Advanced Data Protection of Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 VERITAS BACKUP EXEC 9.1 FOR WINDOWS SERVERS

Transcription

1 WHITE PAPER Advanced Data Protection of Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 VERITAS BACKUP EXEC 9.1 FOR WINDOWS SERVERS Agent for Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server /20/2003 1

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction...3 Solution Highlights...4 Flexibility...4 Usability...4 Reliability...4 Performance...4 Data Protection Considerations...5 Protecting Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server VERITAS Backup Exec for Windows Servers Agent for Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server Data Restoration...11 Redirection and Server Duplication...11 Disaster Recovery Preparation...13 Best Practices...14 Summary

3 INTRODUCTION The proliferation of corporate documentation, project collaboration and the dependence on Intranet sites led to the development of Microsoft s SharePoint Portal Server SharePoint Portal Server 2001 is an advanced document management and collaboration application for Windows servers designed to facilitate organization, sharing, retrieval and publishing of information over corporate Intranets. It seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Office and web development tools. VERITAS Software continues to demonstrate its leadership with the industry s first data protection solution for Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server As a separately licensed and priced agent, the Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 enables administrators to incorporate online, non-disruptive application and database protection for the invaluable corporate collaboration material and documentation retained in the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 repositories. The Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 provides enhanced scalability and integration, while eliminating the need for separate administration and dedicated hardware. It allows you to quickly restore individual workspaces and documents in addition to full database and application data. Key Benefits Helps safeguard the integrity of critical SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data. Incorporates online nondisruptive application and database protection as part of everyday backup routines, which increases the chance of data recovery and minimizes data loss without inhibiting daily activity. Protection of individual workspaces and documents gives administrators the ability to perform granular restores. Enables redirection of SharePoint Portal 2001 database restores to alternate SharePoint Portal 2001 servers for duplication and convenient disaster recovery situations. 3

4 SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS Flexibility Provides workspace level backup and restore of individual workspaces and documents Protects the local or remote SharePoint Portal Server 2001 dashboard, workspaces, indexes and documents Delivers online hot portal protection for non-disruptive backups Enables redirection of SharePoint Portal 2001 database restores to alternate SharePoint Portal 2001 servers for duplication and convenient disaster recovery situations Usability Transparently integrates online or hot SharePoint Portal Server 2001 backups within regularly scheduled network protection routines. Quickly and easily makes a full backup of the workspace and all relevant data from other dependent information stores. Fully protects the following SharePoint Portal 2001 components workspaces; log files; the Microsoft Search Service (MSSearch property store, subscription store, full-text files, and propagated indexes); configuration information (Web Storage System, content source information, server properties, and access accounts); Applications folders; and Shortcuts to content sources. Flexibility to launch SharePoint Portal 2001 backup jobs immediately, schedule for a later time or save for later execution. Easily redirect a restore of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 to create duplicate copies of a master SharePoint Portal Server dashboard across an organization s global network. Reliability Uses the native SharePoint Portal Server 2001 APIs for backup and restore, ensuring reliable and consistent SharePoint Portal Server 2001 protection. Integrates with the VERITAS Backup Exec Intelligent Disaster Recovery Option for a rapid, bare-metal system disaster recovery to the last full, incremental, or differential backup, complete with identical configuration of the operating system, user profiles, updates, and other applications. Performance The VERITAS client access license (CAL) offers the patented Remote Agent with Agent Accelerator technology to provide localized source compression and distributed processing, decreasing the amount of network traffic and the time needed to back up remote SharePoint Portal Server 2001 machines. Data Staging Quickly backup and recover SharePoint Portal Server 2001 repositories by staging backups to a disk drive or RAID array prior to your scheduled nightly backup to tape media for disaster recovery. LAN-free SharePoint Portal Server 2001 Backup Supports storage area networks (SAN), with SAN Shared Storage Option increasing backup and recovery performance over a fibre channel or iscsi network. 4

