Working with Rapid Recovery REST APIs
The Rapid Recovery APIs are REST-style APIs, which means that they use HTTP requests to provide access to resources (data entities) through URI paths. Rapid Recovery APIs use standard HTTP methods such as GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE. Because REST APIs are based on open standards, you can use any language or tool that supports HTTP calls.
There are two ways that application developers and administrators can work with Rapid Recovery APIs. They are:
- Using C# or other .NET languages to directly use Rapid Recovery .NET client DLL files.
- Communicate directly with the HTTP endpoint to generate your own XML.
The first approach is recommended. The client DLLs are included in the Rapid Recovery SDK. The method for calling Rapid Recovery APIs is consistent with the way you would consume any .NET 4.5X Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service.
Downloading and viewing Core and Agent APIs
The Rapid Recovery Software Developer Kit (SDK) includes REST APIs for the Rapid Recovery Core and Rapid Recovery Agentcomponents, and samples and supporting files. These contents are contained in the following folders and then compressed as an archive that includes the following components:
| Folder name | Contents | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Core.Contracts |
Rapid Recovery Core APIs |
Contains APIs to assist developers or administrators to script functions in Rapid Recovery Core. There are 2 sets of service contracts.
| |||
|
Agent.Contracts |
Rapid Recovery Agent APIs (deprecated) |
Contains APIs that developers or administrators can use to manipulate Rapid Recovery Agent on protected machines.
| |||
|
AppRecoveryAPISamples |
Code samples and dynamic link libraries |
AppRecoveryAPISamples contains code samples that are written in C# programming language. These files represent a good starting point to view code snippets if using the APIs to customize your GUI, management systems, and so on. AppRecoveryAPISamples\Dependencies contains dynamic link library (DLL) files that Rapid Recovery uses. The DLLs contain data contracts (types the Core is familiar with) and service contracts (management methods and operations that can be used to force Core do something). If you want to customize your own graphic user interface, or use a management system to work with Rapid Recovery, these DLLs are required.
|
You can download the SDK as archive (API-Reference-x.x.x-xxxx). Each x represents a digit in the build number for the relevant release.
Complete the steps in this procedure to obtain the SDK, download it to your specified destination, and decompress the files in preparation for using Core and Agent APIs.- Log in to the Rapid Recovery License Portal at https://licenseportal.com.
- In the left navigation menu of the license portal, click Downloads.
The Downloads page of the license portal appears.
- On the Downloads page, in the Windows-Based Applications section, scroll down to the description for the SDK and click Download.
- Save the downloaded archive to your preferred location.
- Decompress the archive.
In the new API-Reference-x.x.x-xxxx folder, you see the separate sets of files described in the preceding table.
- Open the key HTML files described in the preceding table in a web browser to see guidance about the APIs.
Recommended additional reading
The Rapid Recovery 6.4 Installation and Upgrade Guide provides an overview of the Rapid Recovery architecture; describes the steps necessary for installing Rapid Recovery components and for upgrading the Core or Agent components from earlier versions. It also describes licensing steps required from the Rapid Recovery Core.
You can view or download this guide from https://support.quest.com/rapid-recovery/technical-documents/.
Glossary
Agent
The Rapid Recovery Agent is a software agent that can be installed on a physical or virtual machine to protect it in the Rapid Recovery Core. When enabled in the Core at a specified interval, the Agent software tracks changed blocks on volumes of protected disks, and captures snapshots of the changed blocks based on the protection interval.
base image
The first backup transfer saved to the Core is called a base image snapshot. All data on all specified volumes (including the operating system, applications, and settings), are saved to the Core. For more information, see snapshot.
checksum
A checksum is a function that creates blocks of data that are used for the purpose of detecting accidental errors that are created during transmission or storage.
cluster
cluster node
An individual machine that is part of a Windows failover cluster.
compression
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) defines compression as the process of encoding data to reduce its size.
Core
The Rapid Recovery Core is the central component of the Rapid Recovery architecture. The Core provides the essential services for backup, recovery, retention, replication, archiving, and management. In the context of outgoing replication, the Core is also called a source Core. When a Rapid Recovery Core is the recipient or destination of recovery points from another Core, it is called a target Core.
