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Redirecting SharePoint restores to a different farm

Richard_Senda3
Level 4

Hello,

I would like to restore a SharePoint 2010 Web Application to a different SharePoint farm from where it was originally backed up.  I have followed the instructions exactly as specified in document HOWTO47543 and I can confirm that this works, however, I've noticed a potential issue that I'd like clarified.

 

The instructions say that in the Distributed Application Host Mapping, that the destination back-end SQL servers must be listed as components of the front-end source web server where the Web Application was originally backed up from.  So for example, if my source web front end server is called lonwebwfe and my destination SQL server is lonsqldr, then I add to the Distributed Application Host Mapping that lonsqldr is a component host of lonwebwfe.  This implies that the restore must be performed from the source web front end server, in my case lonwebwfe.

 

I ran the redirected restore from lonwebwfe to my destination SharePoint farm and yes, this does work.  But I'd like to run the redirected restore from the web front end server of the destination farm - lonwebwfeDR.  This is because in the event of disaster, my source web front end server may be destroyed.

 

However, when I tried to do this, the restore did not work, in fact, it didn't even start.  It said the restore job had been submitted successfully, but no restore job appeared in the Activity Monitor and no restore job appeared in the "view status" window of the NetBackup GUI.

 

Therefore I have this question:

When performing a re-directed restore of a SharePoint Web Application, does the restore always have to be made from the original source web front end server where the Web Application was backed up from?  If so, this is a problem as in the event of disaster where I lose the original web front end server, this effectively means I can't restore SharePoint, is there a way round this so I can restore it from a different server from where it was backed up?

 

I should also point out that neither the NetBackup PDF documentation nor the HOWTO linked above actually state that the restore must be performed from the source web front end server

 

Many thanks.

4 REPLIES 4

Will_Restore
Level 6

You have to set the Source to the original front end server.  Restore does not actually run on that source machine, rather it uses the name to search NetBackup catalog for the images.

Richard_Senda3
Level 4

Thank you for your reply wr, I think you may have misunderstood the question probably as a result of me not explaining it too well, so I'll attempt to explain it in terms of restoring a file.

I have a file backed up from server A that I want restored onto server B.  To restore the file, I have 2 options:

Either:

  • On server A, launch the BAR GUI and set the "destination client for restores" to server B in "Specify NetBackup Machines and Policy type "

Or:

  • On server B, launch the BAR GUI and set the "source client for restores" to server A in "Specify NetBackup Machines and Policy type"

I can then select the required file and restore it.

I would like to restore a MOSS Web Application backed up from Server A onto Server B.  Using the first method above, the restore starts and completes successfully.  However, when using the second method above, i.e. from the BAR GUI on server B, the restore does not work.  Although the BAR GUI says the restore job has been submitted successfully, the restore job does not appear in the Activity Monitor and no data is restored.

Therefore, the question still stands, is it possible to restore a MOSS Web Application backed up from server A onto server B from the BAR GUI launched on server B?  The results I got above suggests this does not work.  This is a problem as if I loose server A in a disaster, I will not be able to restore my data!

Many thanks.

Mark_Solutions
Level 6
Partner Accredited Certified
To do a restore from Server B you would need the No.Restriction file in place on the Master Server, need Server B adding to the Master Servers Host Properties - Client Attributes section with the allow browse and restore abilities to allow both and free browse and usually best to add it as an additional server in the Masters Servers list Having said that you should be able to do SharePoint restores from the Master Servers BAR GUI to avoid your issues all together Hope this helps

Will_Restore
Level 6

OK, make sure you are following all of the bullets in the Admin Guide

Redirecting a restore of a SharePoint Web application to another farm

 

 note:

You cannot redirect a Web application to the same farm more than once. This

restriction ensures SQL database ID uniqueness.