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From SEPsesam

Any form of reproduction of the contents, in part or in total, is restricted by copyright. Any use hereof must be granted by SEP AG in writing. During compilation of this documentation SEP AG and its employees used their best effort and diligence to illustrate the functionality of SEP sesam backup software, its utilities and its interaction with other third party software products. However, SEP AG does not guarantee that all information contained herein is free of errors or omissions.

Hint

This user manual describes the SEP sesam features. Some of these features may be restricted by the license agreement between SEP AG and the customer. In addition, some features may be limited by the backup strategy implemented at the customer's site. The limitations may be released by purchasing additional licenses or by changing the actual backup architecture. Please contact your distributor or SEP Software LLC at sales@sepsoftware.com for further information.

Introduction

Welcome to SEP sesam

SEP sesam | Backup - Restore - Disaster Recovery

The SEP sesam backup solution has been specifically designed for Server/Client environments. From a single data server to large, complex heterogeneous data centers with very large data bases and scalable Storage Area Networks (SAN), SEP sesam provides consistent, accurate, reliable and efficient backup and recovery of enterprise critical data. The modular design means that SEP sesam is perfectly adaptable for all companies, regardless of size or backup strategy from centralized to decentralized backup strategies.

To allow backup of large amounts of data in the shortest amount of time SEP sesam offers true multi-stream/multiplexed backup. From five (5) data streams with our Standard Server offering up to 64 data streams with the Advance Server license. Opening up multiple streams for backups minimizes the amount of system resources for both planned and unplanned data backup tasks.

Online modules for all popular database and groupware solutions offer the ability to back up while the applications are active, providing the highest data availability possible. Restores are also possible while the apps are running, including the ability to restore single mail boxes and single mail restore.

SEP sesam has extremely efficient, patented algorithms. Their implementation requires only limited processor overhead, and combined with our high transfer rates (over 400GB/hr) we deliver some, if not the best, performance in the industry. SEP sesam is platform agnostic, it runs exactly the same on Linux, Unix or Microsoft. The platform independent GUI allows backup and restore in the Network, or remotely via WAN, VPN, etc.

SEP sesam supports all standard backup devices, disk, tape, tape autoloaders, tape libraries. SEP sesam delivers Virtual Tape Libraries (VTL) as a standard component of the base product. Using economical, high-performance disk drives SEP sesam delivers a lasting, sustainable solution for the backup and recovery of enterprise critical data. Disk-to-Disk-to-Tape (D2D2T) functionality delivers further enduring security for maximum performance by backup and restore.

Overview

SEP sesam is an automatic data backup system for heterogeneous computing environments. All standard tape drives, disk drives and auto loading devices are supported and can be used for backup. In order to easily and effectively construct the configuration of the system, a design based on the following six basic components was chosen.

Drive: Local or remote storage device
Loader: Robot loading the media from/to the drive
Client: Computer from which the data is backed up
Media: Repository for the saved Data
Task: Description of a Backup or Restore
Appointment: Start time of different activities

Additional Features:

Backup Server on Linux (including Novell OES), Windows, freeBSD und Unix
Clients for Linux, Windows, many UNIX derivatives, NetWare (Klient free support) and VMS
Fast and easy installation on standard O/S configurations. Less than one minute on SUSE and RedHat!
SEP sesam creates a test backup and restore upon installation to verify system is running
JAVA based graphical user interface. (GUI)Master GUI design provides full access to clients and servers
Support for all automated tape drives or autoloaders
Full, Differential, Incremental and Copy (for off-site storage) backups are possible
Scheduled backups using user/administrator selected appointments
Media administration and setup via GUI or Master GUI. Allows flexible media strategy and easy task selection.
Powerful scheduling tool
SEP NEWDAY allows backups to record on the same calendar day, ie. backups started on Friday and finishing on Monday before 8 am can have the same backup day
Appointment control can be used for any external applications
Scheduler allows development of flexible media strategies to avoid delays and missed backups
Selection of optimal data paths throughout the network
User configurable Command Line interfaces (Alarm, Pre/Post, Notify, Disaster, etc.)
Fast data restore via effective administration of the backup savesets and implementation of well-designed search algorithms
Full and selective restore to the original paths or in newly-created directories with or without preserving the original path structure
On-line modules for database backup DB2, Informix, MS SQL, mySQL, ORACLE, SAP R/3 and others are available, i.e. backup performed without stopping the database
Optimized tape backup using parallel backup streams for multiple clients; sesam Multiplex Streaming allows up to 64 continuous backup data streams
Migrate from savesets on disk to tape; DISK-to-DISK-to-TAPE

Principle of SEP sesam

The SEP sesam principle takes into account the interaction of each component of a data backup, server, client, data store (local attached disk, NAS, SAN, USB disk drives, tapes drives, networks, firewalls, etc. After the installation of a SEP sesam server the System Administrator has full control to set up the software to fit the backup environment. This user must setup of the storage hardware, the configuration of the drive groups and drives and the initialization of media pools with the corresponding physical and/or virtual media has to be accomplished. This overriding design principle gives the administrator the ability to create a backup environment uniquely applicable to the user environment. Flexibility, Performance, Data Availability and Security are the foundations that set the framework for SEP sesam.

