I'm looking to discern exactly what is required to fully recover a server from a hardware failure. The commvault documentation is somewhat ambiguous. I want to better understand the full system backup/recovery process and discover any problems in the configuration of my backup policy.
Background:
Commvault v7.0.0 sp4
Does a System state sub client require a full file system state backup in order to completely recover a server? Is it pointless running a system state without a corresponding full file system with no exceptions?
Example:
Lets say I wanted to recover a Windows Server 2003 R2 machine that is acting as file / print server. Both file system and system state backups are executed as part of the default backup set/default subclient. Only a selective file system copy is executed, namely directories that contain user data. I.e directories like c:\windows and c:\program files are not backed up even though various programs do run out of these directories. Dell management applications, monitoring agents etc
Is the server fully recoverable without the whole file system backed up?
What data does the system state backup collect exactly?
Is there any way of reducing the amount of data that is backed up off my servers without affecting the ability to run a full system state restore?
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I think the easiest way to ensure that Full System Restores are succesfull is to ensure that you have a Standardised Server Build Process in place. I have found that by following that Build Process when re-installing the Operating System (in preparation for the Full System Restore), that it is more likely to be succesful.
As for Service Packs and Patching - I will ensure that the Server is at the same Service Pack level prior to performing the Full System Restore, however, I don't think I have ever bothered with any other patches.
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by: Psy053Posted on 2009-09-07 at 23:45:38ID: 25279141
Realistically, the only way to ensure full system recoverability, is to perform a full system backup.
I am sure that it is possible to successfully recover a server with only the System State Backup, however there is always potential that something critical to the operation of that server is missed in the System State Backup. In the case of your File / Print Server this could something as trivial as a missing print driver or associated object.
The following is a list of items that the System State Backups protect, however, these will change based on the role of the server:
Active Directory Databases,
SYSVOL,
System Protected Files,
IIS,
COM+ Database,
Event Logs,
One Touch Files,
Certificate Services,
RSM,
Terminal Services Licensing,
Disk Quotas,
Content Indexing Catalogs,
WMI Database,
DHCP,
WINS,
UDDI Database,
Remote Storage Database,
Certificate Services,
and related Commvault data
The best way to see what your System State Backups are protecting is to "view backup items" for the particular server.
It is possible to reduce the size of your backup by filtering out folders and the like, but a lot of this will come with trial and error. Personally, I think you would be better of looking into creating an additional subclient which you could use to capture all of the system data not covered in the system state and user data backups. You could then schedule the backup to occur less frequently, and even point the subclient to a new Storage Policy that is setup with less retention than required for your user data.