HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for Oracle recovery … white paper HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for Oracle recovery manager (RMAN) Provide faster and more space efficient backup for

Technical white paper

HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for Oracle recovery manager (RMAN) Provide faster and more space efficient backup for Oracle databases

Table of contents Executive summary .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction to Oracle Backup and Recovery .................................................................................................................... 3 HP StoreOnce Backup Systems—key features & benefits .............................................................................................. 4

Introducing HP StoreOnce Catalyst ................................................................................................................................. 5 HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for RMAN ........................................................................................................................ 5 Configuration Guidance .................................................................................................................................................... 6

Creating multiple backup copies ......................................................................................................................................... 8 RMAN Backups to HP StoreOnce Catalyst—in Action ...................................................................................................... 8 Sizing Guidelines ................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Summary ............................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Appendix A—Oracle Data Structures .............................................................................................................................. 12 Appendix B—RMAN Configuration parameters ............................................................................................................. 13 Appendix C—HP StoreOnce Catalyst overview .............................................................................................................. 15 Appendix D—Sample MML.conf file and RMAN CLI Backup scripts ............................................................................. 16

RMAN Configuration parameters ................................................................................................................................. 18 Comprehensive RMAN scripted example .................................................................................................................... 19

For more information ........................................................................................................................................................ 22

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Technical white paper | HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for Oracle recovery manager (RMAN)

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Executive summary

Business and Governments worldwide run Oracle databases to support their mission-critical applications. The two main concerns from a backup perspective in these types of environments are high data growth rates and shrinking backup windows. HP StoreOnce deduplication backup systems can provide Virtual tape, NAS (CIFS & NFS) and HP StoreOnce Catalyst device types for the purposes of Oracle Backup and Disaster recovery. HP StoreOnce Catalyst is the most flexible of these device types allowing for source side deduplication which minimizes bandwidth requirements for backup, ISV controlled replication of backups and a range of innovative plugins to improve throughout and deduplication ratios—thus helping to solve the shrinking backup window and data growth issues associated with enterprise class Oracle databases.

Another characteristic of enterprise class Oracle databases is the fact that the Database Administrators (DBA) like to have total visibility into the control of backup and disaster recovery processes—without involving the backup administrator—therefore they tend to want the whole backup/recovery and DR process to be managed by Oracle RMAN (Recovery manager). Today Oracle DBA’s generally use NFS shares as the target device for backups but there are many advantages to using HP StoreOnce Catalyst as the backup target device instead.

To summarize—the main benefits of this RMAN catalyst plugin approach are:

• Improved backup throughput by means of

– Catalyst protocol much more efficient than NFS used in basic disk backups of Oracle.

– Distributing the deduplication load across several Oracle application servers rather than having the single backup target doing all the work

– Use the RMAN parameters MAXOPENFILES and FILESPERSET to open multiple Oracle data files simultaneously for increased throughput. Some experimentation may be necessary. See Appendix B for more details.

• Improved deduplication ratios/storage savings by means of the HP intelligent Oracle database file processing included in the plugin.

• Low Bandwidth backups—the StoreOnce deduplication engine now partly resides on the Oracle Appliance server itself and so only the “unique” data needs to be sent to the StoreOnce appliance—hence significantly less bandwidth is used (up to 98% less)

• Up to 3 additional copies of the backup can be made using RMAN “Copies” directive and sent to DR (Disaster recovery) sites.

• Supported on Oracle 10g/11g/RAC under Windows 2008 R2 x86_64, RHEL 5 & 6—x86_64, Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 & 6—x86_64

• Expiry and retention of the RMAN Backup sets performed manually by Oracle DB Admin—but this is “the norm” with Oracle RMAN backups

• Some CLI, scripting and MML.conf file construction required—but again this is normal procedure.

• Consideration needs to be given to the additional CPU requirements on the Oracle application server to support the StoreOnce Catalysts plugin and source side deduplication (See Sizing consideration section later). The sizing approach will vary depending on if the StoreOnce RMAN Catalyst plugin is to be integrated into an existing Oracle application server or one that is being designed for future use.

