Re: [Info-Ingres] Ingres and Dell-Equalogic SAN

[Database Administrator]

Here's how our Ingres/snapshot backups work, as best as I can explain it

We have 2 servers, a database server and a backup server (both Linux Itanium).

The backup server initiates the backups by calling a script on the database server via ssh.

The script on the database server then calls 'ckpdb', and monitors the output, waiting for
the 'Finished stall of database' message. Once the stall is detected, the ckpdb routine is paused
and the script tells the backup server it's time to create a snapshots.
After the snapshots are created, (a few seconds), the database server 'unpauses' the ckpdb which
does basically nothing else but writes to logs and exits.

The snapshot/clones are then mounted on the backup server, and the data copied to tape.
This removes the backup I/O overhead away from the database server.

Hope most or some of this makes sense.

Andre

________________________________

From: Martin Bowes [mailto:martin.bowes@ctsu.ox.ac.uk]
Sent: November 4, 2008 5:25 AM
To: Ingres and related product discussion forum
Cc: Laframboise, André
Subject: RE: [Info-Ingres] Ingres and Dell-Equalogic SAN



Hi Andre,



This SAN has a grpadmin account which owns the thing and a CLI from which I can issue commands to the SAN. I thought it might be easiest for Ingres to control the backup, and to get to the CLI it simply does:

ssh grpadmin@my_SAN command



As for root owning the SAN, did you consider a sudo script with ingres given permission to execute some commands?



The backups definitly look straight forward, but the recoveries are trickier. I'm thinking that the entire iSCSI initiator thing may best be handled like changing a tape, put up the prompt in PRTD and assume its been done in WRTD.



Marty

From: info-ingres-bounces@kettleriverconsulting.com [mailto:info-ingres-bounces@kettleriverconsulting.com] On Behalf Of Laframboise, André
Sent: 03 November 2008 17:42
To: Ingres and related product discussion forum
Subject: Re: [Info-Ingres] Ingres and Dell-Equalogic SAN



Hi Marty,



I do something similar except we use HP business copy to create clones on our SAN.



Typical SAN level commands have to run as root so I had to write a wrapper script that

runs as root and calls ckpdb with a modified cktmpl.def file.



The backup is straight forward but for the restore, the WRTD runs a delay/looping script

that causes the follwarddb to 'pause' while I manually restore the database files.



Andre



________________________________

From: info-ingres-bounces@kettleriverconsulting.com [mailto:info-ingres-bounces@kettleriverconsulting.com] On Behalf Of Martin Bowes
Sent: November 3, 2008 10:08 AM
To: Ingres and related product discussion forum
Subject: [Info-Ingres] Ingres and Dell-Equalogic SAN

Hi All,



I'm trying to make Ingres do backup and recoveries on a Dell Equalogic SAN.



It looks like a simple matter of creating and restoring snapshots, by monkeying with the right points of the cktmpl.def.



It seems simple enough to do the backup, but the restore is a tad more entertaining. In particular the Dell Manual states:

Before restoring a volume from a snapshot, be sure to disconnect any iSCSI initiators from the volume. Otherwise, the restored volume may be corrupted when initiators reconnect to it.



My plan on recovery was to get the tape based template commands to do the job. So I'd have to get the WRTD: to do the deed probably via a script to ensure we disconnect the iSCSI, and then do the restore from the snapshot.



Does anyone have an idea on how to do this from a script? Or should I just get the PRTD to echo a message prompting me to do this and not continuing until the RETURN key is hit in the WRTD?



Martin Bowes