Newbie question re smartvolumes

[Chris Swenson]

I have a 2 node P4500 array set up.  On this I have a 200 gig volume set up and mounted to a RH 5.X server via the iscsi initiator.  This server is running oracle standard and the database files and some content folders are all on the 200 gig volume.  In order to eliminate long downtimes on the application for backups I want to smartclone the volume, mount it, and then back up the clone.

Is it possible to automate the creation and deletion of the smart clone.  Will I get a good backup of the oracle or should I shut it down before running the smart clone.

[Amar_Joshi]

Chris,

For the database backup recommended is to quiesce the database (by entering hot backup mode) and then to perform snapshot, followed by mounting it on backup server and backup to tape/disk. For the snapshot either it can be created from P4000 CMC (manually) or use P4000 CLI (Only supported on Windows hosts)

To achieve the scripted backup create a script on RH5.x server which does the following -

1. Put Oracle in hot backup mode.

2. Initiate the remote SSH/telnet connection to Windows and run P4000 CLI to create a snapshot of the volume.

3. From the P4000 CLI present the snapshot to backup server.

4. Logout of Windows server.

5. Resume the database (exit out of hot backup mode).

6. Then the script connects to backup server (this greatly depends upon backup software and backup server)

7. Mount the snapshot on backup server.

8. Kick off the backup

9. Logout of backup server, reconnect to P4000 CLI Windows server and unpresent snapshot and optionally delete the snapshot.

As you can see it's long scripted work and need experts from Linux/Oracle/Backup/P4000-CLI to create a great resilient script with errorcheck and logging. 

Hope that Helps

[David_Tocker]

Amar_Joshi definitely has the right idea here for cloning the volume.

I just want to add that this should not be your only backup - I would suggest that multiple backups are almost always better than one. There is always the possibility of a SAN failure (they do happen unfortunately, how much do you really trust the storage admin, and if you are the storage admin it is always better to be safe than sorry) Be aware of backup concurrency - try to time the backups out of the snapshot time if possible. The P4000 from my experience copes pretty well with pressure so you should be okay getting a few different backups. If disaster recovery is really important consider getting some extra P4000's or VSA's online and utilize the remote snapshot feature.

[Jitun]

Hi Chris,

I am not sure why you mentioned SnapClone and not SnapShot.
SnapClone Definition :
SmartClone are space-efficient copies of existing volumes or snapshots.
They appear as multiple volumes that share a common snapshot, called a clonepoint.
They share this snapshot data on the SAN.
SmartClone volumes can be used to duplicate configurations or environments for
wide spread use,quickly and without consuming disk space for duplicated data.

I would have assumed you will use a Snapshot to backup data.

Take Snapshot of the Volume, Mount the Snapshot and Take Backup.. But then this would be incremental Backup.

Is the above not what you are looking for ?