• HP StoreOnce Catalyst is a licensable feature on HP StoreOnce Backup Appliances.

• This plugin is tuned for Oracle data block sizes of 8K and above.

• The HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN plugin is free of charge and downloadable from the HP Software Kiosk.


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The HP StoreOnce catalyst plugin for RMAN concept is shown below in Figure 1.

Figure 1. HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin concept

Target audience: This white paper is intended to assist Oracle DB administrators who are also responsible for backup. They prefer generally to use the in-built Oracle recovery manager (RMAN) to backup directly to disk and maintain total control of the entire Oracle environment. However this may not make optimal use of the backup storage available.

Using the HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for RMAN, Oracle DB Administrators can have their cake and eat it—improved backup performance, using lower bandwidth with higher deduplication ratios to save on storage costs.

This white paper describes how this technology works and how to configure Oracle RMAN backups to take advantage of this technology.

Assumptions: The bulk of this whitepaper assumes a working knowledge of Oracle data structures, RMAN terminology and HP StoreOnce catalyst—for those not familiar with some of these concepts—additional material is available in Appendix A, B & C.

Introduction to Oracle Backup and Recovery

Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) is a native utility from Oracle that is designed for backup and recovery of Oracle database files. RMAN is built into Oracle and does not require separate licensing or installation. RMAN metadata is stored in the Oracle Control file of the database being backed up and optionally within a recovery catalog database within Oracle (See Appendix A). This cataloged metadata can be browsed from the RMAN Command line. RMAN can be managed from Oracle enterprise manager or from the Oracle command line.

Native RMAN can only backup to a disk device (e.g. NFS share)—if we require RMAN to backup to other device types—like physical tape or HP StoreOnce Catalyst store then we have to make use of the Media Management Layer API by using plugins. Many 3rd Party backup software such as HP Data Protector or Symantec NetBackup also make use of MML API to integrate RMAN into their software.

The HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for RMAN is integrated into the MML API and requires the construction of an MML.conf file which RMAN looks at to determine what device to backup to, configuration values for that device and how many copies of the backup to make. The contents of the MML.conf file can be found in Appendix D. RMAN supports only 2 device types “DISK” and “SB_Tape.” SB_Tape is used for all device types that are not simple disk targets.


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Figure 2. Recovery Manager (RMAN) basic concepts.

The table below shows the Backup components required to successfully recover an Oracle database from most types of failure.

Component Why component is needed for database recovery

The last backup of the control file The Oracle database control file records the physical structure of the database and must be available for writing by the Oracle database server whenever the database is open.

The last backup of all data files Oracle database data files are physical files used to store data on disk. They are associated with Oracle “tablespaces” which are logical containers for database tables and indexes.

All archived redo logs since the last database backup (if the database is running in archivelog mode)

Archived redo logs are used to store filled groups of online redo log files. They are needed to recover the database to a specific point in time.

Copies of configuration files such as the server parameter file, tnsnames.ora, and listener.ora

Oracle configuration files contain configuration information for the database to use at startup time and information for the database network and connections. Typically these files are backed up as part of a Filesystem backup.

RMAN recovery catalog The RMAN recovery catalog holds RMAN repository data for one or more databases. The repository data is created during database backups and is used for database restore and recovery.

HP StoreOnce Backup Systems—key features & benefits

HP StoreOnce deduplication, store more data on disk HP StoreOnce deduplication reduces the disk space required to store backup data sets without impacting backup performance. Retaining more backup data on disk longer, enables greater data accessibility for rapid restore of lost or corrupt files and reduces downtime.

Deduplication ratios are strongly influenced by two factors—data change rate and backup data retention periods. Low data change rates and data retained for longer periods of time yield higher deduplication ratios.


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Deduplication-enabled replication HP StoreOnce deduplication is the technology enabler for HP StoreOnce Deduplication-enabled replication which allows fully automated replication over low bandwidth links to a disaster recovery (DR) site, giving Remote Office/Branch Office (ROBO) and small data centers a cost effective DR solution for the first time. Deduplication-enabled replication is not currently possible when using the Catalyst RMAN Plugin so instead we use the RMAN copies directive to create DR site copies of the backups.

