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8 TR1081 | Microsoft SQL Server Database Protection Using EqualLogic Auto-Snapshot Manager / Microsoft Edition
3 ASM/ME Smart Copies for SQL Server
Auto-Snapshot Manager/Microsoft Edition (ASM/ME) creates Smart Copies utilizing the built-in PS Series
SAN protection capabilities of volume snapshots, clones, and replicas. The following section will cover the
Smart Copy types and options supported for SQL Server.
All Smart Copies are transportable, and can be mounted on the same or a different server. With proper
configuration, SQL hosts configured in a HIT Group can mount (restore) a Smart Copy created by any
other SQL host in the HIT Group. For more information see the Advanced Operations section in this
document.
The Hosts view in ASM/ME lists the SQL Server instances and databases running in the instances. A
database residing on PS Series storage will have a blue icon and a database not located on PS Series
storage will have a grayed-out icon. The blue icon indicates objects (SQL Server databases, Exchange
databases, Hyper-V virtual machines and CSVs, and NTFS volumes) that can be controlled by ASM/ME. At
any time, detailed information about an object can be displayed by clicking on the object.
3.1 Snapshot Smart Copy
Snapshot Smart Copies are point-in-time copies of a database and volume(s) at the time of the Smart
Copy operation. Snapshots are the most space-efficient form of a volume or database Smart Copy
therefore multiple copies of snapshots can be stored and used for recovery operations. In the PS Series
Group Manager GUI, snapshot Smart Copies are shown under each base volume from which they were
created. Snapshot Smart Copies are most useful for quick recovery of the original volume or database.
Using ASM/ME, Smart Copy snapshots can be created and applied to:
Restore the original volume or database in place by rolling back the source volumes to the point-
in-time of the Smart Copy.
Restore the original SQL Server database allowing additional log file backups or a rolling log restore.
Selectively restoring a single database from a group or collection of databases on the same host
Restore a database to a new location or to perform a side-by-side database recovery on the same
SQL instance.
Note: A rolling log restore can be applied if previous log file backups are available. ASM/ME will leave the
SQL Server database in a “Restoring” state to allow additional log file backups to be applied to the restore
process. The rolling log restore is a manual process and ASM/ME will not create or manage log file
backups or the incremental log recovery process.
3.2 Clone Smart Copy
Clone Smart Copies are exact duplicates of the original volume or volumes including all the data and full
size of each volume included in the Smart Copy. Clones are treated and shown as separate volumes in
the PS Series Group Manager GUI. Clone Smart Copies are most useful when the original volume or
database environment needs to be recreated such as test or development scenario.