Alec Devroey wrote:

Could anyone answer any of the following questions:

SQL Questions

I have 2 SQL Servers that replicate with each other using SQL Replication. One of the servers (Server1) Is a remote server at a Site and the other (Server 2) is based in a DataCenter and is connected to a FAS. If I would use SnapManager for SQL and restore a snapshot of the SQL Database what would happen to my SQL Synchronisation.

The synchronisation can be blown away or it could work as a charm. take the time to well understand your sql replication : what is the replication based on ? data-guard ? scripts ? export/import ? SQL replication is too vague. What you must know about SnapManager is it can rollout all the db file system to what it was at a certain time. Imagine your db offline or in hot backup mode, you can reverse all your db at this state if you did a snapshot using snapmanager at this point. But, no other application would be aware of that. And you certainly has to shutdown your db before restoring the db filesystem (at least putting a tablespace offline if using oracle).

Firewall Questions

I also have 2 SQL servers in the DMZ, What do I need to do to the our firewall to allow these 2 servers to connect to the FAS, What are my possibilities, Is it a high security risk

It depends protocol you use to access the Filer and where the FAS is. If the FAS is in the DMZ, you don't have to worry about firewall filtering. If the FAS is in the local subnet or on the remote side, you may have to open ports for CIFS or ISCSI according to which protocol you use. You could also consider opening an administrative (perhaps not the best). Look for "ISCS"I or "CIFS" or "NFS" and "Firewall" on now.netapp.com to know exctly which ports are involved ("iscsi firewall" "nfs firewall" "iscsi firewall" as the now.netapp search engine is not smart.

Snapshots

How do I configure snapshots to act like a GFS rotation, Daily, weekly and Monthly

GFS is an ArcServer specificity. It has nothing to do with Netapp snapshots. Netapp snapshot copy the inode table (FAT) and backup all data block pointed by the inode table preventing them to be erased. Each snapshot is a photographie of your file system at a certain time. If you run a db on the Filer using SnapManager, you may want to disable automatic snapshot scheduling (hourly, daily, weekly) because these snapshot can't take a consistent image of the Filer. Instead of that, you should configure your SnapManager software to schedule what you want. Once again, there is no equivalence between Snapmanager snapshot and the ArcServer GFS.

Windows Question

Is there a limit on how many Tape Devices I can connect to Windows Server without affecting backup performance, someone once told me that is recommended that only 4 drives should be connected.

I don't know, but you could precise your Windows version (NT, 2K, XPPro, 2003), it could help other to answer you.

La France salut la Belgique.

All help greatly appreciated

Met Vriendelijke Groeten

**Alec Devroey**

**Consultant - Systems & Data Integ****ration**

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