Rapid restore of data for dependable, worry-free data protection HP StoreOnce appliances offer immediate access to backups for rapid restores. HP StoreOnce deduplication allows more data to be stored closer to the data center for longer periods of time which offers immediate access for rapid restores. A lot of design considerations have gone into achieving high restore performance from the HP StoreOnce backup systems. HP Data Assurance technology—adding checksums at key stages of the deduplication process ensures very high levels of data integrity.

Automate, simplify, and improve the backup process HP StoreOnce appliances automate the backup processes allowing reduced time spent managing data protection. Implementing hands-free, unattended daily backup is especially valuable for environments with limited IT resources, such as remote or branch offices.

HP StoreOnce appliances can backup multiple servers via a standard Ethernet or Fibre Channel network simultaneously to a disk-based solution at peak speeds of up to 137 TB per hour meaning that substantially reduced backup windows are possible.

HP StoreOnce appliances can be intuitively managed and configured by using the built-in Web browsers administrative interface. For larger deployments of replicating HP StoreOnce appliances, the HP StoreOnce Enterprise Manager can monitor multiple backup systems across geographies. HP StoreOnce systems are self-managing backup appliances that require little, if any, routine maintenance. Unlike other disk-based storage devices, HP StoreOnce systems do not require virus protection or LUN provisioning.

Introducing HP StoreOnce Catalyst HP StoreOnce Catalyst targets are recommended for more complex data protection environments where flexibility of data movement is required. StoreOnce Catalyst can also enable distributed deduplication processing, balancing the load for optimum server, backup appliance and network. HP StoreOnce catalyst can operate in Low bandwidth mode or High bandwidth mode.

HP StoreOnce Catalyst delivers a single, integrated, enterprise-wide deduplication algorithm. It allows the seamless movement of deduplicated data across the enterprise to other StoreOnce Catalyst systems. For more details see Appendix C.

HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for RMAN HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for RMAN delivers complete control of Oracle backup and disaster recovery, enabling DBAs to have confidence in self administered recovery from the local or the DR site—without dependence on a backup administrator. In addition HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for RMAN, provides accelerated backup performance over traditional NFS disk target which have high protocol overhead. When used across large numbers of Oracle application servers each performing source side deduplication the combined effect of distributing the deduplication load also ensures faster overall backup throughput—providing the application servers themselves are sized correctly.

The diagram below shows the two modes of RMAN Catalyst plugin that underpin this technology when the plugin is installed on the Oracle application server. Referred to as Target side deduplication (High Bandwidth backup) or Source side deduplication (Low Bandwidth backup). Both techniques feature Intelligent Oracle data processing where the format of the Oracle database files is understood and optimized for deduplication. In Target side deduplication all the deduplication processing takes place on the HP StoreOnce appliance but all the data has to be transferred across the LAN to do this. In Source side deduplication (Low bandwidth mode) the majority of the deduplication process is performed on the Oracle application server itself and only unique chunks of data are sent over the LAN/WAN to the HP StoreOnce appliance, with significant savings on Network bandwidth required for backup, but at the same time increasing the load on the Oracle appliance server.


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Figure 3. HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin—How it works

The HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin V1.0 for RMAN is currently supported on Oracle 10g & Oracle 11g (R1 & R2) and RAC. The plugin can be installed on:

• Windows 2008 R2 x64_64

• RHEL 5 & 6—x86_64

• Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 & 6—x86_64

The HP StoreOnce appliance needs to be on software V3.9 or later to support this functionality. As wider platform support and features are developed please check hp.com/go/ebs for the latest support details.

Configuration Guidance There is a relationship between throughput and deduplication ratios achieved and certain configuration parameters available in RMAN—for a detailed explanation of these RMAN configuration parameters see Appendix B. A summary of the best practices in this area is shown below.

To increase backup throughput performance

• Use the RMAN ALLOCATE CHANNEL statement to open multiple RMAN channels concurrently.

• Maximum supported Channels = 16. Experiment with this value as its effectiveness also depends on the disk subsystem underpinning the Oracle database.

