BESR v8.0.2 on MS 2003 Cluster

[Rikin]

Hi there,

I need to install BESR v8.0.2 on MS 2003 Cluster, I am looking for some asssitant, need to know the steps in details.

Thanks,

Rikin

[David_F]

For best assistance on this matter you may want to call in to Symantec support if the following technote document does not offer the steps you need. http://support.veritas.com/docs/293810

[Rikin]

Hi, I logged a call with the Symantec support team with regards to this but apparently I was told that I was the first one to ever call about this kind of support.

I was surprised, anyway, I have been told that they are going to setup a LAB for this and maybe come back to me.

So, in short, I did not get any support... 

Rikin

[CaptJim]

I also need to know best practices for backing up SAN drives that are part of a cluster, not to mention the proper way to image a Quorum.  The linked document is very old and only talks about restore proceedures.  You are not the only one.

I know that with IBM TSM, we actually have a different installed TSM service for each cluster group.  Each of these services are put under cluster control of the cluster group it is going to manage.  This way the backup job follows the drive that is part of the cluster group, no matter what physical server the resource is running on.  The drive gets backed up with the cluster group name being used as the computer name.  The TSM service in the cluster group only manages the drives that are in that cluster group.

I wounder if there is a way to similiarly config VProSvc.exe? 

[David_F]

Thank you for your response, you might actually want to look at making the registry update seen in the following document: http://support.veritas.com/docs/294513 . Technotes concerning this topic has been marked to be updated here soon.

[CaptJim]

I am familiar with that article too, it has nothing to do with the management of clustered disk resources.

Lets see if I can explain myself.  Lets say you have two physical servers each with a C:\ drive, you install BESR on them and set a backup job to backup all drives.  Now, you have one cluster group with the Drive "H:\". Depending on which physical server you are running the cluster group at the time will determine where the backup of H:\ is.  One day its on server one, the next its on server two.  This means that I have the backup of the H:\ drive in two places.

How does Symantec and other customers setup backup jobs for clusters?

[Rikin]

One more thing...

What about Active/Active Cluster??

[David_F]

Backup Exec System Recovery Best Practices

Cluster Server and SAN Environments  

NOTE: As Symantec products evolve, some information in this document may become out-dated.

Best Practices When Using Backup Exec System Recovery in Cluster and SAN Environments

Introduction Backup Exec System Recovery (BESR) supports backing up and restoring Windows Server 2000 and 2003 volumes in cluster and SAN environments.  Both Microsoft and Veritas cluster configurations are supported.  This document will outline best practices and known limitations when using BESR with these configurations. Creating Recovery PointsBest practices for capturing recovery point’s images with Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery in a Windows server cluster environment include the following:

·         Install Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery on all nodes within the server cluster.

·         Label all local and shared storage volumes for easy identification from within the Symantec Recovery Disk (SRD).  Note that drive letter assignments and volume order may be different from within the SRD than from within Windows.

·         Ensure that any location to which recovery points will be stored can be accessed from the Symantec Recovery Disk.  Take the necessary time to test the SRD and make sure your selected destination is accessible either locally or via the network.  If a device is not visible from the SRD environment, consider using the new customizable SRD feature of BESR 7.0 to add additional drivers to the SRD driver database.

·         If you store a recovery point of a cluster node system volume to a SAN shared storage volume, after a failover you will only be able to access those recovery points via the network. Consider the implications of this when deciding whether to store images of cluster node system volumes to SAN shared storage. Restoring Recovery PointsRestoring a Single Node in a Cluster

·         Before beginning, please refer to your specific cluster software documentation for application specific rules that govern the process of restoring cluster nodes.·         Boot the Symantec Recovery Disk on the node to be restored.·         Beware that it can be difficult to determine which physical volume to restore to since volume order and drive letter assignments may be different within the SRD than within Windows. If you cannot tell which volume is local to the node you are restoring, shut down the machine, temporarily disconnect any external storage, and then boot into the SRD to restore the volume.·         Restore the recovery point of the operating system volume. Be sure to select the option to recover the original disk signature so that original Windows drive letter mappings will be preserved. If the option is available, select the option to preserve the domain trust token.·         Boot the server into Windows (if applicable, reconnect any external storage first).·         Verify that connections to shared storage are present.·         Verify the cluster is functioning correctly.  Remember to check your specific cluster documentation as needed.Restoring an Entire Cluster·         Before beginning, please refer to your specific cluster documentation for application specific rules that govern the process of restoring cluster nodes.·         Take all cluster nodes offline.·         Restore one cluster node from the SRD as per the above steps.  ·         Boot the cluster node into Windows, and restore the quorum volume to its original location on the shared storage (note that a Microsoft quorum volume can only exist on a basic disk).·         From either the SRD or from within Windows, restore any shared storage volumes (note that this may be easier to do from Windows).·         From within Windows, reestablish shared storage connections.·         Restore the remaining cluster nodes using the Symantec Recovery Disk.·         Verify that the cluster is running properly.  Remember to check your specific cluster documentation as needed. Support InformationSupported OperationsIn a server cluster environment for Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows 2003, Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 7.0 provides support for the following operations:·         Creation and restoration of an active node OS recovery point in a multi-node cluster.·         Creation and restoration of passive node OS recovery point in a multi-node cluster.·         Creation and restoration of quorum disk volume recovery points.  Restoration of quorum disk volume recovery points should be done within Windows, due to volume order and driver letter assignments being unpredictable when booting to the SRD.·         The creation and restoration of shared-storage volume images (Note: Proper presentation of the shared-storage volume must be available in Windows Disk Management prior to restore). To achieve this you must perform shared-storage volume recovery within Windows on the active node. Unsupported OperationsSymantec Backup Exec System Recovery 7.0 does not support the following operations in Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 server cluster environments:·         The creation and restoration of operating system volume recovery points where the operating system resides on a shared-storage volume. ·         Restoring a quorum volume image to a different drive mapping than the original mapping that existed prior to recovery.·         Restoring a quorum volume from the SRD.·         Scheduled jobs after a failover. Currently, scheduled jobs do not automatically activate and run on the new active node after a failover.  They must be manually re-enabled (or recreated) on the new active node.