Backups by Celerity Technical Consultant, Mike Metcalf

Backups Posted on: 20/06/13 In this article we’ll take a look at the differences in Backup and Restore methodologies between on premise ‘SQL Server’ and cloud based ‘Azure SQL Database’. Whilst both products are based on a similar set of technologies under the hood, they are very different animals in the way that they work and require different skills to administer them correctly. SQL Server Backups Traditional on premise SQL Server has three fairly well established backup methods that are generally used in combination to ensure that should a failure happen, a database can be restored to any point in time that is required. In all cases the database backup in transactionally consistent from the point in which it was taken. Full Backups This essentially takes a complete backup of the entire database and stores it in a file on disk. Generally the taking of a Full Backup would be seen as a weekly event. This is primarily because maintaining multiple copies of the entire database would require a significant amount of storage to do so. By way of example, if your company had a retention policy of 5 days, a 100 GB database would require 6 times the storage needed for just the database (original + 5 copies = 600 GB). Task Storage Required (GB) Full Backup 1 100 Full Backup 2 100 Full Backup 3 100 Full Backup 4 100 Full Backup 5 100 Total Storage Required 500 To recover the database you would simply restore the full backup file required. Differential Backups A Differential Backup, backs up all data written to the database since the last full backup was taken. Each differential backup will be larger than the previous one, but only by the amount of data written to it. Using the same 5 day retention period from above, and assuming that your database is growing by 1GB per day this gives the following storage profile. Task Storage Required (GB) Notes Full Backup 100 Differential Backup 1 1 Differential Backup 2 2 (Diff 1 + 1GB) Differential Backup 3 3 (Diff 2 + 1GB) Differential Backup 4 4 (Diff 3 + 1GB) Total Storage Required 104 As you can see, this represents a significantly smaller backup footprint than would be required in the Full Backup only scenario (204 GB as opposed to 500 GB) whilst achieving the same goal. In order to recover the database in this situation, you would restore the Full Backup, and then the latest Differential Backup required. Transaction Log Backups SQL Server maintains a log of all activity written to the database in the precise order that it was written in, called the transaction log. Backing up the transaction log means that it is possible to restore the database to a specific point in time throughout the day. Generally speaking, multiple transaction log backups would be taken periodically throughout the day. They are generally very small as they only back up the data since the last transaction log backup. It should be noted that in order to take transaction log backups, it is necessary to run the database in ‘Full’ recovery mode. Running a database in ‘Simple’ recovery mode effectively means that the transaction log is truncated once the transactions have been committed to the database, meaning that since it has been cleared out, it cannot be backed up. It is not essential to run a database in ‘Full’ recovery mode, but it should be remembered that if you do not you will only be able to restore the database to the last full or differential backup that was taken. All work on the database since that point will have been lost. Transaction log backups are used in conjunction with Full and Differential backups. In order to recover the database to a point in time you have 2 options available: Option 1 Restore the Full Backup and then restore each transaction log backup in turn. As you can imagine, if you take 12 transaction log backups throughout the day this can mean that you have a lot of files that will need to be restored. Option 2 Restore the Full Backup, then restore the latest Differential Backup, followed by only the transaction log backups taken since the differential. This significantly reduces the number of files that need to be restored in the correct order. The more observant of you may have noticed that since we are taking full and transaction log backups, that it is not strictly essential to also take differential backups, and you would be right, this is perfectly true, but seeing as I’m a ‘belt-and-braces’ type of guy who likes having different options available when it comes to recovery, that is the way that I always work. Windows Azure SQL Database Backups Windows Azure SQL Database is Microsoft’s cloud based offering for SQL Server. Whilst it is based on the same technology it is quite a different in the way that it is managed and administered. These differences also extend to the way in which backups are taken. Microsoft has two recommended methods for backing up an Azure SQL Database: Database Copy This feature essentially creates a new database that is transactionaly consistent with the source database that it was copied from at the time that the copy process completes. With a large database, this copy operation can take a while to run, but you know that all changes made to the source database during the copy process are also going to be committed in the backup. A word of warning, whilst this does ensure transactional consistency, it also means that you have created a second database and, therefore, have incurred any additional costs associated with that action. You should also keep in mind that this method does not actually allow you to create/keep a copy of the backup on your own servers as it leaves the database copy on the Azure platform. SQL Database Export Service The database export service copies the object definitions (tables, stored procedures, etc.) from the source database to a logical file (BACPAC). This is then followed by a bulk copy of all data from the tables into the BACPAC file. Transactional consistency in this case is potentially a problem, changes made to the source database that affect only certain tables may not be included in the BACPAC file. The only way to guarantee transactional consistency within a BACPAC file is to first put the database into read-only mode (preventing it from being written to) followed by reverting back to allow writes once the backup has finished. This has obvious questions regarding system availability and by itself is not a valid solution for larger/enterprise systems that need to run 24/7. In order to ensure transactional consistency, and allow you to maintain a copy of the database on your local server(s) for Disaster Recovery purposes, you will need to use both of these methods. First create a transactionally consistent copy of the production database using method 1, and then create a BACPAC backup of the copy using method 2. I hope that this brief overview has helped you to see that regardless of which version of SQL you choose to use, the backup mechanisms in place are robust enough to provide a level of restore needed for each platform. Celerity Consultants have a wealth of experience with Microsoft products and would be happy to discuss any requirements that you may have. Mike Metcalf, Technical Consultant, Celerity Limited Contact - See more at: http://www.celerity-uk.com/news/194/backups#sthash.Ex5jerl2.dpuf