• If multiple Oracle data bases are to be backed up then using multiple StoreOnce Catalyst stores will improve backup throughput but at the expense of deduplication ratios.

To increase HP StoreOnce data deduplication ratios

• Whilst there are configurable RMAN parameters such as FILESPERSET and MAXOPENFILES that used to make a difference to deduplication ratios when Backing up to NFS shares, the Oracle Intelligent data processing now ensures deduplication ratios are always optimal irrespective of FILESPERSET and MAXOPENFILES values as can be seen in Figure 5 below.

Encryption and compression

• HP StoreOnce does not deduplicate RMAN backup data when RMAN encrypted or compressed backups are enabled because these options will always generate unique data for every backup.

Auto backup for Control File

• If there is not a separate recovery catalog DB, Set the control file AUTOBACKUP ON. Using ‘CONFIGURE CONTROL FILE AUTOBACKUP ON’

http://www.hp.com/go/ebs


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Figure 4. Backup throughput vs RMAN configuration parameters

In Figure 4 we can see the biggest impact on throughput is the number of RMAN channels specified—this is not surprising as the HP StoreOnce appliance backup throughput is directly proportional to the number of simultaneous backup streams sent to it.

In Figure 5 below we see how efficient the HP Intelligent Oracle data processing feature is. Despite changes in MAXOPENFILES and FILESPERSET parameters which introduce “data interleaving” (multiplexing) into the backup data stream—the deduplication ratio is unaffected. This means FILESPERSET and MAXOPENFILES can be tuned to provide better throughput without affecting deduplication ratios. With previous “NFS backup targets” this was not possible.

Figure 5. Deduplication ratios vs RMAN Configuration parameters


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Creating multiple backup copies

The HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN plugin also supports the “copies” directive in RMAN to create up to 4 copies of the backup (including the primary or local copy). If the customer uses the low bandwidth mode for this plugin, these copies can be sent over a WAN to remote sites because in low bandwidth mode only unique data is sent across the network. An initial “seeding” backup/copy to all locations is required but this is a “one-off” occurrence during the very first backup.

Figure 6. Creating multiple backup copies

RMAN reads the database files once but then can copy them to multiple locations in parallel. The copying process will consume more CPU resources on the Oracle application server.

In order to enable this RMAN "Copies" functionality you must set parameter BACKUP_TAPE_IO_SLAVES (in the SPFILE) = TRUE (Default = FALSE).

RMAN Backups to HP StoreOnce Catalyst—in Action

The screenshot below shows the RMAN backups residing on an HP StoreOnce Catalyst store. Please note the following:

• Catalysts stores are available on all StoreOnce appliances as a licensable feature. They can exist along with VTL and NAS store types.

• Two Catalyst Store names have been created one for the local backup and another for the 1st copy. In this example they are both shown residing on the same device.

• Inside the Catalyst store, the backups are held as “Items”. The item names are determined by the RMAN Plugin and cross referenced in the Tag list.

• This example shows the Oracle Control file (much smaller that the Oracle database files) also being sent to the Catalyst store.

• This shows the first backup and associated copy—the deduplication ratio grows over time depending on change rate and retention period.


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Figure 7. Inside an HP StoreOnce Catalyst store

Sizing Guidelines

HP is one of the industry leading platform suppliers for Oracle Databases using HP ProLiant/Integrity and HP Superdome server technologies.

HP also has specific sizing tools for sizing Oracle application servers—please contact your local HP sales representative for more details.

In this whitepaper we will consider 2 sizing scenarios

A. An existing Oracle application server wishing to make use of the HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN plugin technology

B. Sizing a new Oracle application server to take advantage of the HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN plugin technology

When using the HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin in low bandwidth mode (Source side deduplication) then more processing load is placed on the Oracle application server—for existing servers we have to calculate if this extra CPU load can be accommodated whilst still meeting the backup window. If not we can still use the HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN plugin in high bandwidth mode (target side deduplication) and get the benefits of improved deduplication ratios but we will not reduce the network traffic during backup.

