^® environment. In the past, the system allowed to use a regular storage policy for DR backups; resulting in DR backups mixed with client data. But to avoid any confusion, the system now lets you select only the DR storage policy.  

DR Storage Policy

When the first library in a CommCell environment is configured, a CommServe Disaster Recovery storage policy is automatically created. The Backup phase of the DR backup process is automatically associated with this storage policy. If the first library configured is a disk library and a tape library is subsequently added, a storage policy secondary copy is created and associated with the tape library.

There are several critical points regarding the DR storage policy and backup phase configurations:

• The backup phase MUST be associated with a DR storage policy. The default built-in CommServeDR storage policy can be used, or if needed, a new one can be created. Using a dedicated policy isolates DR Metadata on its own set of media making it potentially easier to locate and catalog in a disaster situation.
• Make sure you are properly running and storing media reports. This is especially important when sending large numbers of tapes off-site. If you don't know which tape the metadata is on, you will have to catalog every tape until you locate the correct media which is storing the DR Metadata.

Configure and Run DR Backups

DR backups are automatically configured and scheduled upon software installation. The default settings and schedule can be edited to fit your needs, and manual DR backups can be executed on demand if needed.

DR Backups to the Commvault^® Cloud

Commvault^® offers a free cloud service that allows DR backups to be uploaded to the Commvault^® cloud. The service stores the last successful metadata backup in Microsoft Azure, and if needed can be downloaded from https://cloud.commvault.com. This ensures that a recent copy of the database is offsite and can not cannot be accessed by a rogue process such as a ransomware attack.

DR Backups to a Cloud Library

For several versions, Commvault^® software provided the ability to send backups to a cloud library. It required a configured library with a supported cloud vendor. The DR backups were therefore stored in the storage target using Commvault^® software proprietary chunk format. If a disaster was to occur, accessing the DR backup required to be accomplished using a tool called Commvault^® Media Explorer, provided by Commvault^® support. This added additional steps and required to spend time to catalog the content of chunks. 

In order to improve the process, service pack 15 introduced the option to send a copy of the DR backup in its native format to a cloud storage target. This removes the requirement to use Media Explorer to index the chunks. The administrator simply needs to connect to the cloud storage and download the DR backup copy.

Please note that the cloud storage target must first be created before configuring DR backups to a cloud target.

Backup Frequency

By default, the DR backup runs once a day at 10:00 AM. The time the backup runs can be modified, and the DR backup can be scheduled to run multiple times a day or saved as a script to be executed on demand.
Consider the following key points regarding the scheduling time and frequency of DR backups:

• If tapes are being sent off-site daily prior to 10:00 AM then the default DR backup time is not adequate. Alter the default schedule so the backup can complete, and DR tapes can be exported from the library prior to media being sent off-site.
• The DR Metadata is essential to recover protected data. If backups are conducted at night and auxiliary copies are run during the day, consider setting up a second schedule after auxiliary copies complete.
• For mission critical jobs, consider saving a DR backup job as a script. The script can then be executed by using an alert to execute the script upon successful completion of the job.

Locations

Multiple copies of the DR backup can be maintained in its raw (export) form using scripts. Multiple copies of the backup phase are created within the DR storage policy by creating secondary copies, or by creating a data backup storage policy and including the metadata in the secondary copy's Association tab.

Follow these guidelines for locating the DR Metadata backups.

• On-site and off-site standby CommServe^® servers should have an export copy of the metadata.
• Wherever protected data is located, a copy of the DR Metadata should also be included.
• Whenever protected data is sent off-site a copy of the DR Metadata should be included.
• Since DR Metadata does not consume a lot of space, longer retention is recommended.

Retention

By default, the export phase maintains five copies of the metadata. A general recommendation is to maintain a weeks' worth of metadata exports if disk space is available. This means if the DR backup is scheduled to run two times per day, then 14 metadata backups should be maintained.

For the metadata backup phase, the default storage policy retention is 60 days and 60 cycles. A general best practice is that the metadata should be saved based on the longest data being retained. If data is being sent off-site on tape for ten years, a copy of the DR database should be included with the data.

Metadata Security

Securing the location where the DR Metadata is copied to is critical since all security and encryption keys are maintained in the CommServe database. If the metadata is copied to removable drives or network locations, best practices recommend using disk-based encryption.