Tivoli Storage Manager Overview

Tivoli Storage Manager Overview

TSM Version: 5.3.2

IBM Tivoli storage manager stores copies of data offline.

It protects hundreds of computers running a variety of OS

Components:

· Administrative interface

· TSM Server

· Scheduler

· Backup-Archive Client

· TSM Database

· TSM Recovery log

· Storage Pools

· Policy-Based Management

· Tape Library

Administrative interface: TSM Administration center, which operates on the Integrated Solutions Console (ISC), provides a task oriented GUI for storage administrators. Tasks such as creating server maintenance scripts, scheduling, adding storage devices, setting policy domains, user management, viewing the health monitor.

TSM Server: The role of TSM server is to store the backup or archive data from the backup-archive clients that it supports , to storage media. It also has a database of information to keep track of the data it manages, including policy management objects

Scheduler: Administrator defined schedules allow for the automation of Tivoli storage manager server and backup-archive client operations.

Backup-Archive Client: The TSM backup-archive client is a service which sends data to, and retrieves data from TSM server. The TSM backup-archive client must be installed on every machine that needs to transfer data to server managed storage called storage pools.

TSM Database: TSM Saves information in the TSM database about each file, raw LV, database that it backs up, archives. This information includes the File name, size, management class. Data is stored in a storage pool.

TSM Recovery Log: The recovery log keeps track of all changes made to the database, If a system outage were to occur, a record of the changes would be available for recovery.

Storage Pools: Storage pools are collections of like media that provide storage for backed up, archived and migrated files.

Policy-Based Management: Business policy is used to centrally manage backup-archive client data. Policies are created by the administrator and stored in the database on the server.

Tape Library: TSM supports a variety of library types, including manual libraries, SCSI libraries, 349X and 358X libraries.

Backup-Restore functionality:

TSM can perform backups of both files and raw lv’s. When backing up files TSM server database keeps a list of all files and their attributes (time, date, size, access control lists)

Backup: Creates a copy of file to protect against the operational loss or destruction of that file. Customers control backups by defining the backup frequency and number of versions.

Restore: Places backup copies of files into a customer designated system. By default the most recent version of each archive file requested is replaced.

4 levels of backups:

· Byte level ( Small amounts of data)

· Block Level (bigger amount of data)

· File level ( normal files)

· Image level ( includes file system and files)

TSM uses Progressive Backup Methodology also known as Incremental Backups.

Long term storage capabilities through Archive-Retrieve Function:

Archiving is useful when you want to store data that is infrequently accessed but must still be kept available. TSM has the capability of archiving for 30 years.

· Archive: Creates a copy of file or set of files. This feature enables customers to keep unlimited archive copies of a file.

· Retrieve: Allows users to copy an archive file from the storage pool to the work station.

Administration center on the integrated solutions console: GUI for managing IBM TSM administrative function is called the Administration Center.

Automation Capabilities: It includes a central scheduling component that allows the automatic processing of administrative commands and backup-archive client operations during a specific time period when the schedule is activated.

Scheduling is split into 2 categories:

· Administrative scheduling

· Backup-archive client scheduling.

Data storage and Data Management:

Types of storage media on which TSM stores data: Storage media can be disks, optical and tape assigned to a storage pool.

Storage pools contain backup files, archived files and space managed files. These storage pools are chained in order to create a storage hierarchy. The disk pool is usually first in the chain and followed by tape.

Policy –Based Approach: Backup-archive client data managed by business policy. Policies created by the administrator and stored in the database on the server.

Policy Domain: A group of nodes managed by the same set of policy constraints as defined by the policy sets. A node may only to be defined to one policy domain per server.

Policy Set: A collection of management class definitions. A policy domain may contain number of policy sets.

Management Class: A collection of management attributes called copy groups. 2 sets of MC attributes: backup and archive

Copy group: Management attributes describing backup and archive characteristics. There is a backup copy group and an archive copy group.