For sizing new Oracle application servers we can add extra CPU headroom at the design stage in order to run the HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin in low bandwidth mode. It should be noted however that Enterprise Oracle itself is licensed on CPU cores so there may be an increased Oracle cost but this is offset by the savings in Network bandwidth and backup storage costs associated with using the HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for Oracle RMAN. Multi-core processors are priced as (number of cores)*(multi-core factor) processors, where the multi-core factor is for example 0.5 for AMD & Intel processors.

In Figure 8 there is a general sizing rule based on some in-house testing at HP. The additional CPU load to support the plugin is calculated at 35MB/sec per GHz of CPU, which in the example below allows a 12 core server to deliver a backup throughput of over 5TB/Hr providing we allocate at least 12 channels to the RMAN backup (1 stream per core). This also assumes the backup is taking place at a period of low activity (CPU usage just prior to backup is < 10%). Using the general sizing rule below and the specific CPU capabilities in your existing Oracle application server—calculate if you can meet your backup window in the required amount of time. If you cannot meet the backup window consider using the plugin in high bandwidth (target side deduplication mode)—where minimal additional CPU is required, OR consider an upgrade/refresh to your Oracle application server if you wish to take advantage of the low bandwidth backup (source side deduplication) and network efficient “Copy” mode.


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Figure 8. General sizing rule for Source side deduplication on existing Oracle application servers

If you are designing a new Oracle application server then use the HP Oracle Database sizing tool (see below) and instead of using the default CPU Utilization rate (headroom) of 70% (30% headroom) as shown below—it is recommended to use the value of 50% (50% headroom) to factor in appropriate extra CPU resources to support HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin for Oracle RMAN. Complete the rest of the sizing using the tool and inputting I/O values, users, and transaction loads and the Tool will automatically calculate the required application server type with CPUs and memory taking into account the extra load required for Low bandwidth backup mode using HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN plugin

Figure 9. Sizing for a NEW Oracle application server using HP Database sizing Tool


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Summary

The main benefits of this RMAN catalyst plugin approach are:

• Improved backup throughput by means of

– Catalyst protocol much more efficient than NFS used in basic disk backups of Oracle.

– Distributing the deduplication load across several Oracle application servers rather than having the single backup target doing all the work

– Use the RMAN parameters MAXOPENFILES and FILESPERSET to open multiple Oracle data files simultaneously for increased throughput. Some experimentation may be necessary. See Appendix B for more details.

• Improved deduplication ratios/storage savings by means of the HP intelligent Oracle database file processing included in the plugin.

• Low Bandwidth backups—the StoreOnce deduplication engine now partly resides on the Oracle Appliance server itself and so only the “unique” data needs to be sent to the StoreOnce appliance—hence significantly less bandwidth is used for backup (up to 98% less)

• Up to 3 additional copies of the backup can be made using RMAN “Copies” directive and sent to DR (Disaster recovery) sites.

• For a complete list of supported Oracle host platforms please see hp.com/go/ebs

Some of the other considerations of this approach are:

• The HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN plugin is free of charge and downloadable from the HP Software Kiosk.

• Expiry and retention of the RMAN Backup sets performed manually by Oracle DB Admin—but this is “the norm” with Oracle RMAN backups.

• Some CLI, scripting and MML.conf file construction required—but again this is normal procedure.

• Consideration needs to be given to the additional CPU requirements on the Oracle application server to support the StoreOnce Catalysts plugin and source side deduplication. The sizing approach will vary depending on if the StoreOnce RMAN Catalyst plugin is to be integrated into an existing Oracle application server or one that is being designed for future use.

• HP StoreOnce Catalyst is a licensable feature on HP StoreOnce Backup Appliances.



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Appendix A—Oracle Data Structures

Figure 10. Oracle data structures

Oracle requests data in multiples of Oracle data blocks, not operating system blocks. The standard block size is specified by the DB_BLOCK_SIZE ranging from 2KB to 32 KB. Most frequently used is 8KB. The HP StoreOnce Catalyst plugin is tuned best for block sizes above 8K.

