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Recovery Using SQL Server Database Mirroring: Testing the Standby CommServe Host

Caution

SQL database mirroring is deprecated by Microsoft and may not be available in future versions of Microsoft SQL Server. Therefore, we recommend that you build the CommServe Disaster Recovery Using CommServe LiveSync For High Availability Disaster Recovery.

After you build and configure database mirroring on the standby CommServe host, you must check its readiness periodically. When the production CommServe host is down, the standby CommServe host can serve as the production server for few days or weeks. Therefore, it is essential to test whether the standby CommServe host is ready to perform all of the production CommServe operations.

Procedure

Note

Recommended: For restore only DR testing, disable all Deduplication (DDB) activities on the production CommServe host. See Disabling Deduplication Database (DDB) Activity.

  1. On the production CommServe host:

    1. Disable scheduler operations. See Enabling or Disabling CommCell Activities.

    2. If any jobs are running, wait for them to complete or suspend them. See Suspending a Job.

    3. Stop all CommCell services. See Stopping a Service.

  2. Bring the standby CommServe database to a consistent state by running the following SQL query on the production CommServe host. Consult Microsoft manual for instructions on running SQL queries in SQL Management Studio. 

    ALTER DATABASE CommServ SET PARTNER FAILOVER

    Similarly, if mirroring is configured, bring online the other CommServe hosted databases (HistoryDB, WFEngine, DM2, or cvCloud) on the standby CommServe host.

  3. Start the CommCell services on the standby CommServe host. See Starting a Service.

  4. Update the CommServe name for few clients used for the test. For instructions on changing the CommServe name on clients, see Changing the Client Computer Name.

  5. Test restore operations on the standby CommServe host.

    You should restore data from at least one client using the standby CommServe host. This will ensure that the data backed up using the original production CommServe host is still accessible and retrievable. Depending on the client used for testing, perform a basic restore operation. For example, to restore Windows File System client data, see Perform a Restore.

  6. Switch CommCell operations back to the production CommServe host.

    After you test the readiness of the standby CommServe host, stop using the standby CommServe host and start using the production CommServe host to perform all the CommCell operations.

    1. Stop all CommCell services on the standby CommServe host. See Stopping a Service.

    2. Bring the production CommServe database to a consistent state by using the following SQL query on the standby CommServe host. Consult Microsoft manual for instructions on running SQL queries in SQL Management Studio. 

      ALTER DATABASE CommServ SET PARTNER FAILOVER

      Similarly, bring online the other CommServe hosted databases (HistoryDB , WFEngine, DM2, or cvCloud) on the production CommServe host.

    3. Update the CommServe database with the host name of the production CommServe host.

    4. Start the CommCell services on the production CommServe host. See Starting a Service.

    5. Update the CommServe name for the clients involved in the test. For instructions on changing the CommServe name on clients, see Changing the Client Computer Name.

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