Hello and welcome to this Dell Power Protect data manager video. In this video, we'll be demonstrating multiple ways to restore databases from a source Microsoft SQL Server to an alternate Microsoft SQL Server when the primary site is down and not reachable. The primary site is where the Power Protect data manager protects the databases and logs of Microsoft SQL Server by registering it as an application agent in case of disaster. Power Protect data manager supports multiple business continuity solutions to keep the business running and to get the backup infrastructure back online with minimal RTO. In this video, we are demonstrating three methods for restoring assets from the original SQL Server. The first method is directly by launching an SSMS plug-in from an alternate SQL agent host and giving the details of the Power Protect DD and the storage unit on which the original SQL agent's data was protected. In this case, in order to restore the data, the user must create the lockbox manually for the storage unit.
The second method is when the primary site is down and not reachable and when the Power Protect data manager has the remote systems option enabled. This option provides business continuity from remote systems with quick recovery. This means restoring from an alternate SQL host that is registered to the destination Power Protect data manager. A third method after performing the disaster recovery of the source Power Protect data manager is to register an alternate SQL host with the same name as the source host name to the recovered data manager and then perform a restore to that SQL host. We will discuss all three methods in detail in this video.
Before we get started, here are some prerequisites. Make sure that you have a Power Protect data manager that is protecting a Microsoft SQL Server instance with multiple SQL databases to a Power Protect DD appliance in the primary site and that these protected copies are replicated to a Power Protect DD appliance in the destination site. Make sure that you have enabled the remote systems option in your data manager and that the sync option is enabled to a remote data manager, ensuring that metadata gets synced to the destination data manager periodically. Ensure that the Power Protect data manager has disaster recovery or DR backup enabled. DR backup is enabled by default as soon as the user adds a Power Protect DD appliance as a storage device in data manager. Ensure that the latest DR backup is taken after the protection and replication jobs for SQL databases are successful.
All right now because all the prerequisites are met, let's see how to do a restore of a database from an alternate host using method one. You can use this method when the source SQL Server is down and when you need to restore the databases of this SQL Server from an alternate host where a SQL instance is running. Note that to use this method, you should either have the source PPM system up and running or the source PPD M should have quick recovery enabled, and the destination PPD M system is online. Now go to the alternate host, install the MS app agent for SQL on the alternate host and do not register it with any of the PPD M servers. The installation is now successful. Go to the start menu and invoke the SSMS plug-in for SQL Server Management Studio. You will get a wizard that has two tabs, go to the database restore tab on this page. Enter the source details from where the database backup copies need to be fetched. You need to provide the Power Protect DD appliance details where the backup copies of the source SQL Server are present because the plug-in cannot automatically get these details. We need to copy them from data manager. Go to infrastructure, storage protection, storage, select the DD appliance where the SQL assets are protected, click more actions, and then select manage storage units.
After you find the storage unit details, log in to the data manager console as an admin user. Navigate to the user local BRS puppet scripts directory, obtain the storage unit credentials by entering this Python command. And here are the credentials. Now back in the plug-in, we can fill in the details here in the left-hand pane. Go to the general page, click the ellipsis, then click add and provide the details of the DD appliance's IP, the storage unit name, and credentials. Double-click on the newly added details. This loads the data there and populates the SQL Server details and the SQL instance details. Select the appropriate backup copy. The destination details are automatically populated. Now click run; the restore is now successful.
Let's see how method two works. We have already seen that our source Power Protect data manager system is quick recovery enabled and that metadata is getting synced to the remote data manager server periodically. Here we have already logged in to this alternate Windows host and the SQL Server instance is up and running on this host. Before going through the restore process, let's make sure that our source PPM host and source SQL Server are not reachable by powering them off. To do that, we'll log into VCENTER as administrator. Now we will modify the MS app agent installed on the host to register it with the Power Protect data manager that is selected as the destination host in the quick recovery configuration to complete the registration process.
We log in to the destination PPD M, navigate to infrastructure, application agents, select the agent, then click approve on the top right-hand side of the screen. Select the remote systems view, then select the source Power Protect data manager to display its remote view on the restore page. Click the SQL tab, choose one of the assets and verify the details of the remote copies by selecting restore. The backup copies are available to be restored from the destination PPDM. Select the copy and proceed to the next page. Select the scope and click next, select restore to Microsoft SQL Server instance and click next. Here we need to restore the copies to an alternate host because we cannot register the same SQL agent to multiple PPD M servers. Select the restore to alternate option and we see the details of the alternate SQL app. Direct Agent, expand the details of the SQL app, Direct agent and select the restore as new database option.
Provide a name for the database, save the details, then click next in order to restore the backup copies. We enter the OS credentials including name, username, and password. I am selecting already added credentials here and click save and then click next. Here we select an original file location, then click next, leave all other options as default and go to the summary page. Click restore; great, the restore process is initiated. Let's monitor the restore job's progress. Awesome, the restore is now complete.
For method three, after performing the disaster recovery of the source Power Protect data manager, we register an alternate SQL host to the recovered data manager and perform a restore to that host. Here, I have my source Power Protect data manager up and running after a successful disaster recovery. And my alternate Windows host is also up and running. Let's log in to the Windows host we just created here. You can see my Windows host with the same fully qualified domain name and IP as the source Windows host. And my SQL Server instance is up and running in this host with the same name that the source instance has. Now install the Microsoft application agent for the SQL host on this newly created Windows host and register it to the recovered data manager to complete the registration process.
We log in to the recovered PPD M, navigate to infrastructure, application agents, select the agent, then click approve; the application agent is now successfully registered. Go to the restore page, click assets and select the SQL tab, select an asset, then click restore. You can either select a primary backup copy or a replicated backup copy. Here I select the primary backup copy. On the next page, select the scope as restore to Microsoft SQL Server instance and click next. You can select restore to original or restore to alternate here. I’m selecting restore to original; leave all other options as default and go to the summary page, click restore; great, the restore process is initiated. Let's monitor the restore job's progress. Awesome, the restore is now complete.
In this video, we provided three different ways to restore assets from a SQL Server. We hope you found this useful. For more information such as white papers, videos, and blogs, see the data protection info hub for labs and demos. Visit our demo center. Thanks for watching.