TSM Licensing:

3 License types: tsmbasic.lic, tsmee.lic and dataret.lic

Announcing a Beta Program for the Next Release of Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) FastBack for Workstations

TSM FastBack for Workstations is a centrally-managed solution that reduces the risks of losing important information stored on thousands of personal computers across an entire enterprise, as described here:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/tivoli/products/storage-mgr-fastback-workstation/

IBM will be running a beta program for the next release of this product, providing those taking part with early access to the latest planned enhancements.

IBM System Storage DS8000 CIM Agent for Windows Installation & Configuration

IBM System Storage DS8000 CIM Agent for Windows Installation & Configuration

This section provides an overview of the installation and configuration of the CIM agent on a Windows 2003 operating system. If you have decided to use the CIM agent for HMC & followed the 3.3 section, then you can skip this section directly to chapter 4. If you are not going to the use the CIM agent for HMC and decided to install the CIM agent on a Windows 2003 host then read on.
Ensure that you know how to administer a Windows 2003 operating system before you install the CIM agent. Also be familiar with the commands that you use during installation and configuration of the CIM agent.
Perform the following list of installation and configuration tasks on your Windows operating system:

1. Verify the hardware and software requirements.
Before you install the CIM agent on a Windows operating system, verify the hardware and software requirements.
2. Extracting the CIM agent and CLI software on Windows

Perform the following steps to extract the software:
a. Create a working directory.
b. Copy the CIM agent and CLI distribution into the working directory.
c. From the working directory, use the Windows native Extraction Wizard to unzip the package
3. Installing the CIM agent on Windows in graphical mode
This step demonstrates how to install the CIM agent in your Windows environment in graphical mode. You must satisfy all prerequisites before you begin the CIM agent installation. Perform the following steps to install the CIM agent:
a. Log on to your system as the local administrator.
b. Insert the CIM agent CD into the CD-ROM drive. The CIM agent program should start within 15 - 30 seconds if you have autorun mode set on your system. If the LaunchPad window does not open, Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the CD-ROM drive and find the directory with the LaunchPad.bat file.
Type: LaunchPad.
c. Click Installation wizard from the LaunchPad window to start the installation.

d. There might be a slight delay while the software loads on your system. After the software loads, a DOS prompt window opens to display the following message:

f. The Welcome window opens suggesting what documentation you should review prior to installation. Click Next to continue the installation.

g. Read & accept the license agreement

h. If the installation wizard detects a prior installation of the CIM agent, the Product Installation Check window opens. Check the Preserve Configuration check box if you want to preserve your configuration settings. Follow any specific instructions in the window. For example, the figure below shows a warning to stop running services. After you have followed all instructions, select Next.

i. The Destination Directory window opens. Click Next to accept the default directory, or click Browse to select a different directory for installation and then click Next.

j. The Server Communication Configuration window opens. Click Next to accept the default communication protocol and ports. If one or more of the default ports is the same as another port already in use, modify the default port and click Next.

k. The Configuration Parameters window opens. Optionally enter a user name and password for the CIM server. Click Add to enter the information about devices that you would like to configure the agent to communicate with. When adding a device, a device type, IP address, username, and password must be specified. When adding a DS6000 or DS8000 family device, the device type should be ″ds″, the IP address should be of the master console, and the username and password should be the same one used to log into the DS Command Line Interface and DS Storage Manager. Optionally, you can specify the secondary processor complex IP address in the Alternate IP field. After you have finished adding the configuration information, click Next.

l. The Installation Preview window opens. Click Install to confirm the installation location and file size.

m. The Installation Progress window indicates how much of the installation has been completed. Installation usually takes 3 - 10 minutes depending on the configuration of your machine. The installation installs the CIM agent files, starts the Service Location Protocol (SLP) service, and starts the Pegasus CIM Object Manager service.