The SEP philosophy: Backup all the data required in the shortest possible time, secure it in the safest manner possible, restore it in the shortest window of time. Allow for recovery from an inadvertent file deletion to a full system disaster. One tool for all environments. A tall order - SEP delivers.

The red arrows from the media pool to the right (see figure above) shows the direct relationship of the media pools to a drive group. To that drive group, 1-N drives are assigned. Next the storage media (tapes, virtual disk media, removable media etc.) can be assigned to the appropriate media pool. The media pool is used to assign the BACKUP LOCATION. The data source is directly related to a task. By specifying the data source you determine WHAT should be backed up, nothing more. The SEP sesam SEPuler or scheduler connects the media pool to the data. This scheduled timetable specifies WHEN something should be backed up, where the data will be stored and for how long. The final choice is the type of backup to be performed. Let's call it HOW we will backup (e.g. Full, Diff, Inc backups) and we define WHERETO (Media Pool) the backup should take place. All reside in the SEPuler, the heart of the backup environment.

After installing SEP sesam it is recommended to proceed the basic configuration in the following order:

Create the clients. Install client software on target computers to be backed up along with any online modules required.
Define tasks (WHAT should be backed up).
Define timetables (WHEN the backup takes place).
Link the timetable with an event (WHAT will be backed up WHERETO and HOW).

Grouping of SEP sesam Components

Media Strategy

The SEPuler - an event calendar

The Backup

The Restore

Duplication and Migration

During migration, backed up data is moved from one media pool (disk) to another media pool (tape or disk). Typically data is backed up to disk (faster) and is then migrated to tape. The previously backed up data are stored in backup savesets. These savesets are transferred 1:1 from the source mediapool (disk) to the target mediapool (tape). This allows the completion of the D2D2T migration.

If you leave the media in both the source and target mediapools the saveset is duplicated. Deleting the savesets from the source mediapool (disk) defines the data as migrated. Data can be restored from either source using the SEP Restore Wizard. If only the migrated saveset still exists this will be used should a restore take place.

Storage Time Limit, Media Cycle

Before implementing an automatic data backup, the user should consider the overall backup concept. In particular, the storage time limit and the number of required media and media cycles must be determined. If the data is of a rather homogeneous structure, relatively few different media pools will be needed. For a heterogeneous structure a pool should be created for each category or operating system to enable flexible and adaptable strategies. All media can, of course, be kept in one pool.

It is necessary to distinguish between and make decisions regarding short term and long term storage of backed up data. Short term storage is a media cycle, i.e. media are reused for backups on a weekly to biweekly rotational basis. The effect of a proper strategy and implementation is a full, uninterrupted history of data. This will enable the restoration of small, granular changes in the data if required.

In addition to this cyclical usage of the storage media for daily or weekly backups, the user should also store backup snapshots in long term storage. These snapshots would include end of month, end of quarter and/or end of year.

Implementation of a cohesive and understandable backup strategy is critical to the smooth operation of the customers IT infrastructure.

Ultimately the customer must make the decision how data will be stored. It is always a compromise between the data volume that is possible and the requirement both for legislative data retention and historical data retention to keep the enterprise fully operational. SEP Software or its resellers can help in the overall determination of both data volume and data retention.

Attention

Two different possibilities for backup strategies are:

Keep and store all backups.

   Advantages: All data can be recovered for any time slot. 
   Disadvantages: Loss of oversight - too much data on too many tapes (clarity), excessive storage capacity required, cost.

Use a single media,

   Advantage: easy restores
   Disadvantage: only the last day's changes are available.

Basic Configuration

This is a step-by-step description how to configure SEP sesam to perform a simple data backup using the components described above. The detailed description of the interface elements can be found below.

Step 1: Locations

Step 2: Clients

Step 3: Storage Hardware - Drives and Loaders

Step 4: Media - Data Carriers

Step 5: Tasks - Select what you want to backup

Step 6: Schedules

Step 7: Starting a Backup