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9 TR1081 | Microsoft SQL Server Database Protection Using EqualLogic Auto-Snapshot Manager / Microsoft Edition
With ASM/ME, Smart Copy clones can be used for Restore All as New or side-by-side restore operations
to duplicate production environments or create exact copies of database environments for testing and
development scenarios. In addition, these database copies can also be used to offload operations from
the production database such as reporting or data mining.
3.3 Replica Smart Copy
Replica Smart Copy options are available if replication is configured in the PS Series group for the volume
or volumes that make up a SQL Server database. Replicas are similar to snapshots that are sent from one
PS Series group and stored on another PS Series group, and hold only the changed data from the last
replica operation. When using replica Smart Copies it is important to manage the Smart Copy backup
documents so they can be accessed by hosts on the remote site or replication partner group.
Replica Smart Copies can be used to recover primary site data at a remote site or enable offload reporting
or data mining operations to the remote site. To replicate many databases and volumes, sufficient
replication space is required. For more information on PS Series replication and sizing replication space,
see the Dell EqualLogic Technical Report, Understanding Data Replication Between Dell EqualLogic PS
Series Groups at the following URL:
http://en.community.dell.com/dell-groups/dtcmedia/m/mediagallery/19861448/download.aspx
3.4 Smart Copy Object Collections
Smart Copy Collections can be configured to create Smart Copies of a group of components. Objects
can be combined into a collection so that snapshot, clone, or replica Smart Copies can be created for a
group of objects at the same time. This is especially useful for scheduling Smart Copy operations of
similar components or databases sharing the same set of volumes.
During a Restore All operation of an object collection, all database components included in the collection
will be placed in a “restoring” state. Client connections for those databases will not be supported while the
restore is in progress. To avoid placing all databases in a collection in a “restoring” state use a Selective
Restore process. For more information see the Selective Restore of SQL Server Databases section in this
document.
In previous versions of Auto-Snapshot Manager there was a restriction put in that limited the number of
databases allowed in a Smart Copy collection. The restriction has been lifted in Auto-Snapshot Manager
v4.6 and is now a warning. See the note below for more information.
Note: Microsoft recommends creating a snapshot backup of fewer than 35 databases at a time. It is
recommended to follow the recommendation that Microsoft has set forth. See the following KB article
for more information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943471.