1. Data files: A data file is a physical file on disk that was created by Oracle Database and contains data structures such as tables and indexes. Every database must have at least one data file.

2. Control File: A file that records the physical structure of a database or metadata.

3. Redo Logs/Archive Redo Logs: Redo logs store all changes made to the database as they occur. Every instance of an Oracle Database has an associated redo log to protect the database in case of an instance failure. When ARCHIVELOG mode is enabled, the database will make copies of all online redo logs after they are filled. These copies are called archived redo logs.

4. Recovery Catalog: A recovery catalog is a database schema used by RMAN to store metadata about one or more Oracle databases. Typically, you store the catalog in a dedicated database. A recovery catalog creates redundancy for the control file of each target database. The recovery catalog serves as a secondary metadata repository. If the target control file and all backups are lost, then the RMAN metadata still exists in the recovery catalog.

5. Flash Recovery Area (not shown): The flash recovery area is an Oracle Database managed space that can be used to hold RMAN disk backups, control file autobackups and archived redo log files. The files placed in this location are maintained by Oracle Database and the generated file names are maintained in Oracle Managed Files (OMF) format. One of the primary requirement of online backup (database in transaction mode) is that the database should be in archive mode in order to store the archive redo logs (copies of online redo logs). This means that the flash recovery area needs to be enabled.


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Appendix B—RMAN Configuration parameters

There are some important “tuning parameters” in RMAN that directly affect throughput and deduplication ratios.

ALLOCATE CHANNEL (assume Channel is “backup stream”) RMAN statement to allocate channels to backup device managed by one server session

MAXOPENFILES RMAN ALLOCATE CHANNEL parameter used to specify the maximum number of data files that can be open at a given time for a single allocated channel.

The default value is 8.

FILESPERSET RMAN BACKUP parameter used to specify the number of data files to be written into a backup set.

The default is determined by the number of data files divided by the number of allocated channels.

The default value is 4.

Number of backup sets = number of data files divided by FILESPERSET.

The function of these parameters can best be explained by some schematic diagrams

Figure 11. Tuning RMAN Parameters example 1

In the example above MAXOPENFILES = 3, means 3 database files are open in memory at any one time, these files are transported to the backup device depending on the settings of FILESPERSET parameter and no. of channels allocated. In this example because FILESPERSET=1 the 3 data files in memory are read one at a time and transported to the catalyst store down the single channel that has been allocated. This ensures no multiplexing (interleaving) of the data files into the catalyst store as they are read one at a time in a sequential manner so the order is strictly controlled.

FILESPERSET=1 is strongly recommended in RMAN backups to NFS shares on deduplication appliances because it prevents data file multiplexing where the files could be delivered in a different order each time the backup talks place—which would mean reduced deduplication ratios.

When using the HP StoreOnce RMAN plugin however the intelligent Oracle data processing algorithms allow the user to set FILESPERSET>1 without decreasing the deduplication ratios. FILESPERSET>1 allows more data files to be read from memory simultaneously and therefore improves throughput.

The other parameter that improves throughput is the channels allocation. With all inline deduplication devices the throughput improves in ratio to the number of parallel backup streams. The HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN Plugin supports up to 16 channels. Make this value as high as possible—the value is only really limited by the Oracle application server CPU performance in supplying data at high speed to the number of channels allocated.


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Figure 12. Tuning RMAN Parameters Example 2

In this second example because MAXOPENFILES = 4 we have 4 Oracle data files open in memory, Channels =2 and FILESPERSET =2. This translates into data files 1&2 being sent to channel 1(black) and data files 3&4 being sent to channel 2 (blue). As you can imagine the packaging of data files and the increased number of channels ensures this configuration will give faster throughput.

Backup set/Backup piece A backup set is a backup of one or more data files, control files, server parameter files, and archived redo log files. Each backup set consists of one or more binary files. Each binary file is called a backup piece. Backup pieces are written in a proprietary format that can only be created or restored by RMAN. A backup set usually consists of only one backup piece. RMAN divides the contents of a backup set among multiple backup pieces only if you limit the backup piece size using the MAXPIECESIZE option of the ALLOCATE CHANNEL or CONFIGURE CHANNEL command.