n. When the Installation Progress window closes, the Finish window opens. Click Finish to exit the installation wizard.
Note: Before proceeding, you might want to review the log file for any possible error messages. The log file is located in \log\install.log, where is the destination directory where the CIM agent for Windows is installed. The default path is c:\Program Files\IBM\dsagent. The install.log contains a trace of the installation actions.
4. Verifying the CIM agent connection on Windows
During this task, the CIM agent software connects to the storage unit that you identified in the configuration task.
a. Verify that you have network connectivity to the DS8000 from the system where the CIM agent is installed using the ping command.
b. Verify that the DS8000 CLI is operational and can connect to the storage unit. To do this, perform the following: from command prompt window issue the following command: dscimcli lsdev -l The following is an example of a successful response:

DS8000 CIM Agent For HMC Enablement & Configuration:

DS8000 CIM Agent For HMC Enablement & Configuration:

Beginning with DS8000 Release 2.4, the CIM Agent is pre-installed on the hardware management console (HMC). This section includes an overview of the setup process and instructions for enabling and configuring the CIM agent on the DS8000 HMC. The DS8000 can be managed either by the CIM agent that is bundled with the HMC or with a separately installed CIM agent. The HMC CIM agent has the following limitations:

• The CIM agent is initially disabled on the HMC and must be enabled through the WebSM management console before it can be used.

• The HMC CIM agent can only support DS8000 devices that are managed by that HMC. This CIM agent is not able to manage any ESS 800 or DS6000 devices, or any DS8000 devices that are managed by a different HMC.

• The HMC CIM agent must use secure connections over port 6989.

• The configuration is performed remotely. Therefore, you must download and install the dscimcli utility on an additional machine.

_Installation overview for HMC

This section provides an overview of the installation and configuration of the CIM agent on the HMC. Perform the following list of installation and configuration tasks:
1. Before you enable the CIM agent on the HMC, verify the hardware and software requirements.
2. Download and install the dscimcli utility.
3. Enable the CIM agent using the HMC graphical user interface.
4. Configure the CIM agent for HMC. If you add more than one DS device, repeat this step for each device.
5. Set up the user environment. After installation is complete, you must issue two export commands to allow the administrator to perform CIM agent management commands.
6. Verify the connection to your storage unit.
_ Installing & configuring the DSCIMCLI Utility:

This section includes the steps to install and configure the dscimcli utility. The dscimcli utility, which configures the CIM agent, is available from the DS CIM agent Web site as part of the DS CIM agent installation bundle, and also as a separate installation bundle. In order to configure and manage a CIM agent that is running on a DS8000 HMC, you must download and install the dscimcli utility on a separate server, for example the server that is running your client application like TPC or your laptop.
dscimcli is a small utility that runs on the same platforms that the proxy CIM agent runs on, but does not consume nearly as much memory or CPU as the full CIM agent installation. So the separate dscimcli installation bundle should be able to run on any reasonable server or laptop. To install from the separate bundle, perform these steps:
1. Download and extract the dscimcli.zip file onto your hard drive to C:\DSCIMCLI
2. Set your DSAGENT_HOME & PEGASUS_HOME environment variable to the W2003 directory under where you have extracted the dscimcli, run the following command from the cmd prompt:
Set DSAGENT_HOME=C:\DSCIMCLI\W2003
Set PEGASUS_HOME=C:\DSCIMCLI\W2003
Or you can set thess environment variables using the Windows GUI interface:
Right Click My Computer => Properties => Advanced Tab => Enviornment Variables => System Variable => New
Fill the System environment variables as shown in Figure 3-1

_ Enabling the CIM agent on the IBM DS8000 Hardware Management Console (HMC) :

This section includes the steps to enable the CIM agent on the HMC. Perform the following steps to enable the HMC CIM agent:

1. From the HMC Welcome page, click HMC Management. The HMC Management window is displayed.

2. Click Start/Stop CIM Agent. The HMC CIM Agent window is displayed with the current state of the CIM agent.

3. Select Start CIM Agent and click Apply. The CIM agent is started and the state is updated.
_Configuring the CIM agent for HMC :

