2013
Edgewood College
Prepared by the:
Information Technology
Services Office
[BACKUP POLICY & PROCESS]
Contents
Purpose ..........................................................................................................................................................................3
Definitions ..................................................................................................................................................................3
Scope..............................................................................................................................................................................6
Resources .......................................................................................................................................................................6
Commvault Backup Agents ............................................................................................................................................7
File System - iDataAgent ............................................................................................................................................7
Exchange Database Agent .........................................................................................................................................8
SQL iDataAgent ..........................................................................................................................................................8
Active Directory iDataAgent ......................................................................................................................................9
Sharepoint Agent .......................................................................................................................................................9
Beta/Test/Development Environments .......................................................................................................................10
Decommissioning Systems ...........................................................................................................................................10
Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................10
Procedure .................................................................................................................................................................10
Test and Restore of Backups ........................................................................................................................................11
Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................11
Procedure .................................................................................................................................................................11
Backup Monitoring Process .........................................................................................................................................11
Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................11
Procedure .................................................................................................................................................................11
SQL Server Maintenance Plans ....................................................................................................................................11
Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................11
Procedure .................................................................................................................................................................11
Exceptions ................................................................................................................................................................13
Core and Network Infrastructure Backups ...................................................................................................................13
Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................13
Procedure .................................................................................................................................................................13
Definity and Audix backups (Phone/Voicemail) ...........................................................................................................13
Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................13
Procedure .................................................................................................................................................................13
Revision Table ..............................................................................................................................................................15
Purpose
This document outlines the processes and procedures used by Edgewood ITSO to backup server databases and file
systems. Included herein are definitions of terms, schedule of backups, retention policies, and other relevant
backup information.
Definitions

Subclient
o A subclient is a portion of a client, and it can either contain all of the client's data or a designated
subset thereof.

Storage Policies
o Storage policies act as the primary channels through which data is included in data protection
and data recovery operations. A storage policy forms the primary logical entity through which a
subclient or instance is backed up. Its chief function is to map data from its original location to a
physical media.

Vault Tracker Policies
o The VaultTracker® feature provides the capability to track media movement between multiple
locations

Retention Policy
o Time constraints that data is stored on disk or tape before it is deleted. Retention has two parts
days and cycles. Both conditions must be met before data is allowed to be overwritten. For
example: (F = Full, I=Incremental, B=Bad backup) F I I I I F I I I I B = 8 days 1 cycle. If the B was an
F then it would equal 9 days 2 cycles. If the retention policy was set at 14 days 2 cycles then the
retention would not be met.

Cycles
o
Point of time between successful full backups. 1 cycle = 2 Successful full backups in a period of
time. For example: (F = Full, I=Incremental, B=Bad backup) F I I I I F I I I I B = 8 days 1 cycle. If the
B was an F then it would equal 9 days 2 cycles. If the retention policy was set at 14 days 2 cycles
then the retention would not be met.

Scheduled Policies
o When multiple clients or tasks require similar operations to be scheduled you can create a
schedule policy as a template and attach it to each of these clients or tasks in a CommCell.

Magnetic Library (disk library)
o A disk library is a virtual library associated with one or more mount paths. The disk library does
not represent a specific hardware entity; it is a software entity that contains a list of mount paths
through which data can be sent to a disk media. A disk library can be configured by assigning
one or more mount paths to it. The storage capacity of a disk library is determined by the total
storage space in its mount paths.

Disk media, whether individual hard disks or RAID arrays, is logically divided into partitions. A partition can
include some or all of the total disk storage space available. Each partition is associated with a file system
path called a mount path, through which data is written to and read from.

Tape Library
o Piece of hardware that uses LTO3 or LTO5 tapes to record backup data.

FireSafe
o
Fireproof safe located in backup datacenter that stores used and available tapes that are not in
the tape library.

Archive
o Full backup and/or specific directories of subclient that will be written to tape with an infinite
retention. Tape is then stored in the FireSafe.

Media Agent
o The MediaAgent manages the transmission of data between clients and backup media. There can
be more than one MediaAgent within a CommCell.