To Outsource or Not To Outsource | IT Solutions Provider

Author: Sharon Brown

Nearly everyone who works in the services industry has at some point heard the term Outsourcing more than once and can bring fear amongst some fellow workers. But is it really what we expect it to be? Do we believe that outsourcing is the end game of in house services? I for one don't believe it is. Times have changed in the outsourcing arena; the attitude of them and us seems to be a thing of the past. The arena is no longer a seated event where the customer sits as a spectator and the outsourcer is watched as the main event. Its more open these days, the event is interactive where the customer and the outsourcer are part of the same story.

The key to a successful partnership when outsourcing services can never be just one thing. The foundation of a relationship needs to be laid for something to grow. Understanding each other and working closely as a function are primary aims for any successful partnership. Boundaries need to be defined, with a clear understanding of what is to be expected in the relationship.

Overcoming the fear and lack of understanding of an outsource relationship can be complex and emotional for both partners. How we perceive the other is sometimes blared and castles can quickly be built as personal protection. It is important that we understand why outsourcing is needed and if it is right for you and your business, because sometimes the easy answer is not always the best.

There are many benefits to an outsourcing service and with a simple Google search you will find a plethora of do's and don'ts when outsourcing. But sometimes a business finds itself in a position that has become untenable through resource, cash flow or function break down. Turning to outsourcing can be seen as a way of resolving this position, and rightly so; after all outsourcing is a service that helps. A good service provider will work closely with your business to understand the culture of your business, the needs and most importantly why you requirethis service. Also a good service provider will know its weakness and know your strengths and be able to work closely to maximise both and encourage the growth of the relationship.

The fear of outsourcing is enforced by the horror stories of others who have ventured the path of outsourcing, and let's be honest you're more likely to notice these rather than the successful ones. Having worked in the industry for many years I have seen both and worked on both sides as the outsourcer and customer. During this time I have seen the many benefits outsourcing has brought, not just the cost saving it brings but also the on tap expertise and the flexibility needed. Being able to call up resource for key projects as well as the normal operation of the day to day business has been invaluable. Knowing you have access to such services reduces the work load of tenders and trying to find a suitable resource to carry out work, this has enabled me to focus on more key business needs and help reduce my overhead costs of engaging new resource.

So would I use outsourcing again? The question is relevantly simple as is the answer. With a growing need to be flexible in a business and focus on the core business drivers, outsourcing has enabled the business functions to deliverso many times. If I am in a position where the core business is different from that project that needs to be done or business function; then I would certainly use the outsourcing route.

Of course only the business can decide if the outsourcing route is the best approach for its needs. Speaking to an outsourcer in a non-formal, very open way can certainly help you make those decisions. Therefore if you find your business is in need of something that is outside its core business or skill set then don't dismiss outsourcing; it could be just what your business needs.