This section provides the steps to configure storage units and user accounts for the CIM agent after it has been successfully enabled. Perform the following steps to configure the storage unit and user accounts for the CIM agent:
1. Verify that the HMC is managing the DS8000 system that you want to add to the CIM agent.
2. Type the following command (all on one line) to configure the CIM agent for the DS8000 server that the CIM agent can access as shown in figure 3-4 for a storage with HMC IP of 192.168.1.10:
dscimcli -s https://hmc ip:6989 mkdev hmc ip -type ds [ -ip2 hmc2 ip ] -user user -password password

where: hmc ip is the IP address of the HMC.
hmc2 ip is the IP address of the secondary HMC (optional).
user is the user name that is used to log into the storage manager on the HMC. password is the password that is used to log into the storage manager on the HMC.

_Verifying the CIM agent connection:

Verify the CIM agent configuration and connectivity by issuing the following command:
dscimcli -s https://:6989 lsdev -1
The following is an example of the output:

If the status is failed, there was a failure when the CIM agent attempted to communicate with the storage device. If the CIM agent was unable to communicate during mkdev, an error is returned immediately. If the device shows as failed in lsdev -l, it is likely that you added the device earlier and the communication is now failed. To ensure that your storage device’s management interface is functioning, use DSCLI or DS Storage Manager to attempt to log into the device. If you are unable to connect via DSCLI or DS Storage Manager, there is likely an error in the storage device. If you are able to connect via the native interfaces, there is likely an error in the CIM agent. Contact your service representative for assistance.

IBM System Storage DS8000 CIM Agent Installation & Enablement:

IBM System Storage DS8000 CIM Agent Installation & Enablement:

CIM agent is a Common Information Model (CIM) agent provides a means by which a device can be managed by common building blocks rather than proprietary software. If a device is CIM-compliant, software that is also CIM-compliant can manage the device.
Vendor applications can benefit from adopting the common information model because they can manage CIM-compliant devices in a common way, rather than using device-specific programming interfaces. Using CIM, you can perform tasks in a consistent manner across devices and vendor applications.
IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager communicates with the DS8000 storage using VDS (more on VDS in later chapters) in order to initiate the FlashCopy process. In DS8000 enviornment, VDS will require a CIM Agent in order to be able to communicate with an IBM DS8000 Storage. IBM DS8000 provides the option of installing the CIM agent on the host or on the storage hardware management console (HMC). This section will focus on the installation & configuration of the DS8000 CIM.
Note. 1: one CIM agent can handle multiple hosts, so you don’t have to install CIM Agent on every SQL host that you need to protect using IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager.
Note. 2: Although you can have a mix of CIM Agents running on HMC & Hosts in your environment, it will be a good idea to stick with one of them to unify your configuration.
Note.3: Software CIM Agent uses the following default ports to communicate with the DS8000 storage: 5989 for https communication & 5988 for http communication. You will have to make sure the Software CIM agent host can communicate to the storage & other hosts that will be sharing the Software CIM agent on these ports in order for it to function.
Note.4: The HMC CIM agent must use secure connections over port 6989. You will have to ensure a communication using this port between the HMC CIM agent and hosts to be protected is allowed.
Note.5: Optionally you can enable the DSCLI between the protected host (DSCLI uses port 1750) & the DS8000 if you required running some DSCLI scripts on the host. This might be a security risk & you should consult your security team & IBM Partner in this regard.

