Rapid Recovery 6.4 - User Guide

Understanding protection schedules

A protection schedule defines when backups are transferred from protected agent machines to the Rapid Recovery Core.

The first backup transfer for any machine added to protection on 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 repository, which can take a significant amount of time depending on the amount of data being transferred. Thereafter, incremental snapshots (smaller backups, consisting only of data changed on the protected machine since the last backup) are saved to the repository regularly, based on the interval defined (for example, every 60 minutes). This type of backup contains less data than a base image, and therefore takes a shorter amount of time to transfer.

Protection schedules are initially defined using the Protect Machine Wizard or the Protect Multiple Machines Wizard. Using a wizard, you can customize protection schedules (choosing either periods or a daily protection time) to accommodate your business needs. You can then modify the existing schedule or create a new schedule at any time in the Protection Schedule dialog box from the summary page of a specific protected machine.

Rapid Recovery provides a default protection schedule, which includes a single period spanning all days of the week, with a single time period defined (from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM). The default interval (the time period between snapshots) is 60 minutes. When you first enable protection, you also activate the schedule. Thus, using the default settings, regardless of the current time of day, the first backup will occur every hour, on the hour (12:00 AM, 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM, and so on).

Selecting periods lets you view the default protection schedule and make adjustments accordingly. Selecting a daily protection time causes Rapid Recovery Core to back up the designated protected machines once daily at a time you specify.

You can customize the schedule to define peak and off-peak times using the weekday and weekend periods available. For example, if your protected machines are mostly in use on weekdays, you could decrease the interval for the weekday period to 20 minutes, resulting in three snapshots every hour. Or you can increase the interval for the weekend period from 60 minutes to 180 minutes, resulting in snapshots once every three hours when traffic is low.

Alternatively, you can change the default schedule to define peak and off-peak times daily. To do this, change the default start and end time to a smaller range of time (for example, 12:00 AM to 4:59 PM), and set an appropriate interval (for example, 20 minutes). This represents frequent backups during peak periods. You can then add an additional weekday time range for the remaining span of time (5:00 pm to 11:59 pm) and set an appropriate (presumably larger) interval (for example, 180 minutes). These settings define an off-peak period that includes 5:00 PM to midnight every day. This customization results in snapshots every three hours from 5:00 PM through 11:59 PM, and snapshots every 20 minutes from 12:00 AM until 4:59 PM.

When you modify or create a protection schedule using the Protection Schedule dialog box, Rapid Recovery gives you the option to save that schedule as a reusable template that you can then apply to other protected machines.

Other options in the protection wizards include setting a daily protection time. This results in a single backup daily at the period defined (the default setting is 12:00 PM).

When protecting one or multiple machines using a wizard, you can initially pause protection, which defines the protection schedule without protecting the machines. When you are ready to begin protecting your machines based on the established protection schedule, you must explicitly resume protection. For more information on resuming protection, see Pausing and resuming protection. Optionally, if you want to protect a machine immediately, you can force a snapshot. For more information, see Forcing a snapshot.

For more information, see Creating multiple protection schedule periods in Advanced Mode.

Protecting a machine

The protecting procedure requires the following tasks be completed before you begin:

• The Rapid Recovery Agent has been deployed and installed on the machine you want to protect.
• The machine you want to protect was restarted after the Agent installation.
• A repository has been created and is accessible from the Rapid Recovery Core.

This topic describes how to start protecting the data on a single machine that you specify using the Protect Machine Wizard. To protect multiple machines using one process simultaneously, see About protecting multiple machines.

For more information about installing the Agent software, see “Installing the Rapid Recovery Agent software” in the Rapid Recovery Installation and Upgrade Guide.
 If the Agent software is not installed prior to protecting a machine, you will not be able to select specific volumes for protection as part of this wizard. In this case, by default, all volumes on the agentlessly protected machine will be protected.

??Rapid Recovery supports the protection and recovery of machines configured with EISA partitions.

When you add protection, you need to define connection information such as the IP address and port, and provide credentials for the machine you want to protect. Optionally, you can provide a display name to appear in the Core Console instead of the IP address. If you change this, you will not see the IP address for the protected machine when you view details in the Core Console. You will also define the protection schedule for the machine.

The protection process includes optional steps you can access if you select an advanced configuration. Advanced options include repository functions and encryption. For example, you can specify which Rapid Recovery repository you want to use. You can also specify an existing encryption key (or add a new encryption key) to apply to the data saved to the Core for this machine. For more information about encryption keys, see Encryption.

The workflow of the protection wizard may differ slightly based on your environment. For example, if the Rapid Recovery Agent software is installed on the machine you want to protect, you will not be prompted to install it from the wizard. Likewise, if a repository already exists on the Core, you will not be prompted to create one.

1. From the Rapid Recovery Core Console button bar, click Protect.

   NOTE: If you have not yet create a repository, a dialog box alerts you that no repository was found and prompts you to create one. Clicking Yes opens the Create Repository wizard. For more information about repositories, see Repositories.

   The Protect Machine Wizard appears.

2. On the Welcome page, select one of the follow installation options:
   • If you do not need to define a repository or establish encryption, select Typical.
   • If you want to define a repository or if you want to establish encryption, select Advanced (show optional steps).