5 DATA PROTECTION CONSIDERATIONS Without the proper tools and processes in place, the time-consuming tasks of collaborating, publishing and controlling access to documents within an organization could easily result in data being lost, overwritten, duplicated or misplaced. While SharePoint Portal Server 2001 solves these and other problems, it does not employ the adequate data protection tools that offer reliable disaster recovery, scalability and ease-of-use. Without the proper data protection strategy, an organization is placing its documents and data at risk by deploying and populating SharePoint Portal Server 2001 in an environment where data protection schemes have not been determined and backup and recovery processes have not been defined. It is crucial that organizations research, evaluate and deploy a complete data protection solution for SharePoint Portal Server As organizations deploy SharePoint Portal Server 2001, the common question How to effectively protect valuable data stored within SharePoint Portal Server 2001? will arise. Through the course of this white paper, VERITAS Software will answer this simple, yet crucial question as well as discuss various tools, processes and strategies available to back up, restore and duplicate SharePoint Portal 2001 servers. Each organization must decide, based on size, infrastructure and type of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 deployment, must decide which combination of these tools best fits their environment. Additionally, when determining specific SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data protection needs, organizations need to consider these questions: Will backup processes be performed while SharePoint Portal Server 2001 is online or offline? Will backup processes be performed from a central location or distributed among multiple servers? Will backups be stored on tape media or disk volumes? Will backup processes be performed individually or combined with VERITAS File System software and other protected resource backups such as Exchange, SQL or Domino? How frequently should a backup of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 be performed? How can a corrupted or accidentally deleted file be recovered? How is protecting multiple SharePoint Portal 2001 servers different from a single installation? What tools exist to help automate and simplify SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data protection? What steps are involved for quickly and reliably recovering from catastrophic data loss? 5

6 PROTECTING MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT PORTAL SERVER 2001 Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 relies on technologies like the Microsoft Web Storage System and Microsoft Search Server for an impressive list of features and functions. Whether deployed as an all-in-one document-management portal solution or as part of a multiple server configuration performing a mix of document management, indexing or search services, SharePoint Portal Server 2001 has unique data protection needs. To address this need for reliable protection of SharePoint Portal Server 2001data, Microsoft has designed a Backup application program interface (API) that provides the connectivity for third party backup applications to reliably perform online backup and restore operations. According to Microsoft, certain SharePoint Portal Server 2001 components, such as scheduled subscription tasks, gather logs or Lotus Notes configuration information, are not crucial to portal recovery and are therefore are excluded by the Backup API. Data protection products are able to protect the following SharePoint Portal Server 2001 components when using the Backup API for backup and restore operations: Microsoft Web Storage system files, which include database files, log files and backup patch files Microsoft Search Service system resources, including the property store, subscriptions store, full-text index files and propagated indexes Portal and Web Storage system configuration information, including content source information, server properties and access accounts The Applications folder, which contains a subfolder for each workspace on the server Shortcuts or content sources that reference the local file system 6

7 Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 includes basic data protection through a Command Line Backup Script. From the perspective of performing simple backup operations, Backup Exec software and the Command Line Backup Script function similarly. The Command Line Backup Script, however, has limitations and lacks the needed scalability and ease-of-use available through VERITAS Backup Exec software and its many agents and options. The Command Line Backup Script, for example, is accessible only via command line on the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 and does not include any automation or scheduling support. The Command Line Backup Script offers the capability to send a point-in-time image or dump of the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 to a local disk volume or a remote network share. This image could later be used to restore SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data, not the entire server, to the identical state from which the backup image was created. It is possible to use the Windows Backup Utility (included with the Windows operating system) to archive these images to tape media as a Post Process. Unlike VERITAS Backup Exec software, the Windows Backup Utility is not designed to utilize the Backup API to provide online protection of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 directly. It is important that administrators do not attempt to use the Windows Backup utility or any other unsupported third-party backup products to provide online protection for SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers. Applications not designed to use the Backup API may incorrectly recognize a SharePoint Portal Server 2001 as an Exchange Server. Although the backup process may complete, without the Backup API, the application cannot back up all of the required data for SharePoint Portal Server 2001, and any attempt to restore that data would fail. It should also be noted that, while administrators have the ability to enable the Installable File System (IFS) component of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 to view the contents of the Microsoft Web Storage System, IFS access is read-only. Microsoft does not advise using the IFS to create or modify any data within the portal, nor does Microsoft support any attempt to back up SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data via the IFS through any third-party backup utility or by copying files. 7

