Application Integration - How To

Configure CDR to Replicate Application Data

Before You Begin

• Review Application Integration

Required Capability: Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To configure CDR to replicate application data:

1. In the CommCell Browser, right-click the ContinuousDataReplicator icon of the source machine, and select Properties.

2. Select the Authentication tab of the Agent Properties screen, and select one of the following:

   • Exchange/SQL tab - select either Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft SQL Server, click Edit, then supply the necessary credentials for the server. For more information, see specify the Account for Accessing Application Servers/Filers.

     For a clustered Exchange Server, if you are not using VSS to perform an online quiesce, sufficient permissions are required in order to be able to perform an offline quiesce; in such cases, ensure that the User Name specified has Exchange Administrator rights.

3. Click OK to save your changes.

   Note

   To create a Replication Pair for application data, see Add a Replication Pair.

Change Account for Accessing Application Servers or Filers

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To change most Agent user account for accessing an application server or filer:

1. From the CommCell Browser, expand the tree if necessary to view the affected agent icon. Then right-click the agent icon and click Properties.

2. From the General tab, click the Change Account button associated with the User Account information.

3. For Active Directory, if you want to use NTLM Bind, enter Administrator as the user and then enter the administrator's password in the Change User Account dialog box.

4. For Active Directory, enter the requested information in the Change User Account dialog box.

5. For the affected Exchange-based agent, enter the requested information in the Exchange-based Change User Account dialog box.

6. For SharePoint, enter the requested information in the SharePoint-based Change User Account dialog box.

7. Click OK to save the settings.

To change a ContinuousDataReplicator user account (Windows only) for accessing an application server:

1. From the CommCell Browser, expand the tree if necessary to view the affected agent icon. Then right-click the agent icon and click Properties.

2. Click the Authentication tab.

3. Click the appropriate application in the list, and then click Edit.

4. Enter the required information in the Change User Account dialog box.

5. Click OK.

Using ContinuousDataReplicator with Microsoft Exchange

The following section provides the steps required to use CDR for data replication and recovery for Microsoft Exchange data based on a single source and single destination. If your environment uses a different scenario, adjust your steps accordingly.

Before You Begin

• A full understanding of the following subjects will prove helpful:

  • Overview - ContinuousDataReplicator

  • Data Replication

  • Application Integration

  • Recovery Points

  • Recover Replicated Data

Data Replication and Consistent Recovery Points for Microsoft Exchange

Required Capability: Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To use CDR to replicate Microsoft Exchange data and create Consistent Recovery Points:

1. Select two computers on which to install CDR, one designated as the source computer, and one designated as the destination computer.

   • Verify that they both meet the System Requirements.

   • Install the ContinuousDataReplicator software for Windows on both computers.

2. If you are using VSS, you may want to use a separate shadow storage area for Consistent Recovery Points since exchange uses a large amount of cache space.

3. If you are replicating data for a clustered Exchange Server, and you are using the legacy offline method to quiesce the Exchange Server to facilitate Consistent Recovery Point creation, CDR will need to be configured with account information for the Exchange Server; for instructions, see Change Account for Accessing Application Servers. If you are using VSS to quiesce the Exchange Server, you can ignore this step.

4. Configure CDR to Replicate Application Data.

5. Create a Replication Set.

6. Configure Consistent Recovery Points for the Microsoft Exchange data; see Configure CDR Recovery Points.

7. Add a Replication Pair.

8. Start Data Replication Activity.

9. Create a Consistent Recovery Point.

Additional Recommendations

• On both the source and destination computers, it is recommended that you Configure Throttling for CDR Replication Activities.

• It is recommended that you configure alerts. For more information, see Alerts.

• Optionally, you can Configure CDR for Backups of Recovery Points.

  To perform backups of Recovery Points, you must also install the Windows File System iDataAgent on both the source and destination computers.

• Monitor Data Replication Activities.

• View the Recovery Point Creation History.

• Run and review the ContinuousDataReplicator Job Summary Report.