Commcell
o The CommCell Console is the graphical user interface that allows you to control and manage a
CommCell. The CommCell Console can be run in two ways:
 as a stand-alone application, which is installed directly on to a CommServe, MediaAgent,
Client, or any other computer that can communicate with the CommServe. For
comprehensive information on supported platforms, see System Requirements CommCell Console as a Stand-Alone Application.
 as a remote web-based application, which allows you to access the CommCell Console
remotely via any computer running a supported platform and Java-enabled web
browser. For comprehensive information on supported platforms, see System
Requirements - CommCell Console as a Remote Web-Based Application.

DeDuplication
o Deduplication provides a smart and efficient method to store data by identifying and eliminating
the duplicate items in backups. All data types from Windows, Linux and Unix operating systems
can be deduplicated before moving the data to a secondary storage.

Synthetic Full Backup
o Synthetic full backup is a synthesized backup. It is created from the most recent full backup (i.e.,
standard or synthetic) and subsequent incremental and/or differential backups. It, therefore,
cannot be the first backup job of a client computer or subclient. The resulting synthetic full backup
is identical to what would have been created had the last backup for the subclient been a full
backup. Unlike full, incremental, and differential backups, a synthetic full backup does not
actually transfer data from a client computer to the backup media. In this sense it is not really a
backup at all, rather a backup consolidator. Therefore, since synthetic full backups do not back up
data from the client computer, they impose no load on the client computer. Because synthetic full
backups consolidate backup data into one archive file, they provide a means of enhancing restore
performance, particularly when a given full backup cycle contains many incremental backups.
Synthetic full backups are treated by the system as standard full backups, but cannot be the next
backup job after a standard full backup. As a result, they delineate full backup cycles in the same
manner as standard backups. This is an important point to remember, since retention periods are
defined in part by the number of full backup cycles. Using synthetic full backups in an unguided
manner may cause the unintentional expiration of data. Synthetic full backups are media-based;
they read backup data from one media and simultaneously write (restore) the result to the new
active media within the same media group. As a result, synthetic full backups require that at least
two media drives for the same storage policy be available at the time the job is started. Synthetic
full backups cannot be performed on subclients where the storage policy is associated with a
stand-alone drive.

Incremental Backup
o An incremental backup contains only data that is new or has changed since the last backup,
regardless of the type. On average, incremental backups consume far less media and place less of
a burden on resources than full backups.
 For the DB2, DB2 DPF, Informix, Oracle, Oracle RAC and SAP iDataAgents, Incremental
backup works as described in differential backups.
 Incremental backups behave differently on Notes Database and Notes Document clients.

Differential Backups
o A differential backup contains only the data that is new or has changed since the last full backup.
Like incrementals, differential backups, on average, consume less media and place less of a
burden on resources than full backups. For most agents, differential backups are cumulative. This
means that each differential backup contains all changes accumulated since the last full backup.
Each successive differential backup contains all the changes from the previous differential
backup. The Oracle iDataAgent, however, provides a backup option that allows you to specify
whether or not you want the backup to be cumulative. The following illustration demonstrates
the nature of differential backups. For simplicity, assume there is a file system that contains six
files as represented in the figure. This file system and its modifications are the same as those
described for Incremental Backups.

Full Backup
o Backups for any client start with a full backup. For Agents that support non-full backups, the full
backup becomes a baseline to which subsequent backup types are applied. For example, if an
agent supports incremental backups, a full backup must be performed before an incremental
backup can be initiated. A full backup contains all the data that comprises a subclient's contents.
If a client computer has multiple agents installed, then the subclients of each agent require a full
backup in order to secure all of the data on that client. Backups can also be performed at the
backup set or instance level, and will apply to all of the subclients within the selected backup set
or instance.

Backup Agents
o File System iDataAgent
o Virtual Server Agent (VSA VADP)
o SQL Server Agent
o Active Directory Server Agent
o Sharepoint Server Agent
o Exchange Agent
o Linux

Core Infrastructure
o Edge networking devices which include all routers, WAN links, fiber links, Firewalls, edge switches.
Does not include client switches.

Network Infrastructure
o Client/Server switches.

WAN
o

Wide Area Network
Definity
o Brand name of our main phone switch system.