Creating the VSS_Free and VSS_Reserved Pools on IBM Systems Storage DS8100

Creating the VSS_Free and VSS_Reserved Pools on IBM Systems Storage DS8100

This task creates the free volume pool (VSS_FREE Volume Group) and the reserved volume pool (VSS_RESERVED Volume Group) that are used to assign volumes to the virtual host. Before you can use the IBM System Storage support for Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service and Virtual Disk Service software, you must specify the volumes that can be used as FlashCopy target volumes. You specify the volumes after you create a VSS_FREE pool and a VSS_RESERVED pool. These pools are represented by virtual hosts that are created on the storage unit. After the virtual hosts are created, you can add volumes to the free pool by assigning a volume to the virtual host. Perform the following steps using the IBM System Storage DS Storage Manager or DS CLI to create the VSS_FREE and VSS_RESERVED pools:
Important: If you are using the DS CLI, you must perform these steps in order.
1. Create a volume group with the name VSS_FREE or a name that is the same type as the Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 host. For example, SCSI Map 256.
2. Use the following parameters to create a virtual hostconnect on the storage unit that is named VSS_FREE or another name:
-profile Intel - Windows 2003
where Intel - Windows 2003 is the profile to use for the connection.
-addrdiscovery LUNPolling

-volgrp
where volgrp is the name of the volume group you created in step 1.
-wwname 5000000000000000

3. Create a volume group with the name VSS_RESERVED or a name that is the same type as the Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 host. For example, SCSI Map 256.
4. Use the following parameters to create a virtual hostconnect on the storage unit that is named VSS_RESERVED or another name:
-profile Intel - Windows 2003
where Intel - Windows 2003 is the profile to use for the connection.
-addrdiscovery LUNPolling



-volgrp
where volgrp is the name of the volume group you created in step 3.
-wwname 5000000000000001

5. Create and assign free volumes to the VSS_FREE volume group.
:

Note.1: If you already have volumes that are created for the VSS_FREE virtual host, you must assign those volumes to VSS_FREE.
Note.2: The created volumes must be of equivelant size to the volumes you are planning to backup using IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager.
Note.3: IBM VDS will identify the designated volume groups & volumes using the virtual host adapters WWN addresses. By default VSS_FREE 5000000000000000 & VSS_RESERVED 5000000000000001 as shown in the configuration in the previous steps. Although its possible to change these addresses, its recommended to stick with the default unless you have these addresses already exist in your environment.

IBM System Storage DS8100 Preperation for Tivoli FCM Installation.

IBM System Storage DS8100 Preperation for Tivoli FCM Installation.

Before even reaching to your IBM Tivoli Flash Copy Manager installation CDs, there are few preparation steps that must be carried out on the DS8100 & any SQL Server where you will install IBM FCM in our case SQLnode01_POC, SQLnode02_POC, & SQLsrv01_POC. Please note for the integration of IBM Tivoli Storage Manager with IBM Tivoli Flash Copy Manger, IBM TSM has to be separately installed & configured, though TSM installation is out of this book scope. Though if you have an IBM Tivoli Storage Manager already setup in your environment, you will be able to integrate IBM FlashCopy manager with it easily by running through the Wizard illustrated in later chapters. In this chapter we will focus on the DS8100 preparation for IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager Installation.
IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager requires DS8100 to run a certain Code Level as well having sufficient FlashCopy License enabled. To find out more about the required Code Level & DS8100 FlashCopy License please refer to “Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager Installation & User’s Guide for Windows.” In this guide we assume that the DS8100 is running a supported Code Level & have the FlashCopy feature already enabled. Please note upgrading the DS8100 Code Level & enabling the FlashCopy feature license activities will require a hardware CE involvement.

IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for SQL in DS8000 Study Case Setup:

IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for SQL in DS8000 Study Case Setup:

IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for SQL can be used in many different combinations of different versions of Windows, different versions of SQL, as well many different combinations of hardware. In order to cover the full details of installing & configuring IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for SQL in DS8000 enviornment, the setup showing in figure 2-1 & explained below will be assumed in further chapters.

• SQLnode01_POC:

SQLnode01_POC is a System X machine running Windows 2003 64-bit SP2. It’s the first node of SQL 2005 64-bit SP3 cluster.

• SQLnode02_POC:

SQLnode02_POC is a System X machine running Windows 2003 64-bit SP2. It’s the second node of SQL 2005 SP3 cluster.

• SQLsrv01_POC:

SQLsrv01_POC is a System X machine running Windows 2003 64-bit SP2. It’s a stand alone SQL 2005 SP3 machine.