8 VERITAS BACKUP EXEC FOR WINDOWS SERVERS AGENT FOR MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT PORTAL SERVER 2001 VERITAS Backup Exec for Windows Servers software is the industry-standard backup solution, providing Microsoft-certified compatibility for the total Windows environment. It offers reliable backup and recovery of Windows Active Directory, Windows Distributed File System and the Windows System State components. Built-in wizards, agent accelerator technology and advanced device and media management offer ease-of-use, high performance and the flexibility to manage data quickly and reliably. Recent support for Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 combined with the many available options ensures that Backup Exec software provides a complete, scalable solution for any size Microsoft network and application. As mentioned previously, the Command Line Backup Script, while adequate for basic protection, requires external utilities and manual processes to provide a similar level of protection from that offered by the robust features of Backup Exec software. The Agent for SharePoint Portal Server 2001 saves time and resources by simplifying or eliminating many of the manual administrator tasks required to protect local or remote SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers. Through the use of Backup Exec software s graphical user interface (GUI), Backup Exec software provides scalability and usability to easily define and schedule recurring backup jobs capable of protecting multiple SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers without requiring additional administrator intervention. While cumbersome for the Command Line Backup Script, the task of configuring and scheduling multiple backup operations within the Backup Exec software GUI, is a simple process of selecting the appropriate resources from an Explorer Style selections list and defining the time and interval the backup will occur. By offering password protection for every backup job, Backup Exec software enables a higher level of security than the Command Line Backup Script, which provides minimal security for backup images. Through password protection and Single Object Selection of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 resources, Backup Exec software ensures complete, secure online protection of business-critical data contained within SharePoint Portal Server 2001 information stores. Additionally, Backup Exec software supports a wide selection of single or multiple-drive robotic libraries and standalone tape drives. Advanced media management allows Backup Exec software to manage media intelligently by protecting important data residing on tape or disk and preventing accidental overwriting or erasing. Using this capability, an administrator can reliably retain multiple backup sets for each SharePoint Portal Server 2001 spanning weeks, months, years or any other defined retention period. This eliminates the fear that backups could be overwritten by accident or user error. Backup Exec software offers many additional features that are not found in the Command Line Backup Script or Windows Backup Utility. These features range from the ability to directly support tape devices and data compression methods to fibre channel storage area network (SAN) support and the ability to simultaneously protect multiple distributed resources. The following chart highlights several key differentiators, many of which will be discussed in further detail. 8

9 Functionality Local Online Backup Support Integrated Scheduling Online SharePoint Portal Server (SPS) Data Protection Options VERITAS Backup Exec Agent for SPS 2001 Yes, GUI and Command Line Yes SPS 2001 Command Line Backup Script Yes, Command Line Only No, External Scheduler Required Password Protection Yes No, Minimal Encryption No Windows Backup Utility* No, Offline Only** Online Backup to Tape Support Yes No** No, Offline Only** Online Backup to Disk Support Yes Yes No, Offline Only** Hardware and Software Compression Network Backup Support No** Yes No** No, Hardware only Yes, via Remote Agent from any Backup Server Yes, via Command Line fro SPS Console Network-Based Data Compression Yes No No Dedicated Backup Network Yes No No Include File System Backup Yes No** Yes** Include System State Backup Yes No** Yes** Include Network Resource Backup Yes, via Dedicated Agents No Automated Alert Notification Yes, via , SMTP, Pager No No LAN-Free Backup Yes, via SAN Shared Storage Option Centralized Management Yes No No Redirection and Server Duplication Yes No Yes, Command Line Only Document-Level Restore Process Yes Yes No Disaster Recovery Process Yes, via Intelligent Disaster Recovery Option No No** Yes, Limited Application Support No No No * The Windows Backup Utility does not provide online protection of Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server ** Limited online protection achievable through a post process using the Windows 2000 Backup Utility to perform a secondary backup of the backup image created by the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 command line backup script. 9