Core Console
The Rapid Recovery Core Console is a Web-based interface that lets you fully manage the Rapid Recovery Core.
database availability group (DAG)
A set of up to 16 Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox servers that provide automatic, database-level recovery from a database, server, or network failure. DAGs use continuous replication and a subset of Windows failover clustering technologies to provide high availability and site resilience. Mailbox servers in a DAG monitor each other for failures. When a Mailbox server is added to a DAG, it works with the other servers in the DAG to provide automatic, database-level recovery from database failures.
encryption
Data is encrypted with the intent that it is only accessible to authorized users who have the appropriate decryption key. Data is encrypted using 256-bit AES in Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) mode. In CBC, each block of data is compared with the previous ciphertext block before being encrypted, this way each new ciphertext block depends on all preceding plaintext blocks. A passphrase is used as an initialization vector.
event
An event is a process that is logged by the Core. Events can be viewed within the Core Console by clicking the (Events) icon from the icon bar. The default view when you click this icon shows the Tasks page. This view shows events related to a job. Priority events about which you are notified can be viewed on the Alerts page. A log of all events appears in the Journal page. By setting up or modifying existing notification groups, you can customize notification for any event. This action raises the priority of the event by displaying it on the Alerts page. Members of a notification group are notified of events using the notification methods set in the notification options for the group.
global deduplication
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) defines data deduplication as the replacement of multiple copies of data—at variable levels of granularity—with references to a shared copy to save storage space or bandwidth. The Rapid Recovery Volume Manager performs global data deduplication within a logical volume. The granularity level of deduplication is 8 KB. The scope of deduplication in Rapid Recovery is limited to protected machines using the same repository and encryption key.
incremental snapshot
Incremental snapshots are backups consisting only of data changed on the protected machine since the last backup. They are saved to the Core regularly, based on the interval defined (for example, every 60 minutes). For more information, see snapshot.
license key
A license key is one method used to register your Rapid Recovery software or appliance. (You can also use a license file.) You can obtain license keys or files when you register on the Rapid Recovery License Portal for an account. For more information, see License Portal.
License Portal
The Rapid Recovery License Portal is a Web interface where users and partners can download software, register Rapid Recovery appliances, and manage license subscriptions. License Portal users can register accounts, download Rapid Recovery Core and Agent software, manage groups, track group activity, register machines, register appliances, invite users, and generate reports. For more information, see the Rapid Recovery License Portal User Guide.
Live Recovery
Rapid Recovery Live Recovery is an instant recovery technology for VMs and servers. It provides near-continuous access to data volumes in a virtual or physical server, letting you recover an entire volume with near-zero RTO and a RPO of minutes.
Local Mount Utility
The Local Mount Utility (LMU) is a downloadable application that lets you mount a recovery point on a remote Rapid Recovery Core from any machine.
log truncation
Log truncation is a function that removes log records from the transaction log. For a SQL Server machine, when you force truncation of the SQL Server logs, this process simply identifies free space on the SQL server. For an Oracle database server, when you truncate logs (on a schedule, or manually on demand), archive logs are deleted, freeing up space. Likewise, when you force truncation of the Exchange Server logs, this action frees up space on the Exchange server.
management roles
From the Roles page, the QorePortal enables the assignment of management roles from which you can divide administrative responsibility among trusted data and service administrators, as well as access control to support secure and efficient delegation of administration.
mountability
Exchange mountability is a corruption detection feature that alerts administrators of potential failures and ensures that all data on the Exchange servers is recovered successfully in the event of a failure.
Object File System
The Rapid Recovery Scalable Object Store is an object file system component. It treats all data blocks, from which snapshots are derived, as objects. It stores, retrieves, maintains, and replicates these objects. It is designed to deliver scalable input and output (I/O) performance in tandem with global data deduplication, encryption, and retention management. The Object File System interfaces directly with industry standard storage technologies.
passphrase
A passphrase is a key used in the encryption of data. If the passphrase is lost, data cannot be recovered.
