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47 TR1081 | Microsoft SQL Server Database Protection Using EqualLogic Auto-Snapshot Manager / Microsoft Edition
2. Use the Promote to Volume option for the database replica sets. This will pause inbound
replication on the database volumes. Optionally add access control to the promoted volumes
from the hosts that will mount the volumes to restore the database. (This step can also be done at
a later time)
3. Attach the database volumes to the SQL instance. Access control will need to be granted to the
volumes if not done already.
The SQL database should now be up and running in the instance at the secondary site. Depending on
how long the secondary site is running, minimal or significant changes may have taken place on the DB
while it’s running in the secondary site. When ready, the database volumes can be failed back to the
primary site.
Note: The failback process will need to take the volumes offline prior to failing back to the primary site.
Also to utilize failback the data primary site must be intact, failback will not work if there was a total
disaster at the primary site and the primary data and storage was destroyed.
8.8 Off-Host Backup and Recovery
Auto-Snapshot Manager / Microsoft Edition is a valuable tool for maintaining point in time copies of
application data that can be recovered easily and quickly but it is not positioned as a long term data
retention backup solution. Therefore it is best practice to incorporate a backup and recovery solution for
long term data retention purposes.
The EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Windows is bundled with the PS Series VSS provider. The VSS
provider is fully compatible with third-party backup applications for off-host backup operations, Figure 33.
The off-host backup operation incorporates PS Series snapshots and a dedicated backup server running
3rd party software that initiates the backup operation on the application server. Once the snapshot copy
is created, the backup server mounts the copy onto the media server and in turn, backs the snapshot up to
disk or tape. This process allows the application server to continue application operations while the
snapshot is backed up by a backup server thus offloading any additional processing from the production
server. This may safely extend the backup window.