10 Recommended Backup Strategies Microsoft outlines several SharePoint Portal Server 2001 deployment scenarios in its white papers. These deployment scenarios can be categorized as either single or multiple server configurations. A single server deployment provides all SharePoint Portal Server 2001 functionality on a single machine. While each scenario may place more emphasis on one function over another, they all exist and must be considered when determining backup strategy. Similarly, in a multiple server environment, the different services of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 may be distributed individually or in combinations of document management services, search services and indexing services across multiple machines. This distribution of services is used to create more robust SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers, and in turn may allow some flexibility when determining backup strategies. When protecting Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers deployed in both single and multiple-server scenarios, VERITAS Software recommends that administrators perform a backup prior to and/or immediately following certain administrative tasks and automated procedures in addition to a regularly scheduled backup. Backup to disk is an excellent choice for this temporary backup. Administrators should consider performing the following backup processes for all SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers providing document management services: Full file system backup, prior to the initial deployment of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 Weekly file system backup for disaster recovery purposes Agent backup, following initial deployment of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 Agent backup, following creation and configuration of a new workspace Agent backup, prior to and following major updates, additions and deletions to an existing workspace Agent backup, prior to deletion of an existing workspace or restoring an entire SharePoint Portal Server 2001 server Daily Agent backup of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 Similarly, SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers providing dedicated indexing services would use the same processes outlined above for document management servers. In environments that do not allow for this level of protection, an administrator can choose to reduce backup frequency, without significantly impacting the ability to perform a successful server recovery, by implementing the following backup processes: Full file system backup, prior to the initial deployment of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 Weekly file system backup for disaster recovery purposes Agent backup, following creation or modification of content sources and account information Agent backup, following scheduled index propagation to workspaces Weekly Agent backup of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers dedicated to processing search services offer the most flexibility when it comes to determining backup processes. Whenever possible, administrators should follow the recommendations set for document management servers above. Even when backup frequency must be minimized, the following backup processes should still be maintained: Full file system backup, prior to the initial deployment of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 Weekly file system backup for disaster recovery purposes Agent backup, following creation or major modification of workspaces and dashboard sites Weekly Agent backup of SharePoint Portal Server

11 DATA RESTORATION Full SharePoint Portal Server 2001 Restore During the restore process, the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 server is taken offline and all data becomes unavailable to users. Care should be taken when restoring SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data since the restore process overwrites all prior SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data residing on the server and it could become unusable if the restore process fails. For these reasons, it is recommended that restores be performed during scheduled downtimes or periods of sustained low usage. Additionally, it is often a good practice to perform a temporary backup prior to a restore process. In the event an error or mistake is made during restore, it is much quicker to restore from the temporary backup than to rebuild the portal. Individual Document (Object) Level Restore Individual documents can be restored while the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 server is online. In order to successfully restore an individual document, the document to be restored MUST BE checked out of the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 server to the logged in by the user who is performing the restore. Redirected Full Restores The restore process can also be used to save administrators a significant amount of time when deploying multiple similar SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers throughout an organization. (see below) REDIRECTION AND SERVER DUPLICATION Flexible restore and redirection options are offered for practically all of the resources protected by Backup Exec. These features offer an administrator the ability to restore data to a different location during the restore process. With SharePoint Portal Server 2001, this capability can be a valuable tool when used to assist with server deployment or duplication and workspace or document-level restores. The ability to use the Redirected Restore feature for server duplication enables administrators to deploy multiple copies of a master SharePoint Portal Server 2001 dashboard site across an organization s global network. This process could be used for a mass deployment of SharePoint Portal Server 2001, or simply to create an identical SharePoint Portal Server 2001, which might easily be brought online in the event of a hardware failure. The restore process, server redirection and duplication all cause SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data on the destination server to be overwritten. Additionally, all duplicated shortcuts and content sources that reference the local file system of the original server will not function unless the referenced content also exists on, or is accessible from, the newly duplicated server. 11

