Getting Started With AppAssure

If I have applied a full license to a server, am I able to downgrade that license and apply it to a separate server?
AppAssure has a 14 day trial license.

Am I able to move the Core server between groups/subgroups after registering?
Yes. For more information, click here.

How do I upgrade from a Trial License to an Enterprise License?
In the License Portal, navigate to the agent or Core and expand the Actions tab. From there, you can either upgrade or downgrade your license(s).

What is included with the Enterprise License?
The Enterprise License covers: all virtual and physical agents licensed for Windows and Linux (note that only specific versions of Linux are supported); the Local Mount Utility (LMU), the Central Management Console, and the AppAssure Migration Tool.

I am a managed services provider (MSP). If a customer using one of our licenses wishes to pay for a perpetual license, how do we maintain control of that license should the customer choose to cancel service?
At that point in time, you will work with your sales team to correct the license(s). Your client will also need to update the license key on their end.

Are Windows 7 operating systems (OS) supported for small environments?
Yes. For more information, click here.

How do you calculate the size of a repository?
See the following KB articles.

• Sizing AppAssure 5 Deployments
• Best Practices: Planning and Sizing Repositories

What are the recommended hardware requirements?
For more information, click here.

Are virtual standby requirements calculated in the sizing guidelines?
Yes, please refer to the exception triggers per sizing tier (virtual standbys should account for no more than 10% of your backups).

What would you recommend for a medium-sized deployment: a two quad core or a single six core processor?
There are significant processor, cache and memory improvements in the Intel Sandy Bridge chipset. We would recommend using a single six core processor.

If performance is not a critical factor for me, can I use a NAS box as a replication site for storage (even though Quest recommends using iSCSI)?
Yes, as long as performance is not a critical factor for you.

Is a single Core only able to protect a maximum of 100 agents? Is the maximum amount of agents 16 for SQL and 10 for Exchange servers?
Yes. You may attach 100 agents to a single Core; however, if you have the hardware to handle more, then that number may increase. The sizing guide is a good guideline/starting point.

Are the size tier requirements the same for physical and virtual machines?
Yes, the Core sizing requirements are the same.

How do you Configure the Core?
Please see the following links.

• AppAssure backup, replication and recovery How-to guide: How to install and configure the Core
• Release Notes
• AppAssure 5 User Guide

Does the server that I want to load AppAssure on have to have Server 2008 R2 (x64) and SQL installed?
The AppAssure Core is a 64-bit application. We strongly suggest running Microsoft Server 2012. All Windows 64-bit Operating Systems are supported, however they require more memory to be installed on the Core server. Please refer to the following for more information.

• Sizing AppAssure 5 Deployments
• AppAssure 5 User Guide
• AppAssure 5 Deployment Guide

Do I need to install Server 2008 R2 before I can install the AppAssure Core?
Yes, the AppAssure Core is a 64-bit application.

What are the Core Installation Prerequisites?

Click here for details on the Core installation prerequisites.

If I have more than 50 agents, do I need multiple cores?
Best Practices is to protect no more 100 agents per Core.

How many Core machines may I install with an Enterprise License?
We license protected Agents. You may install an unlimited amount of Core machines.

How do you back up the Core machine?
You will want to make a copy or export the registry keys for AppAssure, then install the Core software on a new server and import the registry keys.

I have logged into the License Portal and configured my Core, received my license key and fully downloaded everything. After I installed the key, the license was registered on the License Portal; however, the license key still displays as “trial” on my Core.
Login to the License Portal and select “Actions” from the drop down menu and upgrade from a trial license to your enterprise license key.

I would like to move my single AppAssure Core to a new server, could you advise the best way to achieve this?
Please see the following documents.

• Moving the Backup Core Repository
• Migrating from Replay 4 to AppAssure 5
• Migrating a Core to New Hardware

Does the AppAssure user need to be the domain administrator in a Windows environment?
Yes. We recommend that the AppAssure user have full domain admin access.

Does Quest recommend virtualizing the AppAssure Core?
We do not recommend virtualizing your Core unless you have a very small environment. You need to dedicate the minimum (or better) resources to the AppAssure Core VM.

Can I run the Core and server file on the same physical machine?
No. We recommend that the AppAssure Core is installed on a dedicated, physical server.

