Preparing computers for use with Simplified Disaster Recovery

Description

Prepare computers for use with Simplified Disaster Recovery (SDR) by performing the following steps:

Table: Preparing computers for use with Simplified Disaster Recovery

Step	Description	More information
Step 1	Specify an alternate location where copies of the disaster recovery information files are stored.	Backup Exec creates the disaster recovery information file after a backup job that includes all critical system components completes successfully. Backup Exec then stores the disaster recovery information file in the default storage location with the backup set on a disk storage or disk cartridge device, and in the alternate storage locations. Catalog entries from subsequent backups are automatically added to the disaster recovery information file. Warning: If you back up a computer to a tape device, deduplication storage, or a virtual disk, Backup Exec cannot store a disaster recovery information file with the backup set. You must have a disaster recovery information file in an alternate location to ensure that you can use SDR to recover the computer. See Setting or changing the alternate location for the disaster recovery information file.
Step 2	Run the backup jobs that include all critical system components (SDR-enabled backups) for the computers that you want to protect. These are the backups for which the Simplified Disaster Recovery indicator is ON. Note: For environments running the Central Admin Server Option, run a database maintenance job before you run SDR-enabled backups. Otherwise, the central administration server denies communication attempts from the managed Backup Exec servers. See Configuring database maintenance and security.	By default, Backup Exec selects all critical system components when you select a computer for backup. When all critical system components are included in the backup job selections, the Simplified Disaster Recovery indicator on the backup selections appears as ON. If you deselect one or more critical system component files, the indicator appears as OFF. Symantec recommends that you select the entire computer for backup; otherwise, Backup Exec cannot create the system-specific disaster recovery information file. Critical system components include the following: System volume (including EFI and utility partitions) Boot volume (executing operating system) Services application volumes (boot, system, and automatic startup) System State devices and volumes (including Active Directory, system files, and so on) See How to ensure that backups are enabled for Simplified Disaster Recovery.
Step 3	Create additional copies of the disaster recovery information files and store them in a safe place.	Backup Exec stores the important disaster recovery information files in the default path, the alternate location, and with the backup set if disk storage or disk cartridge devices are used as the destination storage. Symantec recommends that you also make additional copies of the files and store them in a safe place. Without the disaster recovery information files, you cannot recover Backup Exec servers by using Simplified Disaster Recovery (SDR). Having multiple copies of the disaster recovery information files ensures that you can successfully recover Backup Exec servers with SDR. By default, the disaster recovery information files reside in the\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\SDR\Datadirectory on the Backup Exec server. Use Windows Explorer or another Copy utility to copy the disaster recovery information files from the default location to another storage location of your choice. Backup Exec does not automatically update these copies, but they do let you restore a computer to an older point-in-time if the other disaster recovery files are not available
Step 4	Use the Create Simplified Disaster Recovery Disk Wizard to create a disk image, and then a bootable CD or DVD recovery disk.	Backup Exec generates alerts after each backup job until you create the Simplified Disaster Recovery disk image. You can disable these alerts, but Symantec recommends that you create the Simplified Disaster Recovery disk image. See Creating a Simplified Disaster Recovery disk image. If you install the Create Simplified Disaster Recovery Wizard on a standalone server, you cannot use the wizard to run LiveUpdate. For instructions on how to manually run LiveUpdate, go to the following URL: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH136135

References :

 http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO99605