Introduction
A CommCell environment is the logical grouping of all Commvault components that protect, move, store, and manage data and information. The CommServe server and CommCell Console have primary roles in managing CommCell operations.
CommServe
The CommServe server is the central management component of the CommCell environment. It coordinates and executes all CommCell operations, maintaining Microsoft SQL Server databases that contain all configuration, security, and operational history for the CommCell environment. For detailed information about the CommServe host, see Overview - CommServe.
CommCell Console
The CommCell Console is the central management user interface for managing the CommCell environment - monitoring and controlling active jobs and viewing events related to all activities. The CommCell Console allows centralized and decentralized organizations to manage all data movement activities through a single, common interface. For detailed information about the CommCell Console, see CommCell Console - Overview.
Controlling Activity from the CommCell Console
CommCell environment activity is managed through the following elements:
Job Manager
The Job Manager manages and monitors immediate or scheduled operations throughout the CommCell environment. The Job Manager communicates with agents in order to initiate and monitor data protection and data recovery operations. The Job Manager communicates with MediaAgents to monitor the resources necessary to complete these operations. The Job Manager starts, suspends, and resumes operations based on these resources.
All of this activity is displayed in the Job Controller of the CommCell Console. An authorized CommCell user can also perform actions on active operations from the Job Controller.
For more information, see Job Management.
Scheduler
The scheduler allows users to schedule tasks so that these tasks can be initiated by the software. For more information, see Scheduling - Getting Started.
Event Manager and Alert Subsystem
The Event Manager monitors the events occurring throughout the CommCell, and reports them through the Event Viewer in the CommCell Console. This information can also be viewed through log files. Events can also be reported to CommCell users through the use of configured alert notifications, through the alert subsystem. For more information, see Event Viewer - Getting Started and Alerts and Notifications - Overview.
Reports and Job History
Users can obtain filtered data through the use of reports generated from the CommCell Console. Users can also obtain information on non-active operations by viewing job history information.
For more information, see Reports Overview and Job History - Getting Started.
User Security
The CommCell administrator grants CommCell users permission to perform CommCell actions based on the assigned capabilities and CommCell object association of a CommCell user's member user group. For more information, see Security Overview.
Disaster Recovery
The CommServe software is responsible for storing a metadata SQL database which contains all the information for the CommCell component. The software provides the facility to retrieve this data in the event of a disaster or system failure. For more information, see CommCell Disaster Recovery.
CommCell Operations
Disaster Recovery Backup
Disaster Recovery backups perform regular backups of the CommServe database. It is critical to be able to retrieve this information in the case of a disaster or system failure. For comprehensive information on Disaster Recovery backups, see CommServe Recovery Using Disaster Recovery Backup.
Restore DR Data to Disk
The Restore by Jobs feature can be used to restore Disaster Recovery backup data. For an overview, see Restore by Jobs.
Data Aging
You can run a Data Aging operation to remove the data that has exceeded its user-defined retention rule. For more information on Data Aging, see Data Aging.
Auxiliary Copy
An auxiliary copy operation allows you to create secondary copies of data associated with data protection operations, independent of the original copy. For more information on Auxiliary Copy, see Auxiliary Copy,
Download Updates
This option allows you to download updates from the Commvault download server. For instructions, see Downloading Software Using the CommCell Console.
Install Updates
This options allows you to install updates from the CommCell Console. For instructions, see Installing the Feature Release Remotely Using the CommCell Console.
Send Log Files
You can view and send the log files of the operations that have occurred on your system from a CommServe computer. For more information on log files, see Log Files.
Event Search
You can perform a search for specific events that have occurred within your CommCell configuration. For more information about events, see Event Viewer.
View Schedules
From the CommCell Browser, you can view and modify all the jobs that are scheduled to run on a CommServe server using the Scheduled Jobs window. The Scheduled Jobs window allows you to review the jobs that are scheduled and the identity of the client computers for which they are run. For an overview, see Scheduling.
View Admin Job History
You can view the job history of all of the administration jobs that have run. For an overview, see Admin Job History.
View Log Files
You can view the log files generated by a MediaAgent. The files that reside on a given computer may differ depending on the role of the computer in the CommCell architecture (CommServe Server, MediaAgent, Client). A CommServe computer contains only the CommServe log files. A computer that is both a CommServe Server and a MediaAgent contains the log files of both entities. For a detailed explanation of log files, see Log Files.
View Users Logged In
You can view the users currently logged on to the CommCell Console. See Viewing Users Logged On to the CommServe for more information.
Control Panel
The Control Panel allows you to launch a wide variety of administrative tasks. See Control Panel for more information.