Commvault Engineer

Course Guide

Module 4 – Virtual Application Protection

Commvault Platform Release 2023E

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Table of Contents
Virtual Application Protection......................................................................................................................................... 4
Application Protection Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Agent-Based Application Protection .............................................................................................................................. 8

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Virtual Application Protection Overview

Snapshot Consistency
The consistent state of application data is essential to provide a backup that can be restored in a
proper state. Many applications have built-in reconciliation processes that can return application data
to a consistent state. This process can be time consuming and application experts may be required to
assist in the process. Using Commvault features to ensure a consistent state makes restore
operations faster and simpler.

Crash Consistent
Crash Consistent backups are based on point-in-time software snapshots and backup operations of a
virtual machine that allows the VM to be restored to the point in which it was snapped. When the
snapshot occurs, all blocks on the virtual disks are frozen for a consistent point-in-time view. The
application is not aware that this process is occurring.
There are several issues when performing crash consistent snapshot and backup operations. The first
issue is that if an application is running on the virtual machine, it is not aware the snapshot is being
taken. VSA communicates with the hosting hypervisor to initiate snapshots at the VM level and there
is no communication with the application. Any I/O processes being conducted by the application will
continue without any knowledge that the snap has been performed. This can cause issues during
restore operations as the application data will be restored to the exact point where the software
snapshot was conducted.

Example: A database application is conducting a maintenance to defrag and reorganize data

within its files. In the middle of this process, the software snapshot occurs. When the VM is
restored, it will be placed in the state of the maintenance period. Another issue in this case would
be larger than normal snapshots as all the block changes are cached to keep the production
virtual disk in a consistent state. This will cause a lengthy cleanup process when the snapshot is
released and may cause storage space issues on the production volume.

© 2023 Commvault.
Application Consistent
With application consistent protection, the application itself is aware that it is being snapped. This
allows the data to be protected and restored in a consistent and usable state by communicating with
the application to quiesce data, or by using scripts to properly quiesce the data. Application consistent
protection is not critical for file data, but it is critical for application databases.

© 2023 Commvault.
Application Protection Methods
Commvault Agents
An agent installed in the VM will directly communicate with the application running in the VM. The
agent communicates with the application to properly quiesce databases. A streaming backup of
application data is then conducted. If the application data is on an RDM volume, the application agent
can be used with the IntelliSnap feature to quiesce the data and snap the volume. A proxy host can
be used to back up the data avoiding load on the VM or hypervisor. Using application agents in the
VM also provide database and log backup operations and a simplified restore method using the
standard browse and recovery options in the CommCell console. Commvault agents in the hosting
VM should be used for mission critical high I/O applications.

Application Aware VSA Backup

This protection method is recommended on low-to-medium I/O applications. An application plugin is
pushed to the VM to properly quiesce application data. The plugin communicates directly with the
application and the VSA to ensure a proper quiesce of application data. The quiesce process uses
VSS to quiesce the data and is supported on Windows-based VSS aware application including SQL,
Exchange, SharePoint, and Oracle on Windows. There are limitations for Exchange DAG and SQL
always-on configurations.
Right-click the desired subclient > Properties > Backup Options tab
Application aware VSA backups insert an 'application plugin' into the VM during a VSA backup and
IntelliSnap feature. When a VM backup runs, the plugin quiesces the application using a VSS
snapshot. The VSA coordinator then communicates with the hypervisor to conduct a VM snapshot. If
IntelliSnap is used, a hardware snapshot is taken on the datastore and then the software snapshot
and VSS snap are released.
To enable application aware VSA backups, a user account with administrative privileges for the
application must be used. This account can be entered at the instance or subclient level. When the
VSA backup runs, the system detects if any supported agents are installed in the VM and
automatically installs the application plugin. After the backup completes, the plugin remains in the VM
for subsequent backup operations. Application data recovery is conducted using the agent in the
CommCell Console, providing full agent level recovery options.

Application Aware Backup additional prerequisites:

• MediaAgent software must be installed on the VSA proxy
• A snap copy must be created in the Plan receiving the backup
When the first backup is initiated, a VSAAppAwareBackupWorkflow is initiated. The workflow
executes required tasks to properly protect the application.

VSAAppAwareBackupWorkflow phases:
• Validates that the MediaAgent software is installed on the VSA proxy server
• Validates that the snap copy is created for the plan
• Discovers if a supported application is installed in the VM
• Pushes the application plugin
• Protects the application

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Application Consistent VSA Backup
The VSS is used to quiesce application data. This method works for Windows-based application that
are VSS aware including SQL, Exchange, and Oracle on Windows. When the VSS call is made to the
VM, any VSS aware applications attempt to quiesce. If the attempt is successful, the backup is
application consistent. However, if the VSS quiesce fails, which can occur if there is too much
application I/O at the time of the quiesce, the backup will only be crash consistent. This method is not
recommended for high I/O virtual applications.

Scripting Database Shutdowns

Using external scripts that can be inserted in the pre- and post-processes of a subclient, or executed
as part of a Workflow, application data can be placed in an offline state to allow for a consistent point-
in-time snap and backup operation. This requires the application to remain in the offline state for the
entire time of the snapshot operation. When the VM is recovered, the application must be restarted
after the restore operation completes. This method is only recommended when Commvault agents
are not available for the application.

Database Dumps
Although this is not the most efficient method of protecting databases and is not truly a backup, it
results in a consistent state dump of a production database. If the dump files are being backed up,
application aware restores can be conducted. This will require someone with knowledge of the
application to restore the database in an online state.

Application Data on Raw Device Mapping (RDM) Volumes

When the VSA agent protects VMware virtual machines it conducts software snapshots of VMDK
files. It will not protect any volumes using RDM. This can be used as an advantage when designing
solutions for protecting large databases. A VSA agent will be used to snap and backup the virtual
disks as VMDK files but will skip RDM volumes. An application agent can then be installed in the VM
and subclients can be configured to protect databases on RDM volumes. The application agent
provides communication to provide application consistent point-in-time backup of application data.

Impact on Software Snapshots and Volumes during VM Backups

Even with an application consistent backup, problems can still occur. For high I/O applications running
in virtual machines, software snapshots managed by the hypervisor can grow exceed capacity,
resulting in insufficient disk space on the volume or a failure to clean up software snapshots.

© 2023 Commvault.
Agent-Based Application Protection

Agent-based protection uses Commvault agents installed directly in the virtual machine. When an
agent is installed in the VM, it appears in the CommCell Console just like a regular client and the
functionality is the same as an agent installed on a physical host.
The main advantage with this configuration is that all the features available with Commvault agents
are used to protect data on the VM. For applications, using a Commvault agent provides complete
application awareness of all data protection operations including streaming log backups, granular
item-based protection, archiving and content indexing.

SQL Transaction Log Backup Support

The VSA application aware backups for SQL server includes an automatic schedule for transaction
log backups. This provides the following advantages:
• Allows point-in-time restores of SQL databases, also known as log replays
• Since the automatic schedule uses a free space threshold, it ensures that the volume
containing the SQL logs does not fill up between VSA backups
• Default settings can be modified

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