prohibited characters
Prohibited characters are characters that should not be used when naming an object in the Rapid Recovery Core Console. For example, when defining a display name for a protected machine, do not use any of the following special characters:
| Character | Character name | Prohibited from |
|---|---|---|
| ? | question mark | machine display name, encryption key, repository, path description |
| | | pipe | machine display name, encryption key, repository, path description |
| : | colon | machine display name, encryption key, repository Use of this symbol is supported when specifying a path; for example, c:\data. |
| / | forward slash | machine display name, encryption key, repository, path description |
| \ | back slash |
machine display name, encryption key, repository Use of this symbol is supported when specifying a local or network path; for example, C:\data or \\ComputerName\SharedFolder\ |
| * | asterisk | machine display name, encryption key, repository, path description |
| " | quotation mark | machine display name, encryption key, repository, path description |
| < | open angle bracket | machine display name, encryption key, repository, path description |
| > | close angle bracket | machine display name, encryption key, repository, path description |
prohibited phrases
Prohibited phrases are phrases (or sets of characters) that should not be used as the name for any object in the Rapid Recovery Core Console, because they are reserved for the use of operating systems. It is best practice is to avoid using these phrases at all if possible. For example, when defining a display name for a protected machine, do not use any of the following phrases:
| Character | General use | Prohibited from |
|---|---|---|
| con | console | machine display name, encryption key, repository, path description |
| prn | printer port | machine display name, encryption key |
| aux | auxiliary port | machine display name, encryption key |
| nul | null value | machine display name, encryption key |
| com1, com2, ... through com9 | communication port |
machine display name, encryption key |
| lpt1, lpt2, ... through lpt9 | asterisk | machine display name, encryption key, repository, path description |
protected machine
A protected machine—sometimes called an "agent"— is a physical computer or virtual machine that is protected in the Rapid Recovery Core. Backup data is transmitted from the protected machine to the repository specified in the Core using a predefined protection interval. The base image transmits all data to a recovery point (including the operating system, applications, and settings). Each subsequent incremental snapshot commits only the changed blocks on the specified disk volumes of the protected machine. Software-based protected machines have the Rapid Recovery Agent software installed. Some virtual machines can also be protected agentlessly, with some limitations.
Rapid Recovery
Rapid Recovery sets a new standard for unified data protection by combining backup, replication, and recovery in a single solution that is engineered to be the fastest and most reliable backup for protecting virtual machines (VM), as well as physical and cloud environments.
quorum
For a failover cluster, the number of elements that must be online for a given cluster to continue running. The elements relevant in this context are cluster nodes. This term can also refer to the quorum-capable resource selected to maintain the configuration data necessary to recover the cluster. This data contains details of all of the changes that have been applied to the cluster database. The quorum resource is generally accessible to other cluster resources so that any cluster node has access to the most recent database changes. By default there is only one quorum resource per server cluster. A particular quorum configuration (settings for a failover cluster) determines the point at which too many failures stop the cluster from running.
recovery points
Recovery points are a collection of snapshots of various disk volumes. For example, C:\, D:\, and E\:.
recovery points-only machine
A recovery points-only machine is the representation on the Core of recovery points from a machine that was previously protected on the Core, and since removed. If you remove replication but retain the recovery points, this also results in a recovery points-only machine. Information can be viewed and recovered at a file level. You cannot use a recovery points-only machine to perform BMR or to restore full volumes, nor can you add more data to a recovery points-only machine.
remote Core
A remote Core represents an Rapid Recovery Core that is accessed by a non-Core machine using the Local Mount Utility or the Central Management Console.
replication
Replication is the process of copying recovery points from one Rapid Recovery Core and transmitting them to another Rapid Recovery Core for disaster recovery purposes. The process requires a paired source-target relationship between two or more Cores. Replication is managed on a per-protected-machine basis. Any machine (or all machines) protected or replicated on a source Core can be configured to replicate to a target Core. It is the recovery points that are copied to the target Core.
repository
A repository is a collection of base image and incremental snapshots captured from the machines protected on a Rapid Recovery Core. Repositories must be created on fast primary storage devices. The storage location for a DVM repository can be local to the Core machine (in which case it is hosted on a supported Windows OS only). It can use direct-attached storage, a storage area network, or an appropriately rated network-attached server.
