Dec 22, 2008 11:58 am DPM 2007 SP1 released

Microsoft has just released DPM 2007 SP1 (Version 2.0.8793.0…released on 12/19/2008). You can find the update here along with other information pertaining to the update. Notable fixes/changes in SP1 include:

• Protection for Hyper-V
• Enhanced support for Windows Sharepoint Services (WSS) and Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS)
• Support for Exchange Server Standby Continuous Replication
• Support for Mirrored SQL server databases
• Support for Cross-forest Data Protection with a Two-way trust
• Support for migrating DPM servers and data sources

…along with a slew of other stuff. NOTE: This update will require a reboot of your DPM server and protected clients. Clients can continue backing up normally without a reboot (however the agents MUST BE UPDATED before snapshots can continue), however you should schedule time to perform this soon after updating your agents to avoid issues.

One of the most exciting features of SP1 is direct protection of Hyper-V. Here is a video from TechNet discussing this particular feature:

DPM 2007 SP1 — Protecting Hyper-V

Tags: DPM

Dec 16, 2008 10:46 am DPM 2007 Health Model

Microsoft recently released this Technet article outlining the DPM 2007 alerts and typical resolution procedures. Very handy if you run across an error that you haven’t seen before…this will at least get you pointed in the right direction. You can find the health model here. Here are a few of the resolutions that may be useful:

• DPM Alert - Replica disk threshold exceeded (3100)
• DPM Alert - Agent not reachable (3122)
• DPM Alert - End-user recovery permissions update failed (3123)
• DPM Alert - Failed to stop protection (3116)
• DPM Alert - Recovery failure (3111)
• DPM Alert - Recovery point creation failed (3114)
• DPM Alert - Replica is inconsistent (3106)
• DPM Alert - Synchronization failures (3115)
• DPM Alert - Unable to configure protection (3170)
• DPM Alert - Recovery Point Volume threshold exceeded (3169)

Tags: DPM

Dec 16, 2008 9:53 am DPM default space allocation formulas

When protecting a Data Source in DPM, you have the option to define your own Replica Volume and Recovery Point Volume sizes or to use the default sizes determined by DPM. Typically, the default sizes provide significant room for growth without gross overallocation of resources (though I tend to find they allocate more space than necessary…I prefer to manually allocate slightly more than the Data Source size and run an “autogrow” script to thin-provision resources. You can find out how to autogrow space here). Below are the algorithms used by DPM to determine how much space to allocate to a Data Source.

Replica volume

For files: (Data source size x 3) / 2

For Exchange data: Data source size x (1 + log change) / (alert threshold - .05) Note: Log change is assumed to be 6%. Alert threshold typically 90%.

For SQL Server data: Data source size x (1 + log change) / (alert threshold - .05) Note: Log change is assumed to be 6%. Alert threshold typically 90%.

For Windows SharePoint Services data: Total size of all databases/ (alert threshold - .05) Note: Log change is assumed to be 10%. Alert threshold typically 90%.

For Virtual Server data: Data source size x 1.5

For system state: (Data source size x 3) / 2 Note: Data source size is assumed to be 1GB for Windows 2003 and 10GB for Windows 2008

Recovery point volume

For files: (Data source size x retention range in days x 2) / 100 + 1600 MB Note: Retention range is assumed to be 5

For Exchange data: 4.0 x retention range in days x log change x data source size + 1600 MB Note: Log change is assumed to be 6% and retention range is assumed to be 5

For SQL Server data: 2.5 x retention range in days x log change x data source size + 1600 MB Note: Log change is assumed to be 6% and retention range is assumed to be 5

For Windows SharePoint Services data: 1.5 x retention range in days x log change x total size of all databases + 1600 MB Note: Log change is assumed to be 10% and retention range is assumed to be 5

For Virtual Server data: (Data source size x retention range in days x 0.02) + 1600 MB Note: Retention range is assumed to be 5

For system state: (Data source size x retention range in days x 2) / 100 + 1600 MB Note: Retention range is assumed to be 5

Change journal (for file protection only)

300MB stored on each volume on the protected server

When you are creating a Protection Group (or adding a Data Source to an existing Protection Group), in the modify disk allocation dialog box, these are the algorithms that are used to determine the initial disk allocation based on the volume that the Data Source is on. To apply these algorithms to the actual Data Source, click the calculate button and DPM will poll the client and determine the actual Data Source allocation based on that particular Data Source size and its corresponding formula (which can take a while).

Keep in mind that once you allocation space to a Data Source and commit the settings, you cannot decrease the space allocated. The only way to remove space from a Data Source is to remove protection for it and then setup protection again.

Tags: DPM

Dec 15, 2008 1:14 pm Become a DPM hero!

You can download an evaluation copy of DPM from http://dpmheroes.com/ and register to win an Xbox 360 and a Heroes Season Two DVD (yeah…i know).

Also, if you are a Microsoft Partner, you can watch an overview video of DPM, answer a few questions, and qualify for one free retail copy of DPM and one DPM EML (Enterprise Management License) worth something like $1300! Visit this link, http://microsoft.mrmpslc.com/dpmassessmenttool/, sign in, watch the video, and take the quiz to qualify.

Tags: DPM