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Appendix C—HP StoreOnce Catalyst overview

HP StoreOnce Backup Appliances support 3 types of devices.

VTL—on FC and iSCSI—used by the more traditional backup software—robust and well proven but rather limited in advanced functionality.

NAS (CIFS & NFS)—For those backup applications that do not support “tape” and inbuilt backup applications like SQL Server inbuilt backup and RMAN. Simple Disk target Network (IP) based Device.

HP StoreOnce Catalyst is a new device type with its own application programming Interface (API)—it allows advanced functionality such as Source side deduplication, Low bandwidth backups, ISV controlled replication (not yet supported with RMAN), high “item*” counts, Better disaster recovery RTO, and Intelligent data processing within the plugins to various applications. Currently HP StoreOnce Catalyst is only supported on LAN or WAN IP based connections. It is a much more efficient protocol than CIFS or NFS and if many application servers or media servers run the Catalyst client software it means the deduplication is federated and overall with the deduplication load distributed—it is possible to achieve overall higher throughput to the StoreOnce appliance which is doing only the matching and storing of the unique data and hence runs faster.

Source side deduplication does require an application server/backup server sizing analysis to take place but most modern day quad, hex or ten core servers can easily handle this extra load. If not the catalyst protocol can be configured as “High bandwidth” and all the deduplication is performed on the StoreOnce appliance itself, but the customer still gets all the other benefits of HP StoreOnce Catalyst such as ISV controlled replication, intelligent data processing, high item counts, better disaster recovery RTO

*item is the terminology used to describe the backup entries within the Catalyst store. See figure 7 for more details

Figure 13. HP StoreOnce Device types


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Appendix D—Sample MML.conf file and RMAN CLI Backup scripts

This appendix shows the details required in creating a working MML.conf file and then the minor changes required to the RMAN configuration parameters to achieve the required functionality

Before using the HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN Plugin, you must use the supplied template configuration file located in the <installdir>/config directory to create your own custom configuration file for each database; rename your configuration files so they do not have the same name as the template file. The template file is a Media Management Library (MML) configuration file in standard JSON format and includes the parameters shown below


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The last parameter shown above backupset_copy_targets refers to the multiple copies feature supported by HP StoreOnce Catalyst RMAN Plugin and will result in from 1 to 3 file additional sets of definitions in the MML.conf files to direct the copies to the appropriate Catalyst stores as shown below:


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"backupset_copy_targets" :

[

{

"catalyst_server_ip" : "__CATALYST_SERVER_NAME_OR_IP__",

"catalyst_store" : "__COPY_STORENAME__",

"catalyst_tag" : "auto",

"catalyst_cmd_protocol_port" : "9387",

"catalyst_data_protocol_port" : "9388",

"catalyst_client_id" : "__CLIENT_ID__",

"payload_checksum" : "ON",

"catalyst_write_mode" : "LOWBANDWIDTH",

"catalyst_lb_thread_count" : "4",

"catalyst_lb_buffer_size" : "20",

"catalyst_hb_buffer_size" : "5"

},

RMAN Configuration parameters The default parameters can be seen below.

The first modification is to change the default device type from DISK to SBT_Tape.


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Then we can run the RMAN backup; in the example shown below we have one “channel” with a pointer to the SBT Library RMAN is to use (The catalyst client libraries) and the Config file to use. Other RMAN parameters specified are MAXOPENFILES= 8 and FILESPERSET=4. Only 1 copy of the backup is made.

The CLI below shows the syntax for a 2nd backup copy to be created.

Comprehensive RMAN scripted example Features: (shown in bold in the script)

• Separate Catalyst stores for Data Files and Archive redo log files using different mml.conf files

• Creation of 8 “channels” (backup streams) to ensure good backup performance for data files, 1 channel for Archive redo files.

• Filesperset = 1 for Data files, files per set =20 for Archive redo files.