     Optionally, if you do not wish to see the Welcome page for the Protect Machine Wizard in the future, select the option Skip this Welcome page the next time the wizard opens.

3. When you are satisfied with your choices on the Welcome page, then click Next.

   The Connection page appears.

4. On the Connection page, enter the information about the machine to which you want to connect, as described in the following table, and then click Next.

   Table 45: Machine connection settings

   Text Box	Description
   Host	The host name or IP address of the machine that you want to protect.
   Port	The port number on which the Rapid Recovery Core communicates with the Agent on the machine. The default port number for Windows machines is 8006. The default port number for Linux machines is 22 (SSH).
   User name	The user name used to connect to this machine; for example, Administrator (or, if the machine is in a domain, [domain name]\Administrator). Enter the user name or, to use a set of credentials saved to Credentials Vault, use the drop-down list and select a user name. Optionally, to save your credentials to Credentials Vault, click the plus sign next to the text box. For more information, see Credentials Vault.
   Password	Enter the password used to connect to this machine, or select a set of credentials from the drop-down list, which are listed by user name.

   If the Install Agent page appears next in the Protect Machine Wizard, that means that Rapid Recovery does not detect the Rapid Recovery Agent on the machine and will install the current version of the software. Go to step 6.

   If the Upgrade Agent page appears next in the wizard, that means that an older version of the Agent software exists on the machine you want to protect.

   NOTE: The Agent software must be installed on the machine you want to protect, and that machine must be restarted, before it can back up to the Core. To have the installer reboot the protected machine, select the option After installation, restart the machine automatically (recommended) before clicking Next.

5. On the Upgrade Agent page, do one of the following:
   • To deploy the new version of the Agent software (matching the version for the Rapid Recovery Core), select Upgrade the Rapid Recovery Agent software to the latest version.
   • To continue protecting the machine without updating the Agent software version, clear the option Upgrade the Rapid Recovery Agent software to the latest version.
6. Click Next.

   The Protection page appears.

7. Optionally, on the Protection page, if you want a name other than the IP address to display in the Rapid Recovery Core 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.

8. 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.

     Schedule options are added to the wizard workflow.

9. At the bottom of the Protection page, if you are re-protecting a machine previously protected in this Core, and want to keep the previous configuration, select Keep current settings.
10. Proceed with your configuration as follows:
    • If you selected a Typical configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard in step 2 and specified default protection, then click Finish to confirm your choices, close the wizard, and protect the machine you specified.
    • If you selected Advanced configuration for the Protect Machine Wizard in step 2 , and default protection, then click Next to see repository and encryption options.
    • 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 in step 2, and default protection, then click Next and proceed to step 13 to see repository and encryption options.

    The first time protection is added for a machine, a base image (that is, a snapshot of all the data in the protected volumes) will transfer to the repository on the Rapid Recovery following the schedule you defined, unless you specified to initially pause protection.

11. 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).

12. 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, did not indicate that you want to change the repository, and you selected the Advanced option in step 2, then the Encryption page appears. Proceed to step 16.

    If you already have repository information configured, and you selected the Advanced option in step 2, or if you indicated you want to change the repository, then the Repository page appears. Proceed to step 13.

13. On the Repository page, select the repository you want to use to store recovery points for this machine, and then click Next.
14. On the Encryption page, do one of the following:
    • 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 46: 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 and 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.

    • If you want to encrypt all data that transports over a network, select Encrypt the data in transport over a network.

      NOTE: This option is enabled by default, so if you do not want to encrypt data in this fashion, clear this option.

15. 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.

Protecting a cluster

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.

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 47: 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 48: 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 49: 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 50: 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.

Protecting nodes in a cluster

1. In the Rapid Recovery Core Console, under Protected Machine, click the cluster with the nodes that you want to protect.
2. On the Summary page for the cluster, click the Protected Nodes.
3. On the Protected Nodes page, click Protect Cluster Node.
4. In the Protect Cluster Node dialog box, select or enter as appropriate the following information.

   Table 51: Protect Cluster Node settings

   Text Box	Description
   Host	A drop-down list of nodes in the cluster available for protection.
   Port	The port number on which the Rapid Recovery Core communicates with the Agent on the node.
   User name	The user name of the domain administrator used to connect to this node; for example, example_domain\administrator or administrator@example_domain.com.
   Password	The password used to connect to this machine.

5. To add the node, click Connect.
6. To start protecting this node with default protection settings, go to step 11.

   NOTE: The default settings ensure that all volumes on the machine are protected with a schedule of every 60 minutes.

7. In the Protect [Node Name] dialog box, if you want to use a repository other than the default setting, use the drop-down list to select a repository.
8. If you want to secure the recovery points for this cluster using Core-based encryption, use the drop-down list to select an encryption key.
9. If you do not want protection to begin immediately after completing this procedure, select Initially pause protection.
10. To enter custom settings (for example, to customize the protection schedule for the shared volumes), do the following:
    1. To customize settings for an individual volume, next to the volume that you want to customize, click Function next to the relevant volume.
    2. See Creating custom protection schedules in Simple Mode.
11. Click Protect.