Detailed System Requirements
Abstract
This document details the backup and restore requirements for Microsoft SQL Server for IBM Storage Copy Data Management 2.2.22.
Content
Note: The product now known as IBM Storage Copy Data Management was named IBM Spectrum Copy Data Management in levels earlier than 2.2.20. To learn more about the brand change, see IBM Spectrum Protect brand change to IBM Storage Protect.
This document is divided into linked sections for ease of navigation. Use the following links to jump to the section of the document that you require:
- IBM Storage Copy Data Management installs an agent on application servers when they are registered. Some anti-virus software might flag or attempt to remove the agent software. If you run anti-malware software on application servers, exclude the installation path of the IBM Storage Copy Data Management agent.
- For Microsoft Windows-based systems, such as Microsoft SQL Server, the agent installation directory must be excluded for any anti-virus scans. Add this path to the exclusion list for all anti-virus software that is installed on the application server:
C:\Program Files\IBM\IBM Spectrum Copy Data Management - IBM Storage Copy Data Management support for third-party operating systems, applications, services, and hardware depend on the respective vendor. If a third-party product or version moves into extended support, self-service support, or end-of-life, IBM Storage Copy Data Management supports the product or version at the same level as the vendor. See also IBM Support General Guidelines and Limitations - IBM support for software on unsupported operating systems
Before you register each Microsoft SQL Server in IBM Storage Copy Data Management, verify that it meets the following requirements.
Supported platforms and configurations
| Database version on operating system | ||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| Database configurations | ||
| Stand-alone, SQL Server Failover Clustering, and AlwaysOn [2] | ||
| Server types | Storage Systems | Storage Configuration |
| Physical [7, 8, 9, 10, 11] |
|
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| Virtual (VMware) [3] |
|
|
Notes:
- [1] Windows Remote Shell (WinRM) must be enabled.
- [2] Clustered Shared Volumes (CSV) are not supported.
- [3] For supported VMware vSphere versions, see in System requirements: IBM Storage Copy Data Management 2.2.22.
Note: vSphere 8.0 is not supported on SQL Server Failover Clustering, and AlwaysOn database configurations. - [4] Select the physical provider type when you register the provider in IBM Storage Copy Data Management. Recoveries require direct access to storage. NetApp ONTAP Storage Systems are not supported.
- [5] vRDMs are supported through VM Replication jobs.
- [6] Independent disks are supported only if the underlying storage uses supported storage systems. Register the SQL resource as Physical when you configure the provider in IBM Storage Copy Data Management. Independent disks do not allow snapshots to be taken in VMware virtual scenarios. The previous listed IBM Spectrum Accelerate, IBM Spectrum Virtualize, and Pure Storage FlashArrays are supported for physical registration.
- [7] When you register physical Microsoft SQL Servers, register them through the DNS server. The IBM Storage Copy Data Management appliance must be resolvable and route-able by the DNS server. The physical Microsoft SQL Server communicates back to IBM Storage Copy Data Management through DNS.
- [8] Recovery for target servers registered as Physical provider types requires direct access to storage.
- [9] Any Windows node with iSCSI or Fibre Channel access to the storage can be selected as a proxy server, if the node is not part of the original cluster. Select a stand-alone virtual or physical Windows node as a proxy server.
- [10] For physical Microsoft SQL Servers you must allow outgoing connections to port 8443 on the IBM Storage Copy Data Management appliance from the Microsoft SQL Server.
- [11] Dynamic disks are not supported.
- [12] On IBM Systems Storage, condense is run during maintenance jobs.
Note: If you are using IBM Storage Systems running IBM Spectrum Accelerate level 11.5.3 or later, including FlashSystem A9000/A9000R and IBM XIV Storage Systems use IBM Storage Copy Data Management 2.2.13.
Microsoft SQL Servers staying on any storage can also be protected to supported storage systems through VM Replication jobs.
For both physical and virtual SQL environments, point-in-time recoveries beyond the last snapshot taken are incompatible with workflows by using more than one Site. In a virtual environment, the Microsoft SQL Server, associated vCenter, and storage must be registered to the same site. In a physical environment, the Microsoft SQL Server and storage must be registered to the same site.