IBM business partner Celerity Limited is an experienced IT solutions provider offering a wide variety of infrastructure management solutions to a wide variety of clients throughout the UK. Offering a comprehensive portfolio of technical support services including: cloud computing services, data de-duplication, data migrations services, data security services, it disaster recovery services and it support services.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/to-outsource-or-not-to-outsource-it-solutions-provider-6632471.html

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Microsoft Office 2013: Office for the Cloud | IT Solutions Provider

Microsoft Office 2013 has adopted the look and feel that Windows 8 and Server 2012 already has, giving it a new cleaner look while retaining the features and functionality that you have used and become accustomed to in the previous version. Microsoft has realised that users of Office today not only use computers but are starting to rely a lot on their smartphones and tablets and, therefore, Office 2013 will work on these devices. Along with this, Microsoft has also integrated it into the cloud meaning you can access your documents on the move and on devices that do not even have Microsoft Office 2013 installed. Even creating this article in Word I was able to read it on my smartphone which does not have Office installed.

You can link your Microsoft account to your Office 2013 installation and then stream your Office 2013 programs to other computers, save files to SkyDrive and access them anywhere you have an internet connection, which is handy should you need to use other computers that you have not used before. The cloud is your own personal storage space in the sky and Microsoft’s implementation is called SkyDrive.  When connected to your Microsoft Office 2013 you can access and share your Word documents, Excel spread sheets and other Office files. You can also have one of your files open and have a colleague open the same file and work on it at the same time.

Messaging is now fully integrated into Microsoft Office and with the recent merge of Messenger and Skype it means that you can have your Skype profile linked to your Office applications and this is known as your “presence”. You can see who else is working on the same documents that you have open and start a chat session with them should you need to discuss the documents.

It is evident to see that Microsoft has really spent some time on this latest release of Office and apart from all the new features introduced they have made it much more user friendly and easier on the eye. The built in help and support is more intuitive, giving you a better understanding of the available features and how to use them. Gesture support is also included along with a usable onscreen keyboard which is aimed for the tablet and touch screen user market.

Microsoft has released several flavours of this new package, which are as follows: 

·         Home & Student: has the main components Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Can be   bought retail and is not to be used commercially

·         Home and Business: Includes Outlook

·         Standard: Has Outlook and Publisher included and is only available via volume licensing

·         Professional:  A retail version that includes Outlook, Publisher and Access

·         Professional Plus: Only for volume licenses and includes all of Professional and InfoPath and Lync.

Mark Fidler – Technical Support – Celerity Limited

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Protecting Your Oracle Databases With IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) | IT Solutions Provider

Backup of Oracle databases can be taken using TSM for Databases (formerly known as TSM TDP). The normal TSM backup methods do not apply with Oracle - instead of TSM managing the backups, this function is performed within Oracle using the integrated backup and recovery tool, RMAN.

 

TDP for Oracle allows full and incremental backup functions for the following objects in an online or offline state:

• Databases
• Tablespaces
• Datafiles
• Archive log files
• Control files
• Full database restores while offline
• Tablespace and datafile restore while online or offline

It is good practice to work with an Oracle administrator to develop a backup strategy as both the administrator and RMAN are better placed to understand how the Oracle databases and recovery logs fit together. Thereafter, TSM exists only as a back-end data store for the Oracle backups, where RMAN considers TSM to be its media management layer (MML). RMAN decides the files that need to be backed up and passes those files to TSM, while also maintaining the files needed for restore and expiry operations. This information is stored in a separate Oracle database, referred to as the 'catalog', which contains metadata, or in the source database’s control file. When backup, restore or maintenance activity occurs; RMAN connects to the catalog and manages the metadata, creating a record of database backup objects to be backed up. While this effectively creates another Oracle database to manage, the alternative of using control files instead of the catalog can result in TSM becoming out of sync with Oracle, so is best avoided. In addition, data deduplication techniques can be used to reduce the amount of data stored in TSM during the Oracle backup.

 

As well as requiring the base TSM client to be installed (TSM Client v6.4), TSM for Databases will need installing also, along with an appropriate license. The TSM and TDP software must be able co-exist with the environment on which Oracle is running and so is available in either 32-bit or 64-bit. The license is typically located in /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin64/agent.lic. It is also possible to backup the Oracle databases via LAN-free methods - TSM Managed System for SAN Storage Agent will need to be installed on the same system as the TDP for Oracle software.