Audix
o

Auxiliary Copies (secondary copy)
o Secondary copies of data associated with data protection operations, independent of the original
copy

Tier 1 systems
o Mission critical or high traffic servers – example: JICS, Blackboard, Feith, Exchange, Sharepoint
o Also includes all Unix, Macintosh Systems

Tier 2 systems
o Non-mission critical production system - example

Tier 3 systems
o Beta and test servers.
o System archives

DAG - Database Availability Group
o Duplicate mailbox databases on multiple exchange mailbox servers that work in an
Active/Passive relationship.
Voicemail system attached to the Definity phone system.
Scope
Backup process includes but not limited to:

Systems & Servers
o Virtual machines
o Physical Servers
o Network switches
o Core infrastructure devices

Databases & Speciality Applications
o SQL Databases
o Exchange Databases
o SharePoint Databases
o Active Directory

Definity Phone System including Audix voicemail system.
Resources

Software
o Commvault Simpana
o SQL Management Studio
o VMWare

Disk
o
o
o

Tape
Local Storage
Magnetic Library
Equallogic Storage via iSCSI
o
o
o
Dell TL4000 Tape Library with four LTO-5 Tape Drives
Dell PowerVault 132 with two LTO-3 Tape Drives
Audix Tape Drive

Flash Media
o PCMCIA Flash media
o Compact Flash media

Physical Storage
o Fire-Proof Safe
Commvault Backup Agents

Determine type of Agent is to be used for new system based on system tier and type.

Install agent(s) on system

Commvault automatically creates default subclient based on agent type
o Sys/Net team member modifies default to match naming conventions
o Assign storage policy

Configure agent-specific settings

Assign backup type and schedule policy
File System - iDataAgent
Overview
The File System iDataAgent is installed on all tier 1 systems that back up the entire file system excluding SQL
database files and drives dedicated to Exchange.
Procedure

After installation, Sys/Net team member modifies default to match naming conventions

File system subclient is split in to System State & file system level backups.

Subclients are assigned to a storage policy under “Storage Device” > “Data Storage Policy”
o DeRicci virtual machines or DeRicci physical servers are assigned to the BKUP820-Dedupe-IDA
storage Policy
o Sonderreger virtual machines or Sonderreger physical servers are assigned to the BKUP821Dedupe-IDA storage Policy

Deduplication is to be enabled in the Subclient properties under “Storage Device” > “Deduplication”
o Deduplication is to be set to “On Media Agent”

Subclients are assigned to scheduled policy based on traffic and number of DataAgents installed.
Schedules

Both FileSystem & System State sub clients are assigned to a schedule policy
o Systems with front and backend database servers
 Front end system is assigned to “Incremental Forever 10pm” schedule policy
 Database backend system is assigned to “Critical 3am” schedule policy
o
o
Single System servers, including Macintosh servers, are assigned to “Incremental Forever 10pm”
schedule policy
Unix file systems should be set to do a full backup daily at midnight.
Exchange Database Agent
Overview
Exchange database agent is used to backup Exchange mailbox databases. The Exchange database agent process is
different on the 2007 & 2010 Exchange environments. On the Exchange 2007 environment the agent is installed on
the server that houses the mailbox databases. Whereas on the Exchange 2010 environment has the agent installed
on each mailbox server, however the sub clients are attached to a DAG.
Procedure

Based on the duration/performance of the backup, multiple sub clients will be created to make best effort
to keep exchange backups inside a 22 hour backup window.

Sub clients are assigned to a storage policy under “Storage Device” > “Data Storage Policy”
o DeRicci virtual machines or DeRicci physical servers are assigned to the BKUP820-Dedupe-IDA
storage Policy
o Sonderreger virtual machines or Sonderreger physical servers are assigned to the BKUP821Dedupe-IDA storage Policy

Deduplication is to be enabled in the Sub client properties under “Storage Device” > “Deduplication”
o Deduplication is to be set to “On Media Agent”
Schedules

Sub clients per server are split in to two halves and scheduled in 30 minute increments.
o First set of sub clients are scheduled between 6pm – 8pm
o Second set of sub clients are scheduled between 8pm – 10pm.
SQL iDataAgent
Overview
Installed on Tier 1 database servers where block-level SQL backups are needed for data retention/restoration.
Procedure

Under the sub client properties on the Content section, discover and specify which databases should get
backed up. Generally all databases should get backed up.

