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Commcell Disaster Recovery Test

  • October 26, 2021
  • 6 replies
  • 867 views
K
Byte
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Hello All,

I wanted to get your input on our DR plan that I need to test out. Here is what I am looking to accomplish

  1. Restore Commserve from a DR backup to isolated datacenter 
  2. Restore 3 Sql Server backups from tape to an isolated datacenter
  3. Not pause affect the production environment while the DR Test is taking place
  4. LiveSync is not an option (might be scoped out for next year)

I have looked through the documentation and other posts on here and this is what I am thinking….

  1. Spin up a vm in the isolated datacenter to restore the Commcell
  2. Declare a disaster recovery test with offsite provider
  3. Transport required tapes to isolated datacenter
  4. Restore a copy of our DR backup from an isolated file server
  5. Start a restore of the Commserve database with the recovery tool
  6. Configure tape library to work with the restored DR commcell
  7. Catalog tapes that contain the 3 sql server full backups
  8. Restore sql databases to new isolated vm’s

 

However, my main concern is that the tapes are encrypted. When I restore the DR Commserve to the new isolated vm, will it be able to decrypt and restore the tapes? Will the metadata and encryption keys managed by the CommCell be captured in the DR copy?

 

I have heard from others who have preformed DR tests from tapes to isolated environments that we have had to complete a whole CommCell migration (https://documentation.commvault.com/commvault/v11_sp19/article?p=5078.htm) and (https://documentation.commvault.com/commvault/v11_sp16/article?p=5990.htm) then we will need Commvault support to approve the migration request. Is this still the case in SP20?

Best answer by Mike Struening RETIRED

Hey @Kyle32043 !

Your plan looks solid, though I want to confirm a few points:

  1. Will you use the same name and IP address in the isolated area?
  2. Does the current CS have the MA installed (with connection to the tape library in question)
    1. If not, make sure you install the MA and connect/detect the library AFTER the DR restore

As long as the tapes are from the same CS you are restoring in the DR location, you shouldn’t need to catalog the tapes (unless there’s an aged media concern, maybe). 

The DR CS thinks it is the prod CS, so installing the MA software and configuring a local library will allow it to see the tapes. No need for a CommCell Migration since this is essentially the same CCID.

You can then restore the SQL databases wherever you need to as long as they have the SQL iDA installed and registered to the DR commserve.

There’s a guide for MA recovery here which will help you out:

https://documentation.commvault.com/11.24/essential/43636_mediaagent_recovery.html

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6 replies

Mike Struening
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Hey @Kyle32043 !

Your plan looks solid, though I want to confirm a few points:

  1. Will you use the same name and IP address in the isolated area?
  2. Does the current CS have the MA installed (with connection to the tape library in question)
    1. If not, make sure you install the MA and connect/detect the library AFTER the DR restore

As long as the tapes are from the same CS you are restoring in the DR location, you shouldn’t need to catalog the tapes (unless there’s an aged media concern, maybe). 

The DR CS thinks it is the prod CS, so installing the MA software and configuring a local library will allow it to see the tapes. No need for a CommCell Migration since this is essentially the same CCID.

You can then restore the SQL databases wherever you need to as long as they have the SQL iDA installed and registered to the DR commserve.

There’s a guide for MA recovery here which will help you out:

https://documentation.commvault.com/11.24/essential/43636_mediaagent_recovery.html

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-struening
RubeckDK
1 person likes this
  • RubeckDK
    RubeckDK
K
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  • Kyle32043
  • Author
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  • October 27, 2021

Hey Mike,

 

In regards to your questions,

  1. We will use the same name as the prod CS however it will have a different ip address. Would a different IP address affect anything set up wise? I assume as long as the isolated zone has DNS point the restored CS’s FQDN to the new ip the clients should be able to connect without issue.
  2. Yes the production CS does have a MA installed (over a dozen actually :upside_down: ). 
    • I assume it should be ok to just stand up new media agents and not have to restore a copy of the DDB if I am restoring from tape correct?

 

 

Mike Struening
Vaulter
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@Kyle32043 , the IP address likely won’t be an issue (Licenses these days don’t care) so you should be good there.

For item 2, I meant does the CS itself have the MA installed, since if it doesn’t, you’ll need to install it after you restore the database (not before).

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-struening
Chris Hollis
RubeckDK
2 people like this
  • Chris Hollis
    Chris Hollis
  • RubeckDK
    RubeckDK
Scott Moseman
Vaulter
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Kyle32043 wrote:
  1. We will use the same name as the prod CS however it will have a different ip address. Would a different IP address affect anything set up wise? I assume as long as the isolated zone has DNS point the restored CS’s FQDN to the new ip the clients should be able to connect without issue.
  2. Yes the production CS does have a MA installed (over a dozen actually :upside_down: ). 
    • I assume it should be ok to just stand up new media agents and not have to restore a copy of the DDB if I am restoring from tape correct?


2.  The DDB is not necessary for restores.  You won’t need to restore a DDB.

If you’re writing backups to tape, I assume you’re not using a DDB anyways.

Thanks,
Scott

 

Commvault Enterprise Success
D
Bit
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  • Djoudi
  • Bit
  • 1 reply
  • April 6, 2022

Bonjour,apres un disaster recovery,nous avons installer le systéme minimum afin de restaurarer des donnees.Ce que je ne comprends pas c est que le systéme n’est pas en mode restreint alors

que nous restaurons le sous-systeme ALLUSR qui contient la QUSRsys.

Doit on mettre le systéme en mode restreint et ne strater que TCPIP?

 

Merci

Mike Struening
Vaulter
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@Djoudi , can you provide more details about the agent involved?

I translated your reply, though want to be sure I answer properly.

 

Is this a One Touch Restore for IBM i (iSeries/AS400) ?

Hello, after a disaster recovery, we installed the minimum system in order to restore data. What I do not understand is that the system is not in restricted mode sothat we restore the ALLUSR subsystem which contains the QUSRsys.Should we put the system in restricted mode and strat only TCPIP?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-struening

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