 

A standard TSM options file is required and a second (RMAN) options file is required for Oracle which is very different from a standard file, so the TSM administrator needs to understand the structure and contents of the file. The RMAN options file contains entries that are specific to the Oracle environment, including location of logs, TSM for Databases code and location of the options file itself. The Oracle DBA then creates script which runs the backup. Finally, a TDP password then needs to be set using the tdpoconf command and the password directory must be owned by the userid that is running Oracle.

 

Typical Oracle Backup Environment:

The RMAN options file basically defines some environment variables. The location of these files will be site dependent. As a minimum they should set three DSMI variables as shown below (typical example).

 

DSMI_LOG /u01/app/oracle/admin/tsm_rman
DSMI_DIR /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/api/bin64
DSMI_ORC_CONFIG /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/api/bin64/dsm.opt

Best Practice

From a TSM perspective, consider creating a separate domain for Oracle backups, to ensure that backups are segregated and that distinct backup management policies can be applied. The Oracle server should be registered as a separate node to the base client and should be defined with 'backupdelete=yes’ option to allow RMAN to manage the backups. In terms of the TSM management class definition, the copygroup should be setup to keep one active backup forever, with retonly and verdelete values both set to a value of 0. Remember - RMAN is handling the retention of backups. Optionally, the TSM administrator can define a clopt (client optionset) that assigns a specific management class to a specific database being backed up.

 

Jeff White - Technical Consultant - Celerity Limited

Can Agile Replace The Traditional Prince Methodology

Historically a large proportion of companies have used Prince2 or a derivative for their standard project methodology. However, over recent years the move of companies to a more dynamic and flexible approach to projects has increased. There are a variety of these new approaches e.g. scrum, lean etc., which generally are more about being adaptive.

There are some common misconceptions about the agile methodology:

• It is only related to development projects.

• “Agile” is an undisciplined process of simply writing code with no planning, no documentation, and no disciplined methodology for how it is done.

• The only way to be “agile” is to implement pure agile methodologies such as Scrum.

• At one end of the spectrum is the most extreme forms of traditional plan driven, control-oriented methodologies like the Waterfall process; at the other end are pure agile approaches like Scrum, with nothing in between.

Waterfall Model

The truth is that:

• Implementing an “agile” process requires just as much or more discipline as traditional approaches such as the Waterfall model, but it is a different kind of discipline. Rather than relying on rigidly defined and prescriptive methodologies, agile approaches rely much more heavily on the training and skill of collaborative, cross-functional teams to adapt the methodology to the problem that they are attempting to solve.

• Pure forms of agile like Scrum have many advantages, but they can be very difficult to implement and are not necessarily appropriate for all business environments and projects. Many businesses require a balance of control and agility, which may be more suited to a hybrid approach.

• There are many ways companies can become “more agile” without necessarily going to the extreme of a pure agile approach, but it may take a more sophisticated approach to blend together the right combination of agile and non-agile methodologies and practices to craft a customised approach.
 

Agile Model





How can companies fit agile methodologies into an overall business strategy that provides the right balance of control and agility for their business?

Traditional project management e.g. Prince involves deliberate planning and control methods which makes the project life cycle phase easily identifiable. Tasks are generally done in an orderly sequence, which requires a significant part of the project to be planned at the start. This assumes that the events affecting the project are predictable and that the tasks in hand are well understood. The main strength of this approach is that it emphasises the importance of requirements. The down side is that some projects do not follow a sequential flow and the clients or stakeholders quite often find it difficult to completely state all of the requirements at the beginning of a project.

Agile project management is a highly iterative and incremental process where all parties actively work together to understand the scope, identify what needs to be built and prioritise functionality.

The best approach is generally to fit the methodology and practices to the business environment and problem that you are trying to solve, rather than force-fitting a project to a particular methodology, however, doing that requires a much higher level of skill and requires developing an understanding of the methodologies and practices at a deeper level. There are many companies that are locked into very cumbersome and bureaucratic traditional methodologies that do not see how to improve that situation because it can be so difficult to move to a pure agile approach with the added fear of losing control in the process.

One final thought is that many companies view project management as an IT tool, but there are many aspects of project management, especially Agile methodologies, that could and should be applied to business – especially management and sales approaches or virtually any corporate initiative.
 