Sub clients are assigned to a storage policy under “Storage Device” > “Data Storage Policy” and storage
policy settings are duplicated under “Storage Device” > “Log Storage Policy”
o DeRicci virtual machines or DeRicci physical servers are assigned to the BKUP820-Dedupe-IDA
storage Policy
o Sonderreger virtual machines or Sonderreger physical servers are assigned to the BKUP821Dedupe-IDA storage Policy

Deduplication is to be enabled in the Sub client properties under “Storage Device” > “Deduplication”
o Deduplication is to be set to “On Media Agent”
Schedules

SQL Database sub clients get assigned to the 10pm Database Backup schedule.
Active Directory iDataAgent
Overview
Active Directory iDataAgent is installed on the primary domain controller.
Procedure

Sub clients are assigned to a storage policy under “Storage Device” > “Data Storage Policy”
o DeRicci virtual machines or DeRicci physical servers are assigned to the BKUP820-Dedupe-IDA
storage Policy
o Sonderreger virtual machines or Sonderreger physical servers are assigned to the BKUP821Dedupe-IDA storage Policy

Deduplication is to be enabled in the Sub client properties under “Storage Device” > “Deduplication”
o Deduplication is to be set to “On Media Agent”
Schedules

Should be assigned to the “Incrementals forever 1AM” schedule policy.
Sharepoint Agent
Overview
Microsoft SharePoint Server and Windows SharePoint Services include components that are backed up by the
SharePoint Server iDataAgent, as well as data which must be backed up using the File System iDataAgent.
SharePoint database files can also reside on separate SQL servers; to secure this data, you must back up these files
using the appropriate SQL Server iDataAgent.
This agent requires that the database server has the SQL iDataAgent installed.
Procedure

Documents
o Under the sub client properties on the Content section, discover and specify which databases
should get backed up. Generally all databases should get backed up.
o Sub clients are assigned to a storage policy under “Storage Device” > “Data Storage Policy”
 DeRicci virtual machines or DeRicci physical servers are assigned to the BKUP820Dedupe-IDA storage Policy
 Sonderreger virtual machines or Sonderreger physical servers are assigned to the
BKUP821-Dedupe-IDA storage Policy
o Deduplication is to be enabled in the Sub client properties under “Storage Device” >
“Deduplication”
 Deduplication is to be set to “On Media Agent”

Databases
o In the sub client properties check use direct database access
o
o
Sub clients are assigned to a storage policy under “Storage Device” > “Data Storage Policy”
 DeRicci virtual machines or DeRicci physical servers are assigned to the BKUP820Dedupe-IDA storage Policy
 Sonderreger virtual machines or Sonderreger physical servers are assigned to the
BKUP821-Dedupe-IDA storage Policy
Deduplication is to be enabled in the Sub client properties under “Storage Device” >
“Deduplication”
 Deduplication is to be set to “On Media Agent”
Schedules

Sharepoint Document subclient is to be assigned to “Incrementals forever 8pm”

Sharepoint Database subclient is to be assigned to the “10pm Database Backup” schedule
Beta/Test/Development Environments
Overview
Development/Test/Beta environments of production servers are created upon request. They are created using
VMWare through the vSphere client cloning process.
Procedure

Request is made to the Systems and Network team to create a test environment.

A Systems and Network team member initiates clone of the Virtual Machine(s).
o Tier 1 systems must be cloned during non-standard work hours.

Clones are stored in the Sonderegger Beta Pool.

Unless specifically requested, additional backups are not done for Test/Dev/Beta systems.
Decommissioning Systems
Overview
This section will describe the backup process when a system is to be decommissioned.
Procedure

System is evaluated to see if archive backup is needed.

If archive is needed, then through Commvault a subclient is created for archive backups which would be
assigned to the Archive Storage Policy. (see FileSystem iDataAgent)

Manual full backup of the systems archive sub client is initiated.

When backup is complete, tape is exported from the tape library and stored in the Firesafe.

Other sub clients on decommissioned server are removed from all scheduled policies.

After 35 days have passed since the archive backup, then regular backup tapes may be manually cleared
as long as that sub client is the only active data on the tape media.
Test and Restore of Backups
Overview
This section will describe the testing and restore process for systems requiring disaster recovery testing.
Procedure

Jenzabar
o The Jenzabar system will best test restored quarterly or more often as testing is required. The
restore will be tested by using a production backup and restore on the play database. The
schedule with the quarterly review will be Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct unless a module manager requests
access to the play database. The quarterly review schedule will be continued at the next interval
following the testing in the play database.
Backup Monitoring Process
Overview
This section will describe the monitoring process for Commvault backups.
Procedure

Systems and Network team member checks the Simpana Commcell regularly on a daily basis to ensure
that backups are meeting the backup window.