• TSMServer:

TSMServer is a System X machine running Windows 2003 64-bit SP2. It’s the TSM 5.5 Server to be integrated with FlashCopy Manager.

• IBM System Storage DS8100,:

DS8100 with FlashCopy feature enabled & supported code level.

IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager Prerequisites

2.1. IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager Prerequisites

Before you install Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager, ensure your system meets the minimum hardware, software and operating system requirements. Review the following prerequisite information before attempting to perform any installation tasks.

_Minimum hardware requirements

Table 2.1 Minimum hardware requirements:

Note: Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager also supports hardware that is required when using the Windows System Provider or a Microsoft-compliant software or hardware VSS Provider.

- In order to use the hardware provider provided by IBM Storage, you will have to obtain the optional FlashCopy License for your storage. FlashCopy feature on your storage must be enabled prior to using your IBM storage hardware provider. For more information about enabling FlashCopy on your IBM Storage please refer to your storage documentation.

- If using hardware provider a sufficient free space capacity must be present on your storage to accommodate for storing flashcopies. The amount of space will depend on your storage, as well your business requirements.

_Minimum software and operating system requirements

Table 2.2 Minimum software and operating system requirements

Note:
v 1 Datacenter, Enterprise, and Standard Editions
v 2 Exchange Server 2007 is supported on Windows Server x64 editions only and requires Service Pack 1 (or later) with Update Rollup 8 (or later)
v 3 These software applications are also required:
- Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
- Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
- Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable 2008
- Windows PowerShell 1.0 (or later) is recommended (but not required) in order to create and run PowerShell scripts.

IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager for SQL & Microsoft VSS integration

2. IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager for SQL & Microsoft VSS integration

The Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager integrates with Microsoft VSS - Volume Shadow Copy Services - to protect MS SQL Server databases & logs. Tivoli FlashCopy manager help you back up and restore data to and from local shadow volumes with automated tasks, utilities, and interfaces.

_Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Services - MS VSS Service

The Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is a Microsoft component that is provided with the Windows operating system. VSS manages and directs the Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager VSS requestor and other VSS software applications.
Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager backup and restore operations use the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service technology to produce online snapshots (point-in-time consistent copies) of Exchange or SQL data, and to restore those snapshots to a specified location. The Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager VSS operations are implemented through the VSS requestor, which communicates with the VSS Service to access the Exchange or SQL data.
These are the VSS software applications that the VSS Service manages and directs:

_VSS writer
This is the software application that places the persistent information for the shadow copy on the specified volume(s).
For Exchange data, the Microsoft Exchange Server contains the writer components and requires no configuration.
For SQL data, Microsoft SQL Server contains the writer components (SqlServerWriter). It is installed with the SQL Server software and requires the following minor configuration tasks:
1. The SqlServerWriter service should be set to ″Automatic.″ This enables the service to start automatically when the machine is rebooted.
2. Start the SqlServerWriter service.
_VSS requestor
This is the software application that commands a shadow copy be created of a specified volume. The VSS requestor is provided by Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager and is installed with the Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager software.

_VSS provider
This is the application that actually produces the shadow copy and also manages the volumes where the Exchange or SQL data resides. A system provider (such as the one included with the Microsoft Windows operating system), a software provider, or a hardware provider (such as one shipped with a storage system) can be a provider. Configuration requirements are based upon the type of VSS provider used in your environment. For Example:
- If you are using the Windows VSS System Provider, no configuration is required.
- If you plan to perform VSS Instant Restores, be aware that DS8000, SAN Volume Controller, and XIV Gen 2 are the only storage subsystems that support VSS Instant Restores and require a VSS provider. Therefore, if you use DS8000 or SAN Volume Controller storage subsystems, you must install and configure IBM System Storage Support for Microsoft Virtual Disk and Volume Shadow Copy Services as your VSS hardware provider in order to perform VSS Instant Restore. If you use XIV Gen 2, you must install and configure IBM XIV VSS HW Provider.
- If you are using a VSS software provider, consult the documentation provided with your VSS software provider.

IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager

1.3. IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager

In today’s business world, where application servers are operational 24 hours a day, the data on these servers must be fully protected. You can’t afford to lose any data, but you also can’t afford to stop these critical systems for hours so you can protect the data adequately.As the amount of data that needs protecting continues to grow exponentially and the need to keep the downtime associated with backup to an absolute minimum, IT processes are at their breaking point.
Data volume snapshot technologies, such as IBM FlashCopy®, can help minimize the impact caused by backups and provide near instant restore capabilities. Many storage systems are now equipped with volume snapshot tools, however these hardware-based snap-shot technologies provide only “crash-consistent” copies of data. Many business-critical applications, including those that rely on a relational database, need an additional snapshot process to ensure that all parts of a data transaction are flushed from memory and committed to disk prior to the snapshot to ensure you have a usable, consistent copy of the data.
IBM Tivoli®Storage FlashCopy Manager can help deliver the highest levels of protection for mission critical IBM DB2®, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft® Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server applications via integrated application-aware snapshot backup and restore capabilities. This is achieved through the exploitation of advanced IBM storage hardware snapshot technology to create a high performance, low impact application data protection solution.
IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager is an easy to install, configure and deploy package that seamlessly integrates with IBM System Storage^TM DS8000®, IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller and IBM XIV® Storage System products. For Microsoft Windows® environments, Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager also supports other Microsoft VolumeShadow Copy Services (VSS)-capable hardware such as IBM System Storage DS3000, DS4000®, and DS5000. The snapshots captured by Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager can be retained as backups on local disk, and with optional integration with TivoliStorage Manager, customers can leverage the full range of advanced data protection and data reduction capabilities such as data deduplication, progressive incremental backup, hierarchical storage management and centrally managed policy based administration.

1.2. IBM System Storage DS8000 FlashCopy Usages

1.2. IBM System Storage DS8000 FlashCopy Usages

As it takes only a few seconds to establish the FlashCopy relationships for tens to hundreds or more volume pairs. The copy is then immediately available for both read and write access. In a 24×7 environment, the quickness of the FlashCopy operation allows us to use FlashCopy in very large environments and to take multiple FlashCopies of the same volume for use with different applications. Some of the different uses of FlashCopy are shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-2 FlashCopy different uses

FlashCopy is suitable for the following:
_ Production backup system:
A FlashCopy of the production data allows data recovery from an older level of data. This might be necessary due to a user error or a logical application error. Let us assume that a user deleted accidentally a customer record. The production backup system could work with a FlashCopy of the data. The necessary part of the customer data can be exported and then be imported into the production environment. Thus, the production continues, and while a specific problem is being fixed, the majority of the users can work with the application without recognizing any problems.The FlashCopy of the data could also be used by system operations to re-establish production in case of any server errors.
_ Data backup system:

A FlashCopy of the production data allows the client to create backups with the shortest possible application outage. The main reason for data backup is to provide protection in case of source data loss due to disaster, hardware failure, software failure, or user errors. As FlashCopy restore or revert operation can usually be achieved into seconds, it can reduce the recovery time dramatically.
_ Data mining system:

A FlashCopy of the data can be used for data analysis, thus avoiding performance impacts for the production system due to long running data mining tasks.
_ Test system:

Test environments created by FlashCopy can be used by the development team to test new application functions with real production data - hence, a faster test setup process.
_ Integration system:

New application releases (for example, SAP releases) are likely to be tested prior to putting them onto a production server. By using FlashCopy, a copy of the production data can be established and used for integration tests. With the capability to reverse a FlashCopy, a previously created FlashCopy can be used within seconds to bring production back to the level of data it had at the time when the FlashCopy was taken.