For more information about Microsoft SQL Server requirements, see Microsoft SQL Server Support FAQ.
Microsoft SQL Support for VMware virtual machines
UUID must be enabled to run Microsoft SQL-based backup functions. To enable,
- power off the guest virtual machine through the vSphere client.
- Then, select the guest and click Edit Settings. Select Options,
- Then General under the Advanced section.
- Select Configuration Parameters..., then find the disk.EnableUUID parameter.
- If set to FALSE, change the value to TRUE.
- If the parameter is not available, add it by clicking Add Row, set the value to TRUE, then power on the guest.
The virtual machine must use SCSI disks only, dynamic disks are not supported.
The most current VMware Tools must be installed on the virtual machine node.
In-Memory OLTP requirements and limitations
In-Memory OLTP is a memory-optimized database engine used to improve database application performance, supported in Microsoft SQL Server 2014 and Microsoft SQL Server 2016.
IBM Storage Copy Data Management requirements and limitations for In-Memory OLTP usage:
- The maximum restore file path must be fewer than 256 characters, which is an SQL requirement. If the original path exceeds this length, consider by using a customized restore file path to reduce the length.
- The metadata that can be restored is subject to VSS and SQL restore capabilities.
Instant Seeding Prerequisites and Limitations
The goal of seeding is to restore a secondary database by taking advantage of snapshot technology, and minimize the data movement between primary and secondary replicas.
Seeding of both virtual and physical Microsoft SQL Servers is supported. The seeding destination replica must be an instance of a secondary role and must be created or configured with a working mirroring endpoint before the seeding process. The seeding process restores by using the original database only, and only the most current backup snapshot is supported.
Source databases must be backed up under the full recovery model, which is configured though the SQL Management Console. The full recovery model provides a granular transaction restore.
The transaction log can grow indefinitely unless the logs are backed up, which automatically initiates log truncation. The database administrator must run maintenance to free space if necessary.
Before the seeding process, primary databases and log backups are required to make sure the LSN gap between the primary and secondary databases is acceptable by the SQL AAG framework.
The data file and log file paths on all replicas of an availability group must be the same. IBM Storage Copy Data Management requires that the original volume mount points are available on the target SQL node for seeding process. If the original volume was mounted on a volume mount point, such as a folder, the root drive letter of the mount point must exist before the restore begins.
When you create an Instant Seeding restore job definition, the destination must be a non-system drive. The SQL database and log files must be on nonsystem drives.
A network share for Always On log backups must be accessible from the secondary node. The seeding restore restores log backups directly from the original log backup target instead of the temporary snapshot.
Authentication, registration, and privileges
Authentication and registration
Register each Microsoft SQL Server as a provider in IBM Storage Copy Data Management by name or IP address. When you register an SQL Cluster (AlwaysOn) node, register each node by name or IP address.
Note: The IP addresses must be public-facing and listening on port 5985.
The fully qualified domain name and virtual machine node DNS name must be resolvable and route-able from the IBM Storage Copy Data Management appliance.
The user identity needs sufficient rights to install and start the IBM Storage Copy Data Management Tools Service on the node. The sufficient rights also include "Log on as a service" rights. For more information, see Add the Log on as a service right to an account
The default security policy uses the Windows NTLM protocol, and the user identity format follows the default domain\Name format.
You must manually create a directory to store VSS provider logs when you run IBM Spectrum Copy Data Management 2.2.6 and earlier. Create the following directory structure on the Microsoft SQL Server: c:\temp\CDM\logs
Privileges
On the Microsoft SQL Server, the system login credentials need public and sysadmin permissions enabled, plus permission to access cluster resources in an SQL AlwaysOn environment. If one user account is used for all SQL functions, a Windows login must be enabled for the Microsoft SQL Server, with public and sysadmin permissions enabled.
Every SQL instance can use a specific user account to access the resources of that particular SQL instance.
To run log backups, the SQL user registered with IBM Storage Copy Data Management must enable the sysadmin permission to manage Microsoft SQL Server agent jobs. If the Microsoft SQL Server agent service user is the default NT user, the agent uses that account to enable and access log backup jobs.
Related Information
Product Synonym
IBM Spectrum Copy Data Management;
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Document Information
Modified date:
15 December 2023
UID
ibm17069262