Backup and Restore Practices for Sun Enterprise Servers
Authors: Stan Stringfellow, Michael Barton, Miroslav Klivansky
Venue:  (2000)

From the Book:Backup and Restore Practices for Sun Enterprise Servers focuses on technologies available from Sun Microsystems, Inc., and includes detailed information on backup and restore practices using software products and Sun EnterpriseTM servers running the SolarisTM operating environment. This book takes a multifaceted approach to the topic and includes case studies developed from interviews with IT staff at companies who run their core operations on Sun Enterprise servers. It also contains a thorough and detailed methodology for planning and implementing a backup and restore architecture. To assist in the standardizing of daily backup and restore operations, appropriate sections of the book provide step-by-step procedures in runbook format. Who Should Use This Book This book is intended for IT managers, system administrators, and database administrators involved in planning and implementing a backup and restore architecture in a networked environment using Sun MicrosystemsTM technologies. How This Book Is Organized Chapter 1, "Managing a Backup and Restore Initiative,"provides a high-level overview of backup and restore issues from the managerial point of view. The chapter includes a detailed description of the issues to be considered when purchasing a backup and restore software tool. Chapter 2, "Backup and Restore Basics," provides a technical overview of the backup and restore technologies used within modern networked environments. Chapter 3, "Case Studies," presents case studies dealing with issues involved in planning and implementing a backup and restore architecture. These case studies can help broaden your understanding on a wide range ofrelated topics. Chapter 4, "Methodology: Planning a Backup Architecture," presents a thorough and detailed methodology to use when planning and implementing a backup and restore architecture. This information can be useful when formulating plans or proposals for submission to management and can serve as a reference guide during the implementation phase. Chapter 5, "NetBackup Runbook," provides step-by-step procedures, in runbook format, that can be helpful in environments using Sun StorEdge Enterprise NetBackUpTM software. Runbooks can be useful for standardizing and simplifying the day-to-day operations throughout an IT organization. Chapter 6, "Oracle Parallel Export Script," describes a script contributed by Qualcomm, Inc., that significantly speeds up Oracle database exports on symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) machines. This script can enhance your options when performing regularly scheduled parallel exports of large databases that must be continuously available. The approach can deliver important benefits, including faster and less intrusive restores, and is a valuable addition to the standard "best practices" associated with an Oracle backup. Appendix A, "High-Speed Database Backups on Sun Systems," describes a benchmark study that demonstrated backup speed of more than a terabyte per hour with Sun technologies. The demonstration was performed jointly by Sun Microsystems, VERITAS Software Corp., Oracle Corp., and Storage Technology Corp. (STK). Appendix B, "Business Continuity Planning and Sun Technologies," provides a brief overview of Sun technologies that are applicable to business continuity planning and disaster recovery. For additional information on these topics, see the Sun BluePrintsTM book, Business Continuity Planning with Sun Microsystems Technologies. Using UNIX Commands This document does not contain information on basic UNIXr commands and procedures such as shutting down the system, booting the system, and configuring devices. See one or more of the following for this information: AnswerBook2? online documentation for the Solaris operating environment. Other software documentation that you received with your system. Accessing Sun Documentation Online The docs.sun.com Web site provides access to Sun technical documentation online. You can browse the docs.sun.com archive or search for a specific book title or subject. The URL is http://docs.sun.com/ Additional information related to backup and restore issues is available from the SunUP? program at: http://www.sun.com/availability Ordering Sun Documentation Fatbrain.com, an Internet professional bookstore, stocks select product documentation from Sun Microsystems, Inc. For a list of documents and how to order them, visit the Sun Documentation Center on Fatbrain.com at: http://www1.fatbrain.com/documentation/sun Sun Welcomes Your Comments Sun is interested in improving its documentation and welcomes your comments and suggestions. You can send email with your comments to Sun at: docfeedback@sun.com. Please include the part number (806-2894-10) of this book in the subject line of your email.