• Backup copies = 2

. MAXOPNFILES uses default value of 8

@echo off

@set RMAN_LOG_FILE="c:\cygwin\D2DScripts\oracle_scripts\logs\catalyst_hot_oradb16k8v_backup_%date:~-10,2%%date:~-7,2%%date:~-4,4%_%time:~-11,2%%time:~-8,2%.log"

@if exist %RMAN_LOG_FILE% del %RMAN_LOG_FILE%

@REM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

@REM Log the start of this script.

@REM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

@REM /F "tokens=1*" %%p in ('date /T') do @set DATE=%%p %%q

@REM /F %%p in ('time /T') do @set DATE=%DATE% %%p

@echo ==== started on %DATE% ==== >> %RMAN_LOG_FILE%

@echo Script name: %0 >> %RMAN_LOG_FILE%

@set ORACLE_HOME=O:\app\administrator\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1

@set ORACLE_SID=oradb16k8v

@set CMD=%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\sqlplus.exe /nolog

@set TARGET_CONNECT_STR=sys/Cangetin


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@set RMAN=%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\rman.exe

@set CATALOG_CONNECT_STR=rman/rman

@set CAT_SID=rcvcat

@set SBT_LIB=c:\PROGRA~1\Hewlett-Packard\HP_Catalyst_RMAN_Plugin\bin\libstoreoncerman.dll

@set DATA_CONF_FILE=oradb16k8v_mml.conf

@set ARC_CONF_FILE=oradb16k8v_arc_mml.conf

@(

echo RUN {

echo ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch00 TYPE SBT_TAPE

echo PARMS 'SBT_LIBRARY=%SBT_LIB% ENV=(CONFIG_FILE=%DATA_CONF_FILE%^^^)'

echo FORMAT 'DF_CH00_%%U';






















echo BACKUP

echo COPIES 2

echo FILESPERSET 1

echo DATABASE;

echo sql 'alter system archive log current';

echo RELEASE CHANNEL ch00;



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echo }

) | %RMAN% target %TARGET_CONNECT_STR%@%ORACLE_SID% catalog %CATALOG_CONNECT_STR%@%CAT_SID% msglog '%RMAN_LOG_FILE%' append

@(

echo RUN {


echo PARMS 'SBT_LIBRARY=%SBT_LIB% ENV=(CONFIG_FILE=%ARC_CONF_FILE%^^^)'

echo FORMAT 'AL_CH00_%%U';

echo BACKUP

echo FILESPERSET 20

echo ARCHIVELOG ALL DELETE INPUT;


echo }

) | %RMAN% target %TARGET_CONNECT_STR%@%ORACLE_SID% catalog %CATALOG_CONNECT_STR%@%CAT_SID% msglog '%RMAN_LOG_FILE%' append

@SET ERRLEVEL=%errorlevel%

@if %ERRLEVEL% NEQ 0 goto err

@set LOGMSG=ended successfully

@if "%STATUS_FILE%" EQU "" goto end

@echo 0 > "%STATUS_FILE%"

@goto end

:err

@set LOGMSG=ended in error

@if "%STATUS_FILE%" EQU "" goto end

@echo 1 > "%STATUS_FILE%"

:end

@REM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

@REM Log the completion of this script.

@REM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

@for /F "tokens=1*" %%p in ('date /T') do @set DATE=%%p %%q


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© Copyright 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Microsoft is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. AMD is a trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

4AA5-0684ENW, January 2014

@for /F %%p in ('time /T') do @set DATE=%DATE% %%p

@echo %0 >> %RMAN_LOG_FILE%

@echo ==== %LOGMSG% on %DATE% ==== >> %RMAN_LOG_FILE%

@endlocal

@REM End of Main Program -----------------------------------------------------

For more information

HP StoreOnce Backup hp.com/go/storeonce

HP StoreEver Tape hp.com/go/storeever; hp.com/go/tape

For RMAN Plugin support matrix use HP Enterprise Backup Solutions Guide hp.com/go/ebs

Oracle RMAN docs.oracle.com/cd/E11882_01/backup.112/e10642/rcmconfb.htm

Oracle Licensing orafaq.com/wiki/Oracle_licensing#Standard_Edition_Per-socket_licensing

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