Copyback of Microsoft Exchange Data

Exchange data is restored at the Storage Group level. While you can restore Exchange data from a Recovery Point, a backup of a Recovery Point, or the Live Copy, these methods will not ensure consistency of the application data; only a restore from a Consistent Recovery Point, or a backup of one, will ensure consistency of application data. Copyback is recommended as the primary method of moving the replicated data back to the production Exchange Server, in addition to restoring a backup of a Consistent Recovery Point where that is appropriate. Exchange circular logging can be either enabled or disabled, with no impact on the Copyback operation. To ensure application integrity, you must use Add App to create your Replication Pairs. (Refer to Add or Edit a Replication Pair and Application Integration.) Add App discovers the location of the Exchange .chk file and tmp.edb file, which means the Exchange .chk file will not have to be deleted before performing the Copyback operation, since it is restores from the same point-in-time as the database and log files.

For step-by-step instructions, see Copy Back Exchange Data from a Consistent Recovery Point.

Additional Recommendations

• View the Recovery Point Copyback History.

• Run and review the CDR Recovery Job Summary Report.

Using ContinuousDataReplicator with Microsoft SQL Server

Applicable to: Windows client computers

The following section provides the steps required to use CDR for data replication and recovery of Microsoft SQL Server data based on a single source and single destination. If your environment uses a different scenario, adjust your steps accordingly.

Before You Begin

• A full understanding of the following subjects will prove helpful:

  • Overview - ContinuousDataReplicator

  • Data Replication

  • Application Integration

  • Recovery Points

  • Recover Replicated Data

Data Replication and Consistent Recovery Points for Microsoft SQL Server

Required Capability: Capabilities and Permitted Actions

To use CDR to replicate Microsoft SQL Server data and create Consistent Recovery Points:

1. Select two computers on which to install CDR, one designated as the source computer, and one designated as the destination computer.

   • Verify that they both meet the Windows operating system versions in System Requirements.

   • Install the ContinuousDataReplicator software for Windows on both computers.

2. For VSS, you may want to use separate volume for shadow storage.

3. Configure CDR to Replicate Application Data.

4. Create a Replication Set.

5. Configure Consistent Recovery Points for the SQL Server data; see Configure CDR Recovery Points.

6. Add a Replication Pair.

7. Start Data Replication Activity.

8. Create a Consistent Recovery Point.

Additional Recommendations

• On both the source and destination computers, it is recommended that you Configure Throttling for CDR Replication Activities.

• It is recommended that you Configure Alerts. For more information, see Alerts.

  It is also recommended that you also see Configuring Space Check for ContinuousDataReplicator Agents and configure the Disk Space Low alert to provide warning that the source computer is running out of disk space, which will ultimately cause replication activity to be System Aborted.

• Optionally, you can Configure CDR for Backups of Recovery Points.

  To perform backups of Recovery Points, you must also install the Windows File System iDataAgent on both the source and destination computers.

• Monitor Data Replication Activities.

• View the Recovery Point Creation History.

• Run and review the CDR Recovery Job Summary Report.

Copyback of Microsoft SQL Server Data

SQL data is restored at the database level. While you can restore SQL data from a Recovery Point, a backup of a Recovery Point, or the Live Copy, these methods will not ensure consistency of the application data; only a restore from a Consistent Recovery Point, or a backup of one, will ensure consistency of application data. Copyback is recommended as the primary method of moving the replicated data back to the production SQL Server, in addition to restoring a backup of a Consistent Recovery Point where that is appropriate. To ensure application integrity, you must use Add App to create your Replication Pairs. (Refer to Add or Edit a Replication Pair and Application Integration.) Add App discovers the location of, not only user-defined databases (.mdf, .ndf, .ldf) but also any system databases on the client, which you can select for data replication.

For step-by-step instructions, see Copy Back SQL Data from a Consistent Recovery Point.

Additional Recommendations

• View the Recovery Point Copyback History.

• Run and review the CDR Copyback Job Summary Report.