CommCell Logical Architecture

A CommCell environment consists of one CommServe host, and any number of

MediaAgents and clients. There is also a logical architecture to a CommCell, which can be
defined in two main areas, production data being used by servers and computers in the
enterprise, and protected data which has been backed up, archive, or replicated to storage
media.

Logical Management of Production Data

A CommCell environment employs a logical management of production data, which is
designed in a hierarchical tree structure. Production data is managed using agents, which
interface natively with the file system or application and can be configured based on specific
functionality of data being protected. Data within these agents is grouped into backup sets.
Within the backup set, one or more subclients can be used to map to specific data.

Component Description

client A computer for which software agents are protecting data.

Commvault A software component that is installed to protect a specific type of

Agent data on a client, for example, Windows File System, Oracle
databases, and so on.

backup set One or more logical groupings of subclients, which are the
containers of all of data managed by the agent. For some agents,
this might be called an archive set or replication set. For a database
agent, the equivalent of a backup set is generally a database
instance.

subclient A logical container that identifies and manages specific production

data (drives, folders, databases, mailboxes) to be protected.

storage A logical data management entity with rules that define the lifecycle
policy management of the protected data in a subclient's content.

Logical Management of Protected Data

The software utilizes a data protection strategy based on logical policies. The flexibility
gained from policy driven data protection and management is the ability to group data
based on protection and retention needs, rather than by the physical location of the data,
which greatly simplifies the organization and management of protected data.
In a CommCell environment, subclients define the actual data that will be protected.
Subclients can contain an entire server, drive, folders, database, user mailboxes, virtual
machines, or even document repositories. The data defined in these subclients is protected
through backup, archive, or snapshot operations into protected storage. Once in protected
storage, the data from these subclients can be independently managed regardless of what
production server they came from.
A storage policy manages subclient data based on business requirements, even when the
subclients' content resides on different servers in the CommCell. It defines a specific set of
rules to manage the associated data; which data will be protected (which subclients); where
it will reside (the data path and library); how long it will be kept (retention settings); and
other media management options such as deduplication, compression, and encryption of
the data in protected storage. The first storage policy defines the primary copy of the
backed up data, which can be stored on local libraries for quick access. Additional copies of
the backed data can be automatically created from existing copies already in the protected
storage environment, to other libraries and locations for consolidation, auditing, business
continuity, or ease of out-of-place recovery.
Examples:
 A project may have different types of data that resides on numerous servers and
storage devices. Agents for each type of data are installed, and subclients are defined
to access the data in all of its locations. All of these subclients can be associated with a
single storage policy to manage the business related data as a single entity.
 Financial and legal data from different servers or locations can be combined into a
storage policy for compliance reasons. Databases can be managed in a storage policy
and sent to a disaster recovery location. User files can be kept in an on-site copy for
quick file recovery.

The logical management of data provides the flexibility to meet any specific needs in your
enterprise.

What Is Backup and Recovery?

Backup and recovery describes the process of creating and storing copies of data
that can be used to protect organizations against data loss. This is sometimes
referred to as operational recovery. Recovery from a backup typically involves
restoring the data to the original location, or to an alternate location where it can be
used in place of the lost or damaged data.

A proper backup copy is stored in a separate system or medium, such as tape, from
the primary data to protect against the possibility of data loss due to primary
hardware or software failure.

Why Backup and Recovery Is Important

The purpose of the backup is to create a copy of data that can be recovered in the
event of a primary data failure. Primary data failures can be the result of hardware or
software failure, data corruption, or a human-caused event, such as a malicious
attack (virus or malware), or accidental deletion of data. Backup copies allow data to
be restored from an earlier point in time to help the business recover from an
unplanned event.

Storing the copy of the data on separate medium is critical to protect against primary
data loss or corruption.

Roles Overview
A role is a collection of permissions that defines the level of access granted to a user or a
user group. Permissions allow users to perform tasks such as performing backup, restore,
and administrative operations (for example, license administration) on entities. To use role-
based security, you must create a security association between users or user groups, a role,
and entities.
A role can be a part of as many security associations as needed, but each security
association can only have one role.
Commvault offers predefined roles that address typical security needs. These roles can be
customized by the administrator. For example, the predefined Compliance role includes the
permissions needed to use the Compliance Search feature.

File System Backup and Restore Workflow

The Demo_FileSystemBackupRestore workflow is a predefined workflow which allows you to back up
data from a client and restore it to a specified destination. Backup and restore operations are
performed on demand.

This workflow can be manually executed from the CommCell Console. It is useful when you want to
protect sensitive data from a client in the CommCell.

Aside from running the workflow on demand, you can also automate it as follows if you want to
continuously protect your data:

 scheduling the workflow to run at specific times

 calling out the workflow (as an XML file) in your automation scripts.

How Does It Work?

This predefined workflow automates the following operations:
1. Backs up data from a specified folder in a client computer.

During the backup operation, the workflow uses the storage policy associated to the
default subclient of the selected client.
2. Restores the backed up data to the same or different client (also known as in-place
and out-of-place restore).
3. When the backup and restore operations are successful, the workflow sends an email
the user that executed the workflow.

If the backup or restore fail, it sends a message to the Job Controller indicating the job
ID of the operation.

Procedure
1. From the CommCell Browser, go to Workflows.
2. Right-click Demo_FileSystemBackupRestore and then click All Tasks > Execute.
3. Select the workflow engine from the Run workflow on list and enter the value of the
following variables in the Value column:
o For the client input, select the client containing the data that you want to
back up.
o For the restoreClient input, select the client where you want to restore the
data.
o For the sourcePath input, enter the path of the data to be backed up.
o For the destinationPath input, enter the path to the folder where the data
will be restored.
4. Click OK.

You can track the progress of the workflow job from the Job Controller. You will see a
job for each activity in the workflow, for example, backup, restore.
5. Once you receive an email indicating that the workflow was successful, verify that the
backed up files and folders are available in the restore destination.
Storage Administrator Responsibilities and Duties

Install, configure as well as maintain storage hardware backup inclusive of physical plus
virtual tape libraries or drives along with disk storage targets.
Ensure to install as well as configure NetBackup customer software on UNIX or Linux as
well as Windows systems.
Perform activities related to install, configure and managing SAN devices and fiber
switches.
Administer Brocade director FC switches as well as blade chassis FC devices.
Execute FC zoning for development and production storage volumes.
Manage NetApp snapshot as well as recovery methods for storage volumes.
Execute across-site replication of significant DR data.
Supervise volume replication overnight jobs and execute improvements.
Oversee IO performance of production along with development of databases LUNs.
Provide architecture as well as performance recommendations to DBAs and Ops.
Conduct bottleneck evaluation to identify performance issues.
Ensure backup methods are in place as well as tested for FC LUNs.
Develop and maintain records for entire storage as well as FC systems.
Administer entire server systems.
Collaborate with DBA as well as Ops to assure apt storage usage.