You can schedule recovery points for the archiving file systems on the server.
Scheduling a recovery point through the browser interface is the equivalent of creating an entry in the root crontab(1) file to automate the Sun SAM software samfsdump(1M) process. This process enables you to back up metadata separate from the file data of an archiving file system. A recovery point contains all the metadata for a complete archiving file system at a single point in time.
Note - Files written to an archiving file system after the creation of a recovery point starts might not be archived, and archive copies on cartridges might not be reflected in the recovery point file. Because of this, the files might not be known to the system if the recovery point is used to restore the archiving file system. Files written to the archiving file system or archived after the recovery point is created will be included in the next recovery point.
Recovery points can be run only on mounted, archiving file systems. A recovery point does the following:
Saves the relative path for each file.
Contains all information required for restoring an archiving file system, such as the inode for each file, directory information, and symbolic links.
Enables you to restore an entire archiving file system, a directory hierarchy, or a single file. See How to Restore an Archiving File System for more information about the restore process.
The following table provides planning recommendations that can help you protect the data of an archiving file system.
Recommendation |
Reason |
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Keep data from each archiving file system on its own unique set of tapes or other archive media, and do not mix data from multiple file systems. |
The path names of the files on archive media do not include the originating file system’s name, and this might cause inconsistencies when you restore files. For more information, see the SAM-QFS Troubleshooting wiki. |
Make sure the archiving file system for which you want to schedule recovery points is mounted. |
Recovery points cannot be scheduled for unmounted file systems. |
Store recovery point files for each file system in a separate directory. |
Keeping the recovery points in separate files helps you locate the recovery point you need to use to restore a file system. |
Schedule recovery points for a time when files are not being created or modified. |
Creating a recovery point when files are not being created or modified will help ensure that the file data being captured is not stale and will minimize the creation of damaged files. |
Archive your files regularly, and schedule recovery points at least once a day. |
To ensure that files can be restored, configure archiver scan intervals so that files are archived before a recovery point is created. |
Make sure that the location on which you are creating and storing recovery point files has sufficient storage space for these files. |
Recovery point files can be quite large, depending on the number of files being stored on the archiving file system. |
Periodically check the recovery point log file to ensure that recovery points are being created without any errors. |
Checking the log file for issues can prevent the creation of recovery points that contain damaged files. You specify the location of the recovery point log file on the Recovery Point Schedule page. For more information, see Recovery Point Schedule Page. |
In anticipation of creating a recovery point on demand, determine in advance the approximate length of time it will take to create the recovery point and the approximate size of the recovery point file. |
Determining the length of time and the size of the file can help you decide whether to wait for the scheduled recovery point creation. You can use the following values to make this determination:
|
Decide on a retention period for your recovery point files. |
Retaining all recovery point files indefinitely uses up space on your system. For example, you can specify that each time a recovery point is created, all recovery point files older than two days (48 hours) should be deleted. |
Determine who should receive notifications of recovery point errors. |
Recovery points are critical in maintaining a reliable restore capability of the file system. If a recovery point fails, system administrators should be notified. You can specify addresses to which you want error notifications sent on the Configuring Email Alerts, which is accessible from the Recovery Point Schedule Page. |