This topic describes how to add a cluster for protection in Rapid Recovery. When you add a cluster to protection, you need to specify the host name or IP address of the cluster, the cluster application, or one of the cluster nodes or machines that includes the Rapid Recovery Agent software.

NOTE: A repository is used to store the snapshots of data that are captured from your protected nodes. Before you start protecting data in your cluster, you should have set up at least one repository that is associated with your Rapid Recovery Core.

For information about setting up repositories, see Understanding repositories.

1. From the Rapid Recovery Core Console button bar, click the Protect drop-down menu, and then select Protect Cluster.

   The Protect Cluster Wizard opens.

2. On the Welcome page of the wizard, select one of the following options:
   • Typical
   • Advanced (show optional steps)
3. Optionally, if you want to skip this step the next time you open the Protect Cluster Wizard, select Skip this Welcome page the next time the wizard opens.
4. Click Next.
5. On the Connection page of the wizard, enter the following information.

   Table 45: Connect to Cluster settings

   Text Box	Description
   Host	The host name or IP address of the cluster, the cluster application, or one of the cluster nodes.
   Port	The port number on the machine on which the Rapid Recovery Core communicates with the Agent. The default port is 8006.
   User name	The user name of the domain administrator used to connect to this machine: for example, domain_name\administrator. NOTE: The domain name is mandatory. You cannot connect to the cluster using the local administrator user name.
   Password	The password used to connect to this machine.

6. Click Next.

   NOTE: If the cluster nodes already have an older version of the Rapid Recovery Agent installed, an Upgrade page appears in the wizard and offers the opportunity to upgrade the Agent.

7. On the Nodes page of the wizard, select the nodes that you want to protect.

   The system automatically verifies each machine you selected.

8. Click Next.

   If the Protection page appears next in the Protect Cluster Wizard, skip to step 11.

   If the Agent software is not yet deployed to the machines you want to protect, or if any of the machines you specified cannot be protected for another reason, then the selected machines appear on the Warnings page.

9. Optionally, on the Warnings page of the wizard, you can verify any machine by selecting the machine and then clicking Verify in the toolbar.
10. Optionally, on the Warnings page, select After Agent installation, restart the machines automatically.

    NOTE:Quest recommends this option. You must restart agent machines before they can be protected.

11. If the status indicates that the machine is reachable, click Next to install the Rapid Recovery Agent software.

    The Protection page appears.

12. Optionally, on the Protection page, if you want a name other than the IP address to display in the Rapid Recovery Console for this protected machine, then in the Display name field, type a name in the dialog box.

    You can enter up to 64 characters. Do not use the special characters described in the topic prohibited characters. Additionally, do not begin the display name with any of the character combinations described in the topic prohibited phrases.

13. Select the appropriate protection schedule settings as described below:
    • To use the default protection schedule, in the Schedule Settings option, select Default protection (hourly snapshots of all volumes).

      With a default protection schedule, the Core will take snapshots of all volumes on the protected machine once every hour. To change the protection settings at any time after you close the wizard, including choosing which volumes to protect, go to the Summary page for the specific protected machine.

    • To define a different protection schedule, in the Schedule Settings option, select Custom protection.
14. Optionally, on the Protection page, if you want a name other than the IP address to display in the Rapid Recovery Core for this protected machine, then in the Display name field, type a name in the dialog box.

    You can enter up to 64 characters. Do not use the special characters described in the topic prohibited characters. Additionally, do not begin the display name with any of the character combinations described in the topic prohibited phrases.

15. Select the appropriate protection schedule settings as described below:
    • To use the default protection schedule, in the Schedule Settings option, select Default protection (hourly snapshots of all volumes).

      With a default protection schedule, the Core will take snapshots of all volumes on the protected machine once every hour. To change the protection settings at any time after you close the wizard, including choosing which volumes to protect, go to the Summary page for the specific protected machine.

    • To define a different protection schedule, in the Schedule Settings option, select Custom protection.
16. Proceed with your configuration as follows:
    • If you selected a Typical configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard and specified default protection, and if a repository exists, then click Finish to confirm your choices, close the wizard, and protect the machine you specified.
    • If you selected a Typical configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard and specified default protection, and if no repository exists, then click Next and proceed to step 19 to create a repository.
    • If you selected a Typical configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard and specified custom protection, then click Next and continue to the next step to choose which volumes to protect.
    • If you selected Advanced configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard, and default protection, then click Next and proceed to step 19 to see repository and encryption options.
    • If you selected Advanced configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard and specified custom protection, then click Next and continue to the next step to choose which volumes to protect.
17. On the Protection Volumes page, select which volumes you want to protect. If any volumes are listed that you do not want to include in protection, click in the Check column to clear the selection. Then click Next.

    NOTE: Typically, it is good practice to protect, at minimum, the System Reserved volume and the volume with the operating system (typically the C drive).

18. On the Protection Schedule page, define a custom protection schedule and then click Next. For details on defining a custom protection schedule, see Creating custom protection schedules in Simple Mode.

    If you already have repository information configured, and you selected the Advanced option in step 1, then the Encryption page appears. Proceed to step 22.

19. On the Repository page, do the following: If you already have a repository and want to store the data from this machine for protection in the existing repository, then do the following:
    1. Select Use an existing repository.
    2. Select an existing repository from the list.
    3. Click Next.