12 REMOTE SHAREPOINT PORTAL SERVER 2001 PROTECTION After successfully configuring and deploying several SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers, an administrator may find that it is not always feasible, affordable or desirable for each SharePoint Portal server to be its own backup server. Even when using external tools to automate the Command Line Backup Script, administrators will still not receive detailed log files, notifications or alerts stating whether a job has failed or was completed successfully. This lack of information, usability and scalability becomes increasingly apparent in multiple server deployments where the number of manual tasks and management requirements increase proportionately with the number of protected SharePoint Portal servers. Administrators may need to include SharePoint Portal Server 2001 backups with other regular backups or centralize backup for multiple SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers with a single backup server with large disk array or dedicated tape library. Unlike the Command Line Backup Script or Windows Backup Utility, Backup Exec software is a full-featured data protection solution that provides the needed scalability to centrally protect and manage entire environments that may be running Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 and a mix of other applications. The Backup Exec Remote Agent for Windows Servers, which is bundled with many of the Backup Exec agents and options, solves these problems by allowing a single Backup Exec server to centrally protect multiple remote SharePoint Portal Server 2001 servers, file servers or other protected resources such as SQL, Exchange or Lotus Domino. Through source compression and distributed processing, the Remote Agent for Windows Servers is able to offload data compression tasks from the backup server and reduce the size of SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data that is sent across the network. This method of data protection reduces network traffic and performs backup routines quicker than traditional technologies requiring multiple requests and acknowledgments between the backup server and remote server. 12

13 DISASTER RECOVERY PREPARATION The Command Line Backup Script that is included with SharePoint Portal Server 2001 cannot protect anything other than the SharePoint Portal Server For this reason, even when used in conjunction with the Windows Backup Utility, it does not offer a complete disaster recovery process that provides automated server operating system recovery. Using Backup Exec software and the Intelligent Disaster Recovery Option to create a disaster preparation plan ensures that local and remote SharePoint Portal 2001 servers can be quickly and efficiently restored in the event of hardware failure. The following steps guide you through the complete restoration process of a server running SharePoint Portal Server 2001 and the associated SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data using Backup Exec software. A valid disaster recovery preparation plan requires the following: Backup Exec for Windows Servers software and the Agent for Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 w/cal enabled The latest backup of the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 to be recovered The Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 CD Any service packs that have been applied to the original installation The destination server must have a functional operating system. If this is not the case, the operating system and applications must first be reinstalled, restored through a manual disaster recovery process or via Backup Exec Intelligent Disaster Recovery Option. After recovery of the Windows server and the applications is complete (after the last reboot), the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 application software may be present but not fully functional. No SharePoint data would have been restored if services had not been started prior to the restore. In some cases the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 application may need to be removed and reinstalled before services will start and SharePoint data can be restored. First, remove SharePoint Portal Server 2001 server through the Add/Remove Programs screen in Windows and restart the server upon completion. Next, reinstall SharePoint Portal Server 2001 application software to the desired location and select the appropriate options, canceling the New Workspace Wizard when it starts. When this is complete, apply any service packs that were applied to the original installation. Finally, insert the media that contains the SharePoint Portal Server 2001 data you need to restore, select the data and submit the job. 13

14 BEST PRACTICES An administrator s ability to provide and maintain sufficient storage capacity can prove considerably more difficult to manage in multiple SharePoint Portal Server 2001 deployments. Through the proper integration of RAID technology and volume management software (such as that provided by VERITAS Volume Manager ), organizations are able to realize significant performance boosts and ease of management. When planning SharePoint Portal Server 2001 configurations, administrators should factor in the need for additional disk arrays, tape drives or backup software to maintain multiple backups for the desired retention period, number of servers and the desired backup medium. It is also a good practice to factor in additional servers, hard drives and software to be used for testing and recovery purposes in the event of a hardware failure or data loss. This test environment allows the administrator to perform various administrative tasks without affecting production servers. Strategies to reduce the amount of data needing protection include setting limits to the number of major versions retained per document in each workspace (the default setting is unlimited). While this helps to better manage the growth of the portal, it could cause more-frequent requests for recovery of older versions of documents. Consult your SharePoint Portal Server 2001 documentation for more details on how to adjust these settings. SUMMARY Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 is a powerful, feature-rich productivity tool needed by many of today s companies struggling to manage a wealth of information. While solving document and knowledge management issues with its powerful feature set, SharePoint Portal Server 2001 creates new challenges for administrators responsible for data protection and availability. VERITAS Software has designed Backup Exec software and the Agent for Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001 to provide an easy-to-use, highly scalable solution for these complex environments that offers many advantages over the Command Line Backup Script or the native Windows Backup Utility. VERITAS Software Corporation Corporate Headquarters 350 Ellis Street Mountain View, CA or For additional information about VERITAS Software, its products, or the location of an office near you, please call our corporate headquarters or visit our Web site at 14