Please clarify SQL licensing requirements.
SQL needs to be installed on the Core. It needs to be a fully licensed version of SQL (not MYSQL or SQL Express). For more information on SQL requirements, click here.

How does SQL log truncation work with AppAssure?
AppAssure only truncates SQL databases in Simple Mode. SQL log truncation runs as part of the nightly jobs, which run by default at midnight daily. Only Simple Mode databases are truncated. We do not truncate Full Mode databases, as it is possible that the data contained within hasn’t been written to disk and, if truncated, would compromise the database. For more information, see the following articles.

• Configuring Nightly SQL Attachability Checks and Log Truncation
• AppAssure SQL Log Truncation Support
• How to Force Log Truncation

Does Quest provide a SQL license with AppAssure?
No. You will need to purchase and install a fully licensed copy of SQL through Microsoft.

How do you install a full version of SQL on the Core?
Install it just like you would on any other server.

If you didn’t install SQL on your machine prior to the installing the Core, do you have to reinstall the Core after you install SQL server?
No, you can install a licensed copy of SQL after you complete the Core installation.

Does the version of SQL installed on the machine have to match the version I am backing up?
If you have multiple versions of SQL protected machines, install the most current SQL licensed version. All protected machines will be supported.

Is it possible to restore an Exchange mailbox to a PST file in order to attach it to another user’s outlook profile?
Yes, within the restore wizard you can designate the original PST file or another PST file. For more information, click here.

Where is the download of Exchange Restore Utility?
The Exchange mail restore utility resides at C:|ProgramFiles\AppRecovery\Core\CoreService\MR. The file name is DSM_UI.exe. Recommend to create a desktop shortcut and rename the file to Exchange Mail Restore.

When backing up Exchange, what functions (base, incremental) will trigger the clearing of the transaction logs?
Logs are truncated during the nightly jobs. By default they occur at midnight daily. Learn more

If your logs and your database for Exchange are stored on different partitions, will AppAssure recognize this automatically and set those partitions for backup at the same time, or do I need to configure this manually?
The agent installation is what we call a “smart install.” It will see that your Exchange database and log files are on different volumes.

Are any specific versions of Outlook required for Exchange Mailbox recovery?
Exchange 2007, 2010, 2013(5.3.x). For more information see the following articles.

• AppAssure 5 Support for Exchange and Hyper-V Server 2012
• Microsoft Exchange 2003 Support

Does Outlook need to be licensed on the Core server?
Yes.

What exactly is log truncation?
If log records were never deleted from the transaction log, the logical log would grow until it filled all available space on the disks holding the physical log files. At some point in time, old log records are no longer necessary for recovering or restoring a database and must therefore be deleted to make way for new log records. The process of deleting these log records to reduce the size of the logical log is called truncating the log. For more details, click here.

Why do you recommend setting the Write Caching Policy to off in the repository?
This will allow AppAssure to fully interact with the data that is being mounted.

Are corruption checks completed for every backup?
AppAssure 5 offers multiple levels of integrity checks, including: block-by-block hash key verification for backups and replication; Microsoft Exchange mountability checks, log truncation, and checksum checks; and Microsoft SQL Server attachability checks.
Exchange mountability checks run after every backup. SQL Attachability checks run during the nightly job and on the last completed backup. Log truncation is included in the nightly jobs for both Exchange and SQL Simple Mode databases. Checksum checks are included in the nightly jobs for both Exchange and SQL

Is there an easy rule of thumb when scaling the data collector? Or perhaps a tool that sets the specifications for hardware?
See the following articles.

• Best Practices: Planning and Sizing Repositories
• Sizing AppAssure 5 Deployments

Is deduplication restricted per encryption code as well as per repository?
Each repository is deduplicated and compressed. Encryption codes are applied to the protected machine and are associated to the repository.

Does encryption create a large overhead (slow down backups/recovery)?
Encryption is performed inline on snapshot data, at line speeds without impacting performance.

Can you increase the size of a current storage location provisioned for the repository or can you only add another storage location?
You will need to add another storage location. Up to 4096 storage locations can be added. Total size of a repository is 32 Exabytes. For more information, see the following articles.