    The Encryption page appears. Skip to step 22 to optionally define encryption.

    If you want to create a repository, then on the Repository page, enter the information described in the following table, and then click Next or Finish, as appropriate.

    Table 46: Repository settings

    Text Box	Description
    Name	Enter the display name of the repository. By default, this text box consists of the word Repository and a number, which corresponds to the number of repositories for this Core. For example, if this is the first repository, the default name is Repository 1. Change the name as needed. Repository names must contain between 1 and 40 alphanumeric characters, including spaces. Do not use prohibited characters or prohibited phrases.
    Location	Enter the location for storing the protected data. This volume should be a primary storage location. The location could be local (a drive on the Core machine) or it could be a CIFS share network drive. For a CIFS share, the path must begin with \\. When specifying the path, use only alphanumeric characters, the hyphen, and the period (only to separate host names and domains). The letters a to z are case-insensitive. Do not use spaces. No other symbols or punctuation characters are permitted. Caution: Define a dedicated folder within the root for the storage location for your repository. Do not specify the root location. For example, use E:\Repository\, not E:\. If the repository that you are creating in this step is later removed, all files at the storage location of your repository are deleted. If you define your storage location at the root, all other files in the volume (e.g., E:\) are deleted, which could result in catastrophic data loss. For example, type X:\Repository\Data. When specifying the path, use only alphanumeric characters, the hyphen, and the period (only to separate host names and domains). You can use the backslash character only to define levels in the path. Do not use spaces. No other symbols or punctuation characters are permitted.
    User name	Enter a user name for a user with administrative access. This information is only required when the repository location specified is a network path.
    Password	Enter the password for the user with administrative access. This information is only required when the repository location specified is a network path.
    Metadata path	Enter the location for storing the protected metadata. For example, type X:\Repository\Metadata. When specifying the path, use only alphanumeric characters, the hyphen, and the period (only to separate host names and domains). You can use the backslash character only to define levels in the path. Do not use spaces. No other symbols or punctuation characters are permitted.

20. On the Repository Configuration page, configure the amount of space on the disk to allocate to the repository. Quest recommends reserving 20 percent of the volume for metadata, which is the default. Optionally, using the slider control or the Size field, you can allocate more or less space on the volume for the repository.
21. Optionally, if you want to view and enter detailed information regarding storage location settings, select Show advanced options, and adjust the settings as described in the following table. To hide these options, clear the option Show advanced options. When you have completed your repository configuration, click Next or Finish, as appropriate.

    Table 47: Storage configuration details

    Text Box	Description
    Bytes per sector	Specify the number of bytes you want each sector to include. The default value is 512. NOTE: Quest recommends setting the bytes per sector to match the physical sector size of the storage location in which the repository resides. For example, if the disk on the intended storage location has a 4096 byte sector size, change the bytes per sector setting to 4096. If using multiple storage locations with different sector sizes, Quest recommends retaining the default setting of 512 bytes per sector.
    Bytes per record	Specify the average number of bytes per record. The default value is 8192.
    Write caching policy	The write caching policy controls how the Windows Cache Manager is used in the repository and helps to tune the repository for optimal performance on different configurations. As of release 6.4, the default for this setting is Off. Set the value to one of the following: On. If set to On, Windows controls the caching. Off. If set to Off, which is the default, Rapid Recovery controls the caching. Sync. If set to Sync, Windows controls the caching as well as the synchronous input/output.

    If you chose the Advanced option in Step 1, the Encryption page appears.

22. Optionally, on the Encryption page, if you want to use encryption keys for data stored in the repository, select Encrypt the data at rest in a repository, and then do one of the following:
    • To select an existing encryption key to apply to all new data stored in your repository, select Encrypt data using Core-based encryption with an existing key, and from the Select encryption key drop-down menu, select the encryption key.
    • To define a new encryption key at this time to apply to all future data stored in your repository, select Encrypt data using Core-based encryption with a new key, and then enter information about the key as described in the table below:

    Table 48: Define new encryption key

    Text Box	Description
    Name	Enter a name for the encryption key. Encryption key names must contain between 1 and 64 alphanumeric characters. Do not use prohibited characters or prohibited phrases.
    Description	Enter a descriptive comment for the encryption key. This information appears in the Description field when viewing a list of encryption keys in the Rapid Recovery. Descriptions may contain up to 254 characters. Best practice is to avoid using prohibited characters and prohibited phrases.
    Passphrase	Enter a passphrase used to control access. Best practice is to avoid using prohibited characters. Record the passphrase in a secure location. Quest Data Protection Support cannot recover a passphrase. Once you create an encryption key and apply it to one or more protected machines, you cannot recover data if you lose the passphrase.
    Confirm passphrase	Re-enter the passphrase. It is used to confirm the passphrase entry.

23. Optionally, on the Encryption page, to encrypt all data that transports over a network, select Encrypt the data in transport over a network. This option is enabled by default, so if you do not want to encrypt data in this fashion, clear this option.
24. Click Finish to save and apply your settings.

    NOTE: The first time protection is added for a machine, a base image (that is, a snapshot of all the data in the protected volumes) transfers to the repository indicated in your Rapid Recovery Core following the schedule you defined, unless you specified that the Core should initially pause protection. For information on pausing and resuming protection, see Pausing and resuming protection.