Installation and User's Guide - Services and Support

IBM ConfidentialVSS limitations for NetApp FAS series or IBM N-series: Due to the limitationsin SnapDrive 4.0 and any supported prior versions, the VSS Provider for NetAppFAS series and IBM N-series, VSS based operations using Data Protection forExchangeData Protection for Exchange with backup destination set to LOCAL,must be performed in specific ways. Failure to comply with the followingconfiguration and operational recommendations can lead to serious conditionssuch as premature deletion of snapshots representing VSS backups to LOCAL,backup failure, and out of space conditions on the production volumes. When thelimitations in the SnapDrive are addressed by NetApp, Data Protection forMicrosoft Exchange VSS operations can be fully utilized.Exchange Server storage configuration for NetApp FAS series or IBM N-seriesVSS operationsIf you plan to perform VSS backups with backup destination set to LOCAL, pleasecheck your setup to ensure that following requirements are met.v The NAS filers LUNs used by a storage group must be fully dedicated to thestorage group. The Microsoft Exchange Server storage groups can not shareLUNs.v A NAS filer LUN used by the Exchange storage groups must be the only LUNon the filer volume. For example, if Exchange uses four LUNs, there must befour corresponding filer volumes, each volume containing one LUN.Guidelines for VSS Backup operations for NetApp FAS series or IBM N-seriesIf you plan to perform VSS backups with backup destination set to LOCAL, thesebackups must adhere to the following guidelines.v VSS backups with backup destination set to Local must be bound to amanagement class that has verExists=1.v VSS backups with backup destination set to Local can either be of type full orcopy. You can not mix local backups of type full and copy.v VSS backups with backup destination set to TSM can be full or copy. There areno restrictions on Tivoli Storage Manager backups.v When performing VSS backups, you must ensure that previous backup hasfinished completely before starting a new backup. Any overlap of backups canresult in undesirable side-effects on the Microsoft Exchange Server, the VSSservice, and, the NAS filer.Sample VSS Backup procedure for NetApp FAS series or IBM N-seriesTaking above considerations into account, the following section describes a samplebackup procedure that could be used to perform VSS backups utilizing both TivoliStorage Manager and LOCAL backup destinations in an optimal manner. Note thatthe following assumptions apply to this sample backup procedure:v The configuration requirements stated above are met.v The VSS backup to Tivoli Storage Manager takes one hour to complete.v The VSS backup to LOCAL takes five minutes to complete.Your backup procedure could consist of the following backups:v Daily VSS full backups to LOCAL every four hours - 12am, 4am, 8am, 12pm,4pm, 8pmv Daily VSS full backups to Tivoli Storage Manager storage by one of thefollowing two methods:34 Storage Manager for Mail 5.5: Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server Installation and User’s Guide