5 1 0:Configuring Migration

Overview

SEP sesam migration is a process of copying selected savesets from one media pool (source pool, e.g., disk) to another media pool (target or destination pool, e.g., tape). You can select the savesets for migration from the selected backup task, task group, or client. To optimize the migration performance, you cannot migrate savesets with errors. It is possible to migrate savesets with status successful, savesets with warnings (status successful or with warnings) or partially restorable savesets (with data from cancelled backups).
With migration, you can set up a disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T) backup strategy to reduce your backup and recovery times, move older data offsite for long-term data retention and prepare for disaster recovery.

You can schedule a migration job to start at a specific time and date, or start it manually from the menu bar Activities -> Immediate start -> Migration.

Configuring a migration job involves the following steps:

1. Creating a migration task by selecting the backed up data and the source and target media pools
2. Creating a migration schedule by specifying when you want to migrate your data
3. Creating a migration event by reviewing migration task parameters and (optionally) setting the event priority

Prerequisites

• You must have at least two media pools configured in your SEP sesam environment.
• You must have admin user rights to perform a migration.

Configuring a migration job

Step 1: Creating a migration task

1. In the Main Selection -> Tasks -> Migration Tasks, click New Migration Task. The Migration Task window is displayed.


2. In the Name field, enter a meaningful name for the migration task.
3. Under the Media pool, specify the following:
   • Pool: Select the source media pool from which the data will be migrated, e.g., source_media_pool.
   • Drive: By selecting the source media pool the drive number of the drive that will be used to read the data is set automatically, but you can also select another drive from the drop-down list. Typically, you use this option if you have configured additional drives and want to assign dedicated drives for migration jobs. For details, see the option Create second drive in Configuring a Data Store.
   • Interface: Optionally, specify the network interface of the server through which the data transfer is to take place, e.g., the name of the Remote Device Server (RDS).
4. Under Destination, specify the following:
   • Pool: Select the target media pool to which the data will be migrated, e.g., target_media_pool.
   • Drive: Optionally, select the drive number of the drive that will be used to write the data. Typically, you use this option if you have configured additional drives and want to assign dedicated drives for migration jobs. For details, see the option Create second drive in Configuring a Data Store.
   • Interface: Optionally, specify the network interface of the server through which the data transfer will be executed, e.g., the name of the Remote Device Server (RDS).
5. Under Backup date, set the time frame for the backups to be migrated. You can either specify it by date – Date or select the option Relative backup date. With the values you enter in the from/to fields of the Relative backup date, you define the number of days in the past that are considered for the data migration, i.e. all data in the source media pool that was backed up within a given period of time is migrated to the target pool. For example, to migrate all data from the past week including the current Sesam day, set the Relative backup date to -7 while to is set to 0. Or to migrate all data from the last 10 days, specify the relative time frame from -10 to 0.
• In the drop-down list Based on, the Sesam days option is selected by default. Sesam day is a backup day you set according to your backup routines. For example, your backups can run after midnight but retain the previous day's backup date. The Sesam day/backup day is defined by the time set in the NEWDAY event. For details, see SEPuler: SEP sesam backup day.
6. Under Backup state, select the backup completion status of the savesets you want to migrate: Successfully or with warnings (default), Only successful or Partially restorable (with data from cancelled backups). You can also select one of the following options:
• Allow copying of existing migrations (previously Copy migrated saveset again): If this option is enabled, a previously migrated saveset can be migrated again.
• Delete after successful migration: If this option is enabled, a saveset is deleted after successful migration.
7. Select the Backup level you want to migrate (COPY, FULL, DIFF, INC): C F D I G, where G stands for a special backup level generation. With backup level G, you can migrate a complete backup cycle in one step and have everything you need for a disaster recovery. For example, the combination of the selected backup levels I and G within the specified time frame -1 to 0 in the Relative backup date would migrate all incremental backups from yesterday up to today, as well as all dependent incremental and differential backups of the respective backup chain, including the last associated full backup. This ensures that all required backup copies are available on the storage media in case of disaster recovery.
8. Under Number of copies, select how many times may the backed-up data be migrated. The default setting 0, which means that data migration is unlimited..
9. Under Object, select one of the following objects as the migration source:
• Task: If you select a specific backup task as the source, only this task will be migrated within the specified time frame.
• Task group: If you select a task group as the source, only the tasks of this task group will be migrated within the defined time frame.
• Client: If you select a specific client, only the backups for this client will be migrated within the defined time frame.
10. Under Special filter, you can select the following options:
• Start media: Optionally, you can select only one medium from the source media pool to be migrated. You should take special care not to break a backup chain that might span over several media. If you select only one medium, only the backups stored on that medium will be migrated, regardless of whether they belong to a larger backup set or not.
• Saveset: Optionally, you can select only one saveset to be migrated according to its ID.
• Select (default) or deselect the check box Parallel migration. If you select this check box, the data can be migrated concurrently using multiple streams, thus improving the migration speed.
11. Click Save to save your migration task.

Step 2: Creating a migration schedule

SEP sesam schedules represent a framework for automating task execution. Different events, such as backup, migration, replication, restore, etc., can be linked to a schedule and configured to occur at a specified time.

A schedule defines the recurrence of an event and may be executed in minutes, hours, days, months or years. It can be set up to start periodically or to be executed only once. A schedule can be used for any number of events and the events of a particular task (backup, restore, migration, etc.) can be configured in several schedules. All schedules and related jobs are configured and run in the SEP sesam Server's time zone.