Backup reports are stored on the Operations website on a weekly basis.

Appropriate actions are taken to remedy when the backup report indicates issues or backups are not being
completed in the backup window.
SQL Server Maintenance Plans
Overview
This section will describe the standard process for SQL database backup on the database servers.
Procedure
SystemDB Backup
1.
2.
Check Database Integrity
a. Connection: Local Server Connection
b. Database(s): All System Databases
c. Include Indexes: Yes
History Cleanup
a. Connection: Local Server Connection
b. Backup and Restore History: Yes
c. SQL Server Agent Job History: Yes
3.
4.
5.
d. Maintenance Plan History: Yes
e. Remove Historical Data Older Than: 1 Weeks
Maintenance Cleanup
a. Connection: Local Server Connection
b. Delete Files of the Following Type: Backup Files
c. File Location: Search Folder and Delete Files Base on Extension (create folder if doesn’t exist)
i. Folder: Drive:\DBBackups\SystemDBs
ii. File Extension: bak
iii. Include First-Level Subfolders: Yes
d. File Age
i. Delete Files based on the Age of the File at Task Run Time
ii. Delete Files Older than the Following: 1 Week
Backup Database
a. Connection: Local Server Connection
b. Backup Type: Full
c. Database(s): All System Databases
d. Create Backup File for Every Database: Yes
e. Backup to: Disk
f. Create Sub Directory for Each Database: Yes
g. Folder: Drive:\DBBackups\SystemDBs
h. Compression: Default
Rebuild Index
a. Connection: Local Server Connection
b. Database(s): All System Databases
c. Reorganize Pages With Default Amount of Free Space
d. Sort Results in Temp DB: No
e. Keep Index Online While Reindexing: No
UserDB Backup
1.
2.
Maintenance Cleanup
a. Connection: Local Server Connection
b. Delete Files of the Following Type: Backup Files
c. File Location: Search Folder and Delete Files Base on Extension (create folder if doesn’t exist)
i. Folder: Drive:\DBBackups\UserDBs
ii. File Extension: bak
iii. Include First-Level Subfolders: Yes
d. File Age
i. Delete Files based on the Age of the File at Task Run Time
ii. Delete Files Older than the Following: 2 Days
Backup Database
a. Connection: Local Server Connection
b. Backup Type: Full
c. Database(s): All User Databases
d. Create Backup File for Every Database: Yes
e. Backup to: Disk
f. Create Sub Directory for Each Database: Yes
g.
h.
Folder: Drive:\DBBackups\UserDBs
Compression: Default
Notify Operator

All Numbered Subtasks Above should have a Notify Operator Task “on Error” to send email alerts to ITSOServerAdmin@Edgewood.edu
Maintenance Schedule

All Daily Backups are scheduled between 12:00am-5:00am. Weekly Backups are scheduled for Sunday
between 12:00am-5:00am.
Exceptions

Blackboard & JICS are setup using vendor specified best practices.
o One difference on these is that they are setup to do transactional log backups regularly.
Core and Network Infrastructure Backups
Overview
Configuration backups of all edge networking devices which include all routers, WAN links, fiber links, Firewalls,
edge switches including client switches.
Procedure

Core Infrastructure
o Configurations are saved to flash media or tftp site before and after any configuration
modifications.
o Configuration files are saved to flash media on a weekly basis for Cisco 6509s. Media is then
storage in the fire safe.

Client Networking Infrastructure
o Configurations are saved to our tftp site before and after any configuration modifications.
Definity and Audix backups (Phone/Voicemail)
Overview
This section describes the backup procedures for the Definity phone system and Audix voicemail backups.
Procedure

Definity phone System
o Configurations are automatically saved to flash media on a nightly basis.
o Flash media is rotated on a weekly basis and stored in the firesafe.
 Data is retained for two weeks.

Audix Voicemail
o Configurations are automatically saved to tape media on a nightly basis.
o
Tape media is rotated on a weekly basis and stored in the fire safe.
 Data is retained for one month.
Revision Table
Date
05/16/2013
05/17/2013
05/17/2013
Revised By
SysNet Team
SysNet Team
Patrick Gumieny