Kevan Dix - Project Manager - Celerity Limited

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IBM DCS3700 and DS3500 New Features

IBM DCS3700 and DS3500 New Features

 

IBM’s DCS3700 and DC3500 storage systems fit into the entry and midrange portfolio of IBM’s block based (SAN) storage products respectively. The DS3500 series is designed to offer midrange performance and scalability at a lower price point than the competition to bring the benefits of shared block storage to the smaller businesses or remote offices. Its functionality has evolved over time since the first DS3000 incarnation, as has its management interface, meaning the latest DS3500 series offers substantially more to users than the DS3000 series of old, in terms of usability, scalability, performance and functionality. Each system can support up to 192 drives, with different types and sizes all intermixed across one logical system.

 

The DCS3700 series is designed to embrace the new era of “big data”. Offering a drive density of 60 3.5” NL-SAS, SAS and SSD intermixed drives in just 4U of space, each system scales to 360 drives or 1.44 Petabytes of capacity in just 24U of rack space. While these systems are optimised for applications with high performance streaming data requirements, and offering more I/O performance and cache than the DS series, they run the same system code and as such are managed in the same way and have similar functionality. Furthermore these systems can offer further value when virtualised behind an IBM Storwize V7000 to take advantage of the “per tray” licensing model.

 

 

Both of these systems have recently been considerably enhanced since the release of firmware 7.84 (or later) managed with Storage Manager 10.84 (or later). The new code brings not only new functionality, but some fundamental changes in how the storage can be provisioned allowing for notable performance enhancements and massively reduced rebuild times in the event of disk failure.

 

Key Benefits

 

• Dynamic disk pools (DDP): An alternative to conventional arrays, D-chunks are used for data, parity and hot spare capacity and spread across much larger pools of disks than arrays use and so not only offer greater performance and space utilisation, but massively quicker recovery times as re-builds are not limited to a single disk, but all disks in the pool.

 

• Thin-provisioning: This further enhances utilisation by capacity only being used when data is actually written as oppose to just storage presented.

 

• IP Replication: Supported in addition to fibre channel mirroring of data to a second system for disaster recovery, this allows conventional TCP/IP networks to be used for data replication.

 

• Performance Read Cache: Allows a small number of SSD disks to be installed and act as a cache layer so hot-data is migrated to the faster disks from the higher-capacity disks, all seamlessly and automatically with no administrator input required.

 

• VAAI and ALUA support: Allows for increased performance and data-path integrity in virtualised environments.

 

• Simplified Offering Structure: More features included in the base licence (partitioning, FlashCopy and Volume Copy) and additional features supplied in performance, backup or DR options. Alternatively all functionality can be realised with a single super-key.
 

Edward Yates - Technical Consultant - Celerity Limited
 

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Endpoint Integration in VMware vSphere 5.1

 

Previously an independent product VMware vShield Endpoint has now been fully integrated into VMware vSphere 5.1 and is available as part of vSphere Standard, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus. But why move away from the conventional endpoint protection model you may be asking? Well let us take a brief look at what vShield Endpoint is and some of the key benefits it could have for you as a user.
 

What is vShield Endpoint
 

VMware vShield Endpoint allows third party anti-virus providers to utilise the power of VMware vSphere to offload agent anti-virus and anti-malware workloads to a dedicated security hardened tamper proof virtual appliance.

 

This appliance has a scanning engine and the stored anti-virus signatures and because unlike a guest virtual machine it never goes offline, it can continually update its signatures and provide the latest security to any new or existing guest virtual machine when they come online.

Scanning is done via the hypervisors introspection capability which reduces the vulnerability of the security software itself.

 

A management console to configure and control the virtual appliance is provided by the third party endpoint security provider and in some cases existing management interfaces previously used to secure physical and virtual environments can be utilised for this purpose.

Key Benefits

• Improved server performance through elimination of anti-virus agents from guest virtual machines
• Anti-virus software protected from attack by residing on a hardened secure virtual appliance
• Consolidation of all agents to a single virtual appliance means no more update storms
• A single virtual appliance covers all guest machines residing on its host reducing the CPU and memory footprint of the endpoint software
• Guest virtual machines deployed or moved to the host are automatically protected with the latest security definitions
• Streamlined deployment and monitoring in your vSphere environment

With the move towards virtualised desktop environments on the rise it seems inevitable that this new way of providing endpoint security will soon become the norm and with more third party providers already joining up to work with VMware we expect the product to progress and mature quickly.

Barry Knox - Technical Support - Celerity Limited

 

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