Planning for CommServe LiveSync in a Windows Environment

Verify the prerequisites needed to setup theHigh Availability CommServe Host in a Windows environment

Note

  • Identical software must be used for setting up the production and the standby CommServe hosts. Ensure that the Operating System and SQL Server version (including service packs) are identical in both the production and standby hosts.*

  • If you want to use a standalone DR CommServe LiveSync setup as failover, uninstall the existing CommServe and all the Commvault software on the standalone DR CommServe computer, and then install the standby/passive CommServe host as failover.

  • Do not configure the Index server on the Web server which is also the CommServe server.

  • Do not use the Download Center application from the Web server that is on the CommServe server.

Hardware

You must have the necessary hardware for setting up the CommServe server on the production host and the standby hosts.

Note

More than one standby host is supported.

For more information on the hardware specification for the CommServe server, see Hardware Specifications for the CommServe Server.

Operating System

High Availability CommServe Host can be set up on all operating systems supported by the CommServe server in the Windows environment.

For more information on the supported operating systems, see CommServe Server: System Requirements.

Note

High Availability CommServe Host is not supported when the CommServe server is configured with Microsoft Failover Cluster.

License Requirements

  • CommServe Server

    No special licenses are required for setting up the CommServe server.

  • SQL Server Agent

    You must have two Microsoft SQL Server agent licenses, one for the production CommServe host and the other for the standby CommServe host.

For information about licensing, see the Commvault Licensing Program Guide.

Installation Packages*

The following Commvault installation packages are required for setting up the production and standby CommServe hosts:*

  • CommServe

    Additional packages are installed by default during the CommServe installation. For more information, see the Additional Packages Installed with the CommServe section in Preinstallation Checklist for the CommServe.

  • CommServe Failover

    The SQL Server agent and the CommServe Failover package are automatically installed in a new instance. (No additional user intervention is needed.)

  • MediaAgent

    Create a dedicated, non deduplicated storage policy for the LiveSync operation. Create the storage policy using a MediaAgent available in the standby site.

    If the MediaAgents must be available on the CommServe, then it must be installed in the instance in which the SQL Server agent and the CommServe Failover packages are installed. The MediaAgent version must be the same or higher than the production and standby CommServe hosts.

    Avoid hosting LiveSync storage in the cloud because the running time of backup and restore jobs will be more than usual.

    Note

    It is not recommended to install the MediaAgent on the CommServe, when the CommServe is setup with LiveSync. (MediaAgents needs persistent storage for the Deduplication Database (DDB) and Index Cache, which are local to the specific machine and hence not synchronized as part of the LiveSync operation.)

Firewall and Network Requirements

By default, this solution requires that all clients communicate with the CommServe server using a proxy. (By default, the SQL Clients installed in the CommServe hosts is used as the proxy.)

Note

A default topology, Firewall Topology created for failover clients, is created for communication between the production and standby CommServe hosts using ports 8405 and 8408. This default topology routes requests between the CommServe and the SQL instances and is created irrespective of the option selected for communication.
Hence, it is important to verify and ensure that production and standby CommServe hosts are able to reach other using ports 8405 and 8408.

To facilitate communication between the clients and the CommServe, verify the following conditions:

  • Both the active host and the passive CommServe hosts can reach the tunnel ports that are associated with the SQL clients in both the active host and the passive CommServe hosts.

  • If the SQL clients are used as the proxy, verify that all the clients in the CommCell environment can communicate with the port and hostname of the SQL clients in both the active host and the passive CommServe hosts.

  • If a dedicated proxy is already set up and available in your environment, use this dedicated proxy to communicate with the CommServe server.

    Note

    A dedicated proxy is recommended in environments with a large number of clients. (5000 or more approximately.)

  • To failover to a CommServe hosted in the cloud, or if there is a firewall between the active host and the passive CommServe hosts, see Setting Up a Standby CommServe Using Port Forwarding Gateway Configuration.

    See Also: Network TCP Port Requirements.

Remote Web Server / Workflow Engine Communication with the CommServe

If a firewall is placed between the Web Server and the CommServe computer, you must configure the firewall to allow traffic between the two computers.

For more information, see Microsoft SQL Server Native Client ODBC Driver.

Client Communication with the CommServe (Optional)

By default, the SQL client is used as a proxy to route requests and responses between the CommServe server and the clients in the CommCell, before and after a failover. If necessary, you can setup an alternate client for this purpose.

For more information, see Setting Up Client Communication With the CommServe.

* Any additional packages installed on the primary CommServe host, which includes other Commvault packages, or any third-party components, must be manually installed in the standby CommServe host. Also once the LiveSync operation is enabled, the LiveSync process will synchronize the information stored in the CommServe database from the production to the standby CommServe. For example, passwords and Additional Settings stored in the database. Any additional entities, such as third-party packages, scripts, registry keys, certificates, IIS settings, configuration files, etc. must be manually applied before or after failover as needed.

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