10.3.1 Preparations

Perform the following preparations before the backup of SQL Server is started:

Configure the environment for SQL Server
General preparation
Prepare a device map file (only required if the backup destination is specified)
Record the output path of a metadata file
Prepare the automated backup

The following example is used as an illustration in the following sub sections.

Figure 10.8 SQL Server backup environment example

Table 10.4 Server configuration
Server type	Server name	comment
Management Server	MGR-SVR
Managed Server	DB-SVR	Business server operating on MSCS (AdvancedCopy Manager's logical node name=nodeAGT, SQL Server virtual server name=VSERVER)

Table 10.5 Database configuration
Database name	Database file name	Database file type
DB01	D:\SQLSVR\DB01.mdf	Primary data file
	E:\SQLSVR\DB01.ndf	Secondary data file
	F:\SQLSVR\DB01.ldf	Transaction log file
DB02	D:\SQLSVR\DB02.mdf	Primary data file
	E:\SQLSVR\DB02.ndf	Secondary data file
	F:\SQLSVR\DB02.ldf	Transaction log file
DB03	D:\SQLSVR\DB03.mdf	Primary data file
	E:\SQLSVR\DB03.ndf	Secondary data file
	F:\SQLSVR\DB03.ldf	Transaction log file

Table 10.6 Database volume configuration
Drive letter	AdvancedCopy Manager device name
D:	g1d1p1
E:	g1d2p1
F:	g1d3p1

10.3.1.1 Configuring the environment for an SQL Server

Set up SQL Server according to database backup configuration instructions. If you apply logs at the time of recovering a database, set the "recovery model" of a database to "Full" or "Bulk-Logged". For more information on this, refer to "Designing a Backup and Restore Strategy" in the "SQL Server Books Online".

10.3.1.2 General preparation

Perform the steps described in "3.4 Preparing to Start the Backup", noting the following points:

When you register transaction volumes, register all the volumes on which database files are placed.
Set the same backup policies for all the volumes on which database files are placed. The management of backup history information is simplified by making all the backup policies the same. Note that the backup can still be executed even if the backup policies are different.

Example

C:\>set SWSTGNODE=nodeAGT
C:\>C:\Win32App\AdvancedCopyManager\bin\swstdevinfoset -t g1d1p1
swstdevinfoset completed
C:\>C:\Win32App\AdvancedCopyManager\bin\swstdevinfoset -t g1d2p1
swstdevinfoset completed
C:\>C:\Win32App\AdvancedCopyManager\bin\swstdevinfoset -t g1d3p1
swstdevinfoset completed
C:\>C:\Win32App\AdvancedCopyManager\bin\swstbkpolset -s 1 -i 7 g1d1p1
g1d1p1 swstbkpolset completed
C:\>C:\Win32App\AdvancedCopyManager\bin\swstbkpolset -s 1 -i 7 g1d2p1
g1d2p1 swstbkpolset completed
C:\>C:\Win32App\AdvancedCopyManager\bin\swstbkpolset -s 1 -i 7 g1d3p1
g1d3p1 swstbkpolset completed
C:\>

C:\>set SWSTGNODE=nodeAGT
C:\>C:\Win32App\AdvancedCopyManager\bin\swstdevinfoset -b g1d11p1
swstdevinfoset completed
C:\>C:\Win32App\AdvancedCopyManager\bin\swstdevinfoset -b g1d12p1
swstdevinfoset completed
C:\>C:\Win32App\AdvancedCopyManager\bin\swstdevinfoset -b g1d13p1
swstdevinfoset completed

10.3.1.3 Prepare a device map file (only if the backup destination is specified)

If you specify the backup volumes which become copy destinations, create a device map file. For details of this, refer to "3.4.9 Preparing a device map file".

10.3.1.4 Record the output path of a metadata file

At the time of backup execution, the "metadata", which includes information such as path name, size and file type, etc. of the database files in the database being backed up is saved from SQL Server. AdvancedCopy Manager saves metadata in a metadata file in a backup volume.

A metadata file is required to be restored to a database volume at the time of restoration of database files. Since it becomes indispensable when executing swstrestore_sqlsvr (SQL Server restore execution command), it is necessary to record the absolute path of a metadata file in advance.

The metadata file is saved with the name ""DB name".swst-dmp" in the folder where the database file with file identification number (FILE_ID) 1 exists. For example, if the absolute path of the database file with file identification number 1 of a database DB01 is "D:\SQLSVR\DB01_data.mdf", the absolute path of a metadata file becomes "D:\SQLSVR\DB01.swst-dmp".

Even though the database file with file identification number 1 is a primary data file, it is a good idea to check using the following procedure to make sure it is correct:

Perform the Transact-SQL command "USE database name EXEC SP_HELPFILE".
Look for the record with which the column "file id" is 1 as a result of this execution. The content of the column "filename" of the record is the absolute path of the database file with file identification number 1.

Point

Although it is necessary to ensure that there is enough capacity for storing a metadata file in a transaction volume, the size of a metadata file is very small, so there is really no necessity for taking this into consideration. The size of a metadata file depends on the number of files of a database. For example, it is about 20KB in a database containing 10 files.