Schedules always contain one predefined task: a NEWDAY schedule, which is linked to a NEWDAY event. SEP sesam uses the NEWDAY event to reorder its database, enable uninterrupted activity of the SEP sesam processes and to define a new backup day. Do not deactivate a NEWDAY event or delete a NEWDAY schedule, because this will cause SEP sesam to stop working properly! For details, see NEWDAY event.

SEP sesam provides flexible scheduling features to customize how and when your events are processed. By using the User defined option, you can create a calendar that is customized according to your country- or company-specific requirements. For details, see Creating a Custom Calendar.

Steps

To create a schedule, proceed as follows:

1. From Main Selection -> Scheduling -> Schedules, click New schedule. The New Schedule window appears.
2. In the Name field, enter the name for the schedule.
3. By default, the Execution is already enabled. Use this option to disable the schedule. If you select the Execution off option (previously deselect the Execution option), all events that are linked to this schedule will be deactivated. The schedule will still be displayed as shaded in the list of schedules, but the related jobs will not run. You can deactivate a schedule if you want to exclude scheduled jobs to run on specific days, such as holidays. For more details, see Creating a Custom Calendar.
4. Specify the time range and start time for the schedule in the Start field. Click the arrows in the date field to display a calendar. By default, the current date is already entered. In the next field, specify the start time, e.g., 18.30. All events related to this schedule will be started at the time defined by this parameter. Keep in mind that the actual start time depends on the processor load of the system. At the starting time of the event, every event is forwarded to the queue, where it may have to wait until jobs with higher priorities are completed. For jobs with the same priority, the FIFO rule (first in, first out) applies.
5. If you want your schedule to be valid for a limited period of time only, e.g., until the end of the year, check the Expiration date option and enter the date of its suspension. The schedule will be deleted after the Expiration date criterion is met. By default, this option is disabled and the schedule will be repeated in perpetuity.
6. The table provides a selection of different time parameters to configure the time intervals for scheduled jobs. Jobs can occur once or recur daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. You can also use User defined option to create a custom calendar that is customized according to your needs.
   For example, you can schedule a full backup to take place every Friday at 20:00. From the tabs on the left, select one of the following:
   • Once – no repetition, single run (After execution the schedule is deleted!)
   • Daily – repetition in days, hours or minutes
   • Weekly – repetition in weeks or weekdays
   • Monthly – repetition on absolute or relative dates: 1st/2nd... or Mon/Tue...
   • Yearly – repetition on absolute or relative dates
   • User Defined – option for setting up a custom calendar, see Creating a Custom Calendar.
7. Under Advanced settings you can further refine your schedule.
   • Optionally, select the Start time frame check box if you want to define the maximum allowed startup time for your event. Specify the startup time in days and/or hours. If the event cannot be executed within this specified time frame, it will not be executed at all. If this option is not enabled, the allowed start time of the task is not limited and a job can be started at any time when the resource is available.
   • You can also specify a time frame for repeating the event. Select the Repeat task check box and choose how often (in hours and minutes) the task should be repeated. Use the For a duration of field if you want to specify the duration of the repeated event (days and/or hours).
   • Optionally, you can specify the time frame after which the scheduled event will be cancelled by selecting the Stop task if runs longer than check box and specifying the amount of time (in days and/or hours) following the event's scheduled start time after which the event will be cancelled.

   
   

8. Click OK to save the schedule.

Step 3: Creating a migration event

The migration event is the final step in the configuration of a migration job. Creating a migration event consists of reviewing migration task parameters and (optionally) setting the event priority.

Steps

1. In the Main Selection -> Scheduling -> Schedules, select the schedule for which you want to create a new migration event, click New (or right-click the selected schedule) and click New Migration Event.
   
   
2. From the Task name drop-down list, select the name of the already configured migration task for which you want to create a migration job.
3. In the Priority box, set the Priority for your migration event. SEPuler always executes the schedules with higher priority first. The default priority level is 1, which is the lowest priority (the highest is 99). The only exception are the schedules with priority 0, which override all other priorities and are always executed. For details, see event priorities. You can also enable the Blocking date. This option should be used together with the high priority for special events. When enabled, the blocking event blocks events of the same type with a lower priority, ensuring that the backup is processed if other backups are scheduled at the same time. For details, see Blocking Events.
4. The settings under Media pool, Destination, Backup date, Backup state, Backup level, Object, and Special filter (previously Parameter and Filter) were defined when you created the selected migration task. If required, you can modify these settings. The changes are only applied to the current migration event and do not affect the values originally set in the migration task. Any changed values (as opposed to the settings in the migration task) are displayed in blue when the event is re-opened. The check box Delete after successful migration sets the saveset EOL to the actual date and time of the successful migration. The source saveset is purgeable immediately after the migration. The saveset EOL has no effect on savesets stored on tape media.
   
   
5. Click OK to save your migration event.

	Tip
	You can use the Migration task option in the backup task and event properties to select a follow-up migration task.

Monitoring migrations

You can view the status of your migrations jobs in the GUI (Job State -> Migrations and Replications) or SEP sesam Web UI. Migration tasks are listed by name, along with details of completion status, start and end times, and media pools used for the job.

See also

Adding a Task to the Task Group – Follow-up Events – Backup Strategy Best Practices

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