1.1. IBM System Storage DS8000 FlashCopy.

The Point-in-Time Copy feature, which includes FlashCopy, enables you to create full volume copies of data in a storage unit. When you set up a FlashCopy operation, a relationship is established between the source and target volumes, and a bitmap of the source volume is created. Once this relationship and bitmap are created, the target volume can be accessed as though all the data had been physically copied. While a relationship between the source and target volume exists, optionally, a background process copies the tracks from the source to the target volume.
When a FlashCopy operation is invoked, it takes only a few seconds to complete the process of establishing the FlashCopy pair and creating the necessary control bitmaps. Thereafter, you have access to a point-in-time copy of the source volume. As soon as the pair has been established, you can read and write to both the source and target volumes. Figure 1-1 illustrates the functionality of DS8000 FlashCopy.
The background copy may have a slight impact to your application because the physical copy needs some storage resources, but the impact is minimal because the host I/O is prior to the background copy. And if you want, you can issue FlashCopy with the no background copy option.

1. IBM System Storage DS8000 Copy Services

1. IBM System Storage DS8000 Copy Services

Copy Services are a collection of functions that provide for disaster recovery, data migration, and data duplication functions. There are two primary types of Copy Services functions: Point-in-Time Copy and Remote Mirror and Copy.
Generally, the Point-in-Time Copy functions are used for data duplication, and the Remote Mirror and Copy functions are used for data migration and disaster recovery.
With the Copy Services functions, for example, you can create backup data with little or no disruption to your application, and you can back up your application data to the remote site for disaster recovery.
Copy Services run on the DS8000 Storage Unit and support open systems and System z environments. A subset of these functions is supported also on the previous generation of disk storage systems, the IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server (ESS).
Many design characteristics of the DS8000 and its data copying and mirroring capabilities contribute to the protection of your data, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week (24×7).
The main optional licensed functions of Copy Services are:
_ FlashCopy, which is a point-in-time copy function
_ Remote Mirror and Copy functions, previously known as Peer-to-Peer Remote Copy (PPRC), which include:
- Metro Mirror, previously known as Synchronous PPRC
- Global Copy, previously known as PPRC Extended Distance
- Global Mirror, previously known as Asynchronous PPRC
- 3-site Metro/Global Mirror with Incremental Resync
_ z/OS Global Mirror, previously known as Extended Remote Copy (XRC)
_ z/OS Metro/Global Mirror across three sites

IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager Tutorial

IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager Tutorial

As databases & mail servers are becoming more critical, crash consistent snapshot is no more doing the trick for the 24×7 enterprise. Enterprises are no more able to risk losing these few non committed transactions that might be in processing while the snapshot happen. These missing transactions can be very expensive to lose, or even can render your database snapshot useless.
IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager work with IBM Storage FlashCopy Functionality to provide a transaction consistent snapshot that can be used for an instantaneous restore at a later time or just to send backup to tape with a very short backup window.
As IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager has just been released few weeks back & not much resource on it are available, I have decided to share my own guide with you online. Below is the tutorial agenda & I will try to get all these chapters online as soon as possible. My tutorial will focus on protecting MS SQL on DS8000, but it can be used as a guide for most other IBM storages & for protecting MS Exchange as well.

1) http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/1-ibm-system-storage-ds8000-copy.html
 
   1.1 http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/1.html
   1.2 http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/12-ibm-system-storage-ds8000-flashcopy.html
   1.3 http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/ibm-tivoli-storage-flashcopy-manager_28.html
2) http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/ibm-tivoli-flashcopy-manager-for-sql.html
  
   2.1 http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/ibm-tivoli-storage-flashcopy-manager_6969.html
   2.2 http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/ibm-tivoli-storage-flashcopy-manager_8025.html
3) http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/ibm-system-storage-ds8100-preperation.html
   3.1 http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/creating-vssfree-and-vssreserved-pools.html
   3.2 http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/ibm-system-storage-ds8000-cim-agent.html
   3.3 http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/ds8000-cim-agent-for-hmc-enablement.html
   3.4 http://princephanindra.blogspot.com/2011/07/ibm-system-storage-ds8000-cim-agent-for.html