REST APIs
Representational State Transfer (REST) is a simple stateless software architecture designed for scalability. Rapid Recovery uses this architecture for its Application Program Interfaces (APIs) to automate and customize certain functions and tasks. There is a separate set of REST APIs for Core functionality and for protected machine (agent) functionality.
restore
The process of restoring one or more storage volumes on a machine from recovery points saved on the Rapid Recovery Core is known as performing a restore. This was formerly known as rollback.
retention
Retention defines the length of time the backup snapshots of protected machines are stored on the Rapid Recovery Core. Retention policy is enforced on the recovery points through the rollup process.
rollup
The rollup process is an internal nightly maintenance procedure that enforces the retention policy by collapsing and eliminating dated recovery points. Rapid Recovery reduces rollup to metadata operations only.
seeding
In replication, the initial transfer of deduplicated base images and incremental snapshots of protected agents, which can add up to hundreds or thousands of gigabytes of data. Initial replication can be seeded to the target Core using external media, which is useful for large sets of data or sites with slow links.
server cluster
SharePoint backup
A SharePoint backup is a copy of data that is used to restore and recover that data on a SharePoint server after a system failure. From the SharePoint backup, you can perform recovery of the complete SharePoint farm, or one or more components of the farm.
Smart Agent
See agent.
snapshot
A snapshot is a common industry term that defines the ability to capture and store the state of a disk volume at a given point, while applications are running. The snapshot is critical if system recovery is needed due to an outage or system failure. Rapid Recovery snapshots are application aware, which means that all open transactions and rolling transaction logs are completed and caches are flushed prior to creating the snapshot. Rapid Recovery uses Microsoft Volume Shadow Services (VSS) to facilitate application crash consistent snapshots.
SQL attachability
SQL attachability is a test run within the Rapid Recovery Core to ensure that all SQL recovery points are without error and are available for backup in the event of a failure.
SQL backup
A SQL backup is a copy of data that is used to restore and recover that data on a SQL server after a system failure. From the SQL backup, you can perform recovery of the complete SQL database, or one or more of the components of the SQL database.
SQL differential backup
A differential database backup is a cumulative copy of all changes in data since the last full backup of the SQL database. Differential backups are typically faster to create than full database backups, and reduce the number of transaction logs required to recover the database.
target Core
The target Core, which is sometimes referred to as replica Core, is the Rapid Recovery Core receiving the replicated data (recovery points) from the source Core.
Transport Layer Security
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a modern cryptographic network protocol designed to ensure communication security over the Internet. This protocol, defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force, is the successor to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). The SSL term is still generally used, and the protocols are interoperable (a TLS client can downgrade to communicate to an SSL server).
True Scale
True Scale is the scalable architecture of Rapid Recovery.
Universal Recovery
Rapid Recovery Universal Recovery technology provides unlimited machine restoration flexibility. It enables you to perform monolithic recovery to- and from- any physical or virtual platform of your choice as well as incremental recovery updates to virtual machines from any physical or virtual source. It also lets you perform application-level, item-level, and object-level recovery of individual files, folders, email, calendar items, databases, and applications.
Verified Recovery
Verified Recovery technology is used to perform automated recovery testing and verification of backups. It supports various file systems and servers.
virtual standby
Virtual standby is a process that creates a clone virtual machine of a protected machine. The original source machine can be physical or virtual, but the product is always virtual. You can create a virtual standby one time on demand, or you can define requirements to create the bootable VM, and continually update it after each snapshot is captured on the original protected machine.
Volume Manager
The Rapid Recovery Volume Manager manages objects and then stores and presents them as a logical volume. It leverages dynamic pipeline architecture to deliver TruScale scalability, parallelism, and asynchronous inputand- output (I/O) model for high throughput with minimal I/O latency.
white labeling
Rapid Recovery provides the ability for certain specific providers of backup and disaster recovery services to white label (or rebrand) Rapid Recovery with their own logo, and then to market it as their own product or service. The option to white label Rapid Recovery is only available to organizations whose Quest Software license agreements explicitly grant rebranding privileges. Options to license, sub-license and/or re-distribute this software is also only granted to organizations with whom a specific license agreement granting these privileges is in effect. Quest Software reserves all rights to Rapid Recovery. The white labeling option does not grant anyone any intellectual property rights to Rapid Recovery. To request this functionality for your organization, please contact your Quest Software representative.
Windows failover cluster
A group of independent computers that work together to increase the availability of applications and services. The clustered servers (called nodes) are connected by physical cables and by software. If one of the cluster nodes fails, another node begins to provide service (a process known as failover). Users experience a minimum of disruptions in service. Rapid Recovery supports the protection of a number of SQL Server and Exchange Server cluster types.