• Extending an AppAssure 5 Repository

Instead of pointing jobs to one drive or repository, can I send jobs to certain pools?
AppAssure uses repositories for storing backups. Each repository is deduplicated and compressed. Repositories can’t be subdivided. For more information, click here.

If the repository is not stored on a local drive, can it be a mapped drive, say to a SAN?
We support DAS and SAN across all environments and NAS for very small environments. For more information, click here.

How do you calculate the size of your repository?
Click here for more information.

Would you recommend creating one large repository or more than one repository?
This depends on your environment and if you are a managed service provider, the customers you are managing. Each repository is deduplicated and compressed. Read more

Can a repository be reduced or expanded?
Repository size cannot be reduced, as the storage locations are thick provisioned. To expand a repository you can add storage locations. Maximum storage per repository is 32 Exabytes.

Should a physical disk that is part of the repository fail, what is the recovery procedure?
It would depend on the RAID policy; however, you could perform a repository check from the Core.

Is it recommended to use a RAID-5 array for your local disks?
You should work with your storage solution provider to determine a RAID policy that best suits your business needs.

If the local core repository fails, can I import the latest archive and move forward with backups?
If you have a replica at another location, you can failover to that site. If you have an archive, you can import the archive.

If you have virtual standbys, could those virtual machines be powered on, as they are not stored in the repository?
Yes. When you create virtual standbys they will reside in either:

1. VMware ESXi – Datastore
2. VMworkstation – Designated storage location
3. Microsoft Hyper-V – Designated local or remote machine storage location

Does Quest recommend creating different repositories for different protected systems?
No. Compression and deduplication work best with one repository.

Does AppAssure 5 supports windows 2003 storage OS?
No.

Is it possible to rename a repository?
No. Once a repository is named, it cannot be changed.

Is DocRetriever shipped as part of AppAssure 5?
No, this is a separately licensed product. Please work with your sales team to learn more about adding this feature.

Does encryption occur before or after compression and deduplication?
After. The deduplication process begins when an AppAssure agent sends changed blocks of data from a protected machine to the repository. The Core compresses, encrypts (optional) and deduplicates incoming data before sending it to the Core’s storage. The Core calculates a checksum for each incoming block after compression and optional encryption. The checksum determines if the Core has “seen” the block before from any of the multiple servers AppAssure is protecting on the network, hence the name Global Deduplication.

Are there any prerequisites that need to be installed prior to completing an agent push install?
The Agent should have a 32 or 64 bit Windows or Linux Supported OS installed. For more information, click here.

What is considered “best practice” when backing up 200 servers?
You can select Bulk Deploy and Bulk Protect for a many system agent installation. For more information, see the following articles:

• Bulk Deploying Agents in AppAssure 5
• Performing a Push Installation for an AppAssure Agent

If you uncheck the “protect machine after install” and the “automatic reboot after install” boxes, do you need to reconfigure protection after manually rebooting the machine, or does it automatically start protection for you?
You need to manually start protection.

Is there a difference in the installation process whether it’s a VM or standalone for single or bulk deploy?
No. The installation processes for virtual and physical agents and protection are the same.

It seems there is no agent for Mac OSX server. When will AppAssure support Mac servers/clients?
We do not support Mac OS.

Can the agents be deployed via GPO in a Windows environment
Yes, the agent is an .exe file.

I have several ‘branch office’ Cores and one ‘master cloud’ Core. How do I backup my ‘branch office’ Cores?

This is a “many to one” replication situation. Each branch office will need to have a Core and repository. The target (replication) site will have a Core and repository. Each Core will replicate to the Target location.
Many : 1 Configuration– The Many : 1 configuration is useful for protection of remote offices from a centralized location; multiple replication sources can replicate to one replication target as shown in the figure to the right.

What types of machine volumes can be protected?
AppAssure supports NTFS volumes.

How do you ‘group’ protected machines, for example by laptop/desktop/server etc.?
AppAssure does not group machines. Each machine is grouped by Core. You can, however, change the display name to identify the type of protected machines contained within that group.

Can I make granular backups of a folder instead of an entire volume?
AppAssure backs up volumes at a block level, and all contents within the volume. Recoveries are granular at the message, file, folder, and volume levels.

In Replay 4, backup time changes if the protected machine restarts. Does this work the same way in AppAssure 5?