Troubleshooting and Disaster Recovery › General Considerations for BrightStor ARCserve Backup and the Agent

General Considerations for BrightStor ARCserve Backup and the Agent

The following general considerations apply to CA ARCserve Backup and the Agent for Microsoft SQL Server:

• CA ARCserve Backup does not support special characters (for example, /, \, *, <, >, or ?) in file names, FileGroup names, and database names. The CA ARCserve Backup Agent for Microsoft SQL does not support brackets ( [ ] ) in database, FileGroup, or logical file names.
• When restoring a file or FileGroup, if there are no log sessions to follow the file or FileGroup session, CA ARCserve Backup cannot verify if the file was modified. As a result, it cannot identify the final recovery completion state. By default, it chooses the option Leave database non-operational, but able to restore additional transaction logs. Each time you back up a file or FileGroup, ensure that you back up a log immediately afterwards.The "Backup Transaction Log After Database" option is recommended.
• The Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 SharePoint database is stored in a Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) instance. The SharePoint instance does not support SQL-native authentication. You must use Windows authentication for this database instance.
• When you log into Microsoft SQL Server using Windows authentication to perform Virtual Devices-based backup and restore operations, you must have system administrator rights for Microsoft SQL Server. This is a Microsoft requirement.
• The CA ARCserve Backup Agent for Microsoft SQL Server does not support backing up and restoring SQL Server databases where the sum of the characters representing the instance name, the database name, the file group name, and the data file name exceeds 170 characters.
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 introduces a data type called FILESTREAM, which stores large blocks of binary data in files on disk. FILESTREAM data is stored in logical SQL Server files that exist as directories on disk. SQL Server does not properly report the size of FILESTREAM data, and the size of this data is calculated directly by the Agent. If this data includes a large number of records, this calculation may be very time-consuming and cause delays when querying database properties during Browse and Backup.
• If an error message appears when you restore and move a database that uses a long file name, rename the database files using shorter file names and perform the restore operation on the database.
• When backing up or restoring a SQL Server database, the SendTimeOut and ReceiveTimeOut parameters define how long the CA ARCserve Backup Server waits for a response from the agent. This prevents problems such as network errors from causing jobs to wait forever for a response that might not come. Once this time-out period expires, the waiting job fails with a network error.

  However, when a large remote SQL Server database is restored, particularly when it involves creation of SQL data files, such as when you restore to a different SQL Server, the Agent for Microsoft SQL cannot reply immediately because SQL Server takes some time to create the files, and the agent must wait for this to complete before it can respond.

  The default timeout value is set to 1200 seconds (20 minutes). This should be extended when you restore a large SQL Server database involving large data files. A large SQL Server database (60 GB) might require the value to be as long as 7200 seconds (120 minutes). In general, the default value (1200) can handle most database restores, as well as network errors. However, if you have a network timeout error on a large SQL Server database restore operation, you should increase the time-out value. After the restore is done, you should reset the value to 1200.

  The SendTimeOut and ReceiveTimeOut keys can be found on the CA ARCserve Backup Server machine under:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ComputerAssociates\CA ARCserve Backup\Base\Task\Remote

  Note: These settings apply to all agents which operate under the Universal Agent service.

• Backup with Compare and Backup with Scan Tape are not performed on agent sessions.
• The CA ARCserve Backup Manager and the CA ARCserve Backup Universal Agent must be stopped before uninstalling and reinstalling CA ARCserve Backup Agent for Microsoft SQL Server if they are installed on the same server as the agent.
• If a TCP/IP connection fails, or if the Port number has changed, restart the Universal Agent Service.
• To support pass-through authentication of account logon events for computers in a domain, the NetLogon service must be started.
• In a cluster environment, run the Universal Agent as a Domain Administrator, rather than as LocalSystem. This is to prevent a conflict of access privileges between the agent and Microsoft SQL Server when backing up Microsoft SQL Server databases.

Upgrade Considerations for the Agent for Microsoft SQL

The following considerations relate to upgrading the CA ARCserve Backup Agent for Microsoft SQL:

• After upgrading Microsoft SQL Server (for example, from SQL Server 7.0 to SQL Server 2000) or installing additional instances, you must run the Account Configuration utility to update the agent with the appropriate changes. If you do not run the Account Configuration utility, CA ARCserve Backup Agent for Microsoft SQL Server will be unaware of the new or changed instances, and you may not have access to additional instances or the additional features of the updated instance. You should also perform your first backup of the upgraded or new instances immediately after running the Account Configuration utility. For information about account configuration, refer to the topic, Update the Agent Account Configuration.
• After you upgrade from BrightStor ARCserve Backup r11.5 SP3 to this release of CA ARCserve Backup on a 64-bit operating system in a cluster-aware environment, you must run DBAConfig.exe located in the CA ARCserve Backup Agent for Microsoft SQL installation directory to configure the SQL Server instances that you want to protect.

Skip or Include Database Files in Backups

Effective with CA ARCserve Backup r12, there are two registry keys used to include or skip certain database files during backup jobs. Use of these keys is determined by the type of database agent you are using.

• Agents that use the SkipDSAFiles registry key
  • Agent for Oracle, Agent for SAP R/3 (r12.1 and earlier versions)
  • *.dbf
  • Control*.*
  • Red*.log
  • Arc*.001
  • Agent for Domino
  • *.nsf
  • *.ntf
  • Mail.box
  • Agent for Sybase
  • Physical file of Master device
  • Physical file of non-Master device
  • Physical file of Mirror device
  • Agent for Informix
  • *.000

To use the SkipDSAFiles registry key

1. When performing agent backups:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Computer Associates\CA ARCserve Backup\ClientAgent\Parameters

2. Set the registry key to Value Name: SkipDSAFiles

   Type: DWORD

   Value: 0 to back up and 1 to skip

• Agents that use the BackupDBFiles registry key
  • Agent for Microsoft SQL

    The list of data and transaction log files that are part of online databases is retrieved from Microsoft SQL Server at the start of a file backup. This list typically includes, but not exclusively:

    • *.ldf
    • *.mdf
    • *.ndf

    Except distmdl.mdf, distmdl.ldf, mssqlsystemresource.mdf, mssqlsystemresource.ldf, which cannot be skipped. Also, if a SQL Server instance is shut down, the database files will not be skipped.

  • Exchange Database Level Agent/Exchange Document Level Agent
    • *.chk
    • *.log
    • Res1.log
    • Res2.log
    • *.edb
    • *.stm

    Note: The Exchange Brick Level Agent is no longer supported.

To use the BackupDBFiles registry key

1. When performing agent backups:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ComputerAssociates\CA ARCserveBackup\ClientAgent\Parameters

2. Set the registry key to Value Name: BackupDBFiles

   Type: DWORD

   Value: 0 to skip and 1 to back up (0 is default)