By Deanna Hoover, Sr. Technical Marketing Manager, EMC Backup Recovery Systems
Have you ever been in a situation where you look back and say, “Wow that was a really stupid move”? Maybe that move was death defying or just simply risky.
This past winter I went out with a group to climb a peak. Yes I know, winter in Colorado is not the safest time to climb a mountain. There was not a cloud in the sky and the stars were bright when we left home at 4:00 AM. When we began the 3,000 ft climb around 7:00 AM the clouds were rolling in and the temperature at the base of the peak was well below freezing. The 13,200 foot peak we were attempting to climb was hidden behind the thick clouds and snow.
We continued our assent for about 2 hours before realizing the stupidity in our decision to climb that day. The snow had started coming down hard, temperatures dropped and the winds began to gust. The group made the decision to turn around and leave the peak for another day. The route we had taken up was no longer visible. The GPS was our only way to track our way back safely.
On the drive home we talked about how crazy it was to even start the climb. This led to a conversation about Beck Weathers, who was left for dead on Mt. Everest in 1996.
Beck Weathers spent over 18 hours, left for dead, at approximately 27,500 ft above sea level. He was alive but those who came upon him believed him to be near death. He was left to die on the mountain because the risk of trying to get him down was too great for those attempting the rescue.
Weathers wrote that about four in the afternoon, Everest time, “the miracle occurred: I opened my eyes.” His hands were frozen (one was later amputated, along with the fingers of the other). His face was blackened with frostbite (he lost his nose also). He hadn’t eaten in three days, hadn’t had water in two and was still unable to see.
Weathers eventually stumbled into the camp and made it home alive.
Weathers experienced frostbite and hypothermia on Everest. Due to the physical damage he encountered on Mt. Everest he was forced to quit his medical practice and continued life as a motivational speaker and author.
While we as backup administrators are not necessarily faced with life or death if the recovery does not complete successfully, we may very well be faced with a career changing event. It is important that our data protection technology is up to par with the latest application technology.
Are you wondering how this applies to you backup and recovery? Well, from personal experience as a backup administrator, I can tell you that there were times when all I wanted was to leave the data center and get some food and rest- abandon the recovery process. However, I could not walk away until the systems were fully restored. I was at the mercy of my backup hardware and software, which was taking precedence over my personal life.
You may now be wondering where I’m going with this… Well, if you have not heard, EMC has announced EMC NetWorker 8.0. This new version includes features that will improve backup and recovery speed, and make administration much easier. Plus the release provides enhanced deduplication with Data Domain. This means you have the possibility of no more long hours waiting on your backup or recovery to finish. You can find more information on NetWorker 8.0 on EMC.com: http://www.emc.com/backup-and-recovery/networker/networker.htm.
As a backup administrator you have probably experienced challenges in trying to quickly backup and recovery your Microsoft Applications. While, I am excited about all of the new features with NetWorker 8.0, the enhancements to EMC NetWorker Module for Microsoft Applications (NMM) are definitely something that I’m looking forward to. For example, NMM 2.4 delivers granular-level recoveries (GLR) for Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, and Hyper-V. GLR essentially means I have the ability to very quickly restore a single item or file without doing a full recovery of the database or application.
We are all hearing the Microsoft hype about Hyper-V. With NMM. 2.4 there is now support for Clustered Shared Volume (CSV) as well as GLR.
I think you too will find the new NMM Hyper-V features valuable. You can learn more about the exciting new for Hyper-V features by watching the YouTube videos:
EMC NetWorker Module for Microsoft Applications 2.4 Hyper-V Overview and GLR:
NetWorker Module for Microsoft Applications 2.4 Hyper-V CSV:
As a backup administrator responsible for SQL backups, you will most likely want to take advantage of the SQL 2012 Always On Availability Groups and have the option to backup the primary and secondary server. NMM 2.4 is definitely going to bring value here. NMM 2.4 provides supports for SQL Server 2012, including backup of AlwaysOn Availability Groups, both the primary and secondary servers. The same module includes support SQL Server VDI-based backup and recoveries. One more feature that makes administration so much easier is the new step-by-step client configuration wizards.
You can see first had how easy it is to configure a SQL backup by using the new SQL client configuration wizard available with NetWorker 8.0:
You will be hearing more about NetWorker 8.0 and NMM 2.4 in weeks to come.
The Right Architecture Is Priceless, Part IEvolving data protection technology and expanding requirements have completely transformed the backup industry. Unfortunately, with such rapid change, many organizations have fallen into the chaos of an accidental architecture.
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