Backup Exec 2014 Technical White Paper - Protecting Microsoft SharePoint

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The series of Technical White Papers we are currently publishing are updated papers on the release of Backup Exec 2014. They are designed to introduce Symantec partners and end users to key technologies and technical concepts that are associated with the Symantec Backup Exec. The information within a Technical White Paper will assist partners and end users as they design and implement data protection solutions based on Symantec Backup and Recovery products.

This white paper is intended to assist technical personnel as they design and implement Backup Exec 2014 and the Agent for Applications and Databases to protect servers hosting Microsoft SharePoint, and make related decisions.  The business value of the Agent for Applications and Databases for Microsoft SharePoint servers will also be touched upon in this white paper.

This white paper includes the following topics:

• Business Value
• Underlying Technical Principles
• Virtualized Application Protection
• Virtual Machine Recovery Options
• Improved Usability for Virtual Environments
• Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware
• Example VMware Configurations
• Performance Recommendations
• Notes and Best Practices

Collaboration can be defined as the hosting and sharing of information within an organization or between a business and their customers. Today, as organizations grow, collaboration applications and tools have become a critical need for companies of all sizes. Microsoft’s SharePoint products are designed to improve organizational effectiveness, enable comprehensive content management and search capabilities, including business process sharing and information sharing across boundaries for better business insight.

Microsoft’s SharePoint products provide a simple web mechanism for management and abstraction of information from the web server, with the ultimate goal of enabling business users to leverage web features without having to understand technical aspects of web development.

The Need for Backup Solutions Designed for Microsoft SharePoint

Ensuring the content within a SharePoint infrastructure is safely protected can be a critical component to a company’s ongoing success. The loss of SharePoint data could result in delays in effective communications both internally and externally – leading to losses in productivity and revenues. Today’s information and technology administrators need reliable, easy to manage, and efficient backup and recovery solutions to protect their SharePoint intellectual property.

SharePoint Protection Challenges and Objectives

Administrators responsible for the backup and recovery of SharePoint environments understand the challenges associated with backup technologies that are not specifically designed to protect SharePoint servers. A modern and reliable backup strategy for Microsoft SharePoint provides an essential safeguard to help protect critical data.

Objectives of performing SharePoint backups include:

• Recovering lost data in the event of a disaster
• Recovering unintentionally deleted content
• Minimizing the amount of data lost as the result of a disaster
• Moving data between installations as part of a hardware or software upgrade
• Minimizing the downtime cost of a SharePoint infrastructure being offline

It is important for administrators to choose what to protect and recover in a SharePoint environment. Business requirements will help in making the determination of which SharePoint components to protect, and the granularity with which they need to be recovered.

Typically customers use the Agent for Applications and Databases for three types of SharePoint recovery:

• Granular Recovery of individual SharePoint objects, such as files and list items.
• Recovery of a SharePoint component or database
• Full recovery of a SharePoint environment

Backup Exec 2014 and Microsoft SharePoint

Backup Exec 2014 and the Agent for Applications and Databases include features and capabilities designed specifically to protect SharePoint environments and solve each of the problems listed above. The Agent for Applications and Databases enables backup administrators to perform proper and intelligent backup and restore operations, which incorporate online, non-disruptive SharePoint protection as part of everyday backup routines.

When you use the Agent for Application and Databases to protect Microsoft SharePoint, you can back up and restore the following:

• Web applications and their associated databases
• Individual documents that are contained in libraries
• Sites and sub-sites (Individual objects and their versions can be restored)
• Lists and list items (Individual objects and their versions can be restored)
• Restore Security Permissions on individual objects
• Configuration database
• Service applications
• Single Sign-on databases
• Shared Service Providers

Complete SharePoint Protection in a Single Solution

The Agent for Applications and Databases delivers state-of-the-art technology for the protection of growing Microsoft SharePoint environments, including the following:

• User-friendly interface
• Centralized management of large or distributed environments
• Integrated data reduction technologies using the Deduplication Option
• Scheduled, on-line backups of SharePoint servers
• Comprehensive backup support for physical or virtualized SharePoint Servers
• Granular recovery of SharePoint components, such as individual documents or document versions
• Redirected restore of SharePoint databases to any SQL instance available on the network
• Redirected restore of web applications to a remote SharePoint farm
• Redirected restore of individual items to a folder location
• Redirected restore of granular SharePoint objects to a different site or farm

To read the full White Paper please download from the link below.