Data Protection Manager 2007 beta 2 (July 31, 2007)
Chat Topic: Data Protection Manager 2007 beta 2
Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity
Christian (Moderator):
Hello everyone and welcome to today’s Data Protection Manager 2007 beta 2 chat!
Christian (Moderator):
Please feel free to send you questions and remember to check the “ask the experts” box before sending. Thanks!
Start of Chat
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I'd like to use USB disk instead of tape for offsite and long term archival... will this be in DPM 2007, or is Tape still my only option for moving data outside the DPM pool?
A: We have a partner solution (Cristalink's Firestreamer) that works with DPM and will allow DPM to backup to a USB disk. This works with Beta2 itself. The partner page has more details on this.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: After adding a job to backup an SQL database, how do you modify the backup schedule?
A: You need to go to the Protection pane, select the Protected group and modify protection group. This will launch the same wizard that you used to create the protection group. You can then modify the schedules as required.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: With the disk to disk feature, is there a requirement for the storage pools to be presented locally or can a NAS be used?
A: The storage pool has to reside on a disk that "appears" to be local to the DPM server. So you can use a NAS device as an iSCSI target but not as-is.
Jon [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: What is the schedule for completion of the documentation? There are areas that have place holders in both the DOCs and the Help files.
A: The documentation will be complete by RTM. If you have specific questions, please let us know.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I found the tape device/library management interface to be a bit clunky. When many tape drives are used the interface is not very user friendly. Are there any plans to change this so that tape device and library management are simplified?
A: Jon, this is good feedback and thank you for sharing this with us. Could we take start a discussion thread on this so that i can better understand your concerns and see when/how we can address them? Please send me mail at vijaysenATmicrosoftDOTcom.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I found the tape device/library management interface to be a bit clunky. When many tape drives are used the interface is not very user friendly. Are there any plans to change this so that tape device and library management are simplified?
A: we have made some changes in this area post beta2. in the final version, offline drives will be removed. also, any offline libraries that are not referenced by a Protected group will also be removed from the UI (actually this was the case for beta2 also).
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How many Share Point Portal Servers can co-exist and co-managed by DPM?
A: i assume you want to know how many WSS 3.0/MOSS 2007 farms a DPM server can protect. Well, the short answer is that it depends. it depends on your disk throughput and the network throughput. So, if you are using a 64 bit DPM server you could potentially protect about a 100 farms provided you don’t max out on your disk throughput or the network throughput
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: When will the DPM be available for purchase?
A: It will be available in the last quarter of 2007.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Are all elements of a MOSS 2007 farm protected with DPM 2007? Are there any special requirements for additional services, such as Excel Services, Search, etc? Should we still use the product backup or stsadm.exe to backup metadata, search ACLs, etc?
A: DPM will be able to protect the SharePoint content databases and the config databases. we are currently investigating if/how we can support recovering SSPs and indexes
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: If the DPM server seems to be reasonably idle most of the time can it host other Server applications for small businesses with limited equipment resources or does it have to be dedicated to just backup?
A: We typically recommend a dedicated DPM server as it is known to have some interop issues with other roles like Domain Controller or Sharepoint. It has been tested as a standalone server but we know some customers to run some file/print workloads on the same server.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Hi all, how is it possible to use a SQL Server instance for DPM from a remote server. We have lots of customers with consolidated SQL Servers and they dont want to install an additional SQL Server Instance for DPM
A: During the setup of DPM, you can specify to use an existing SQL instance. The SQL instance has to be named Microsoft$DPM$. The step by step guide is covered in the setup documentation.
Jon [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Any plans for a new build in Connect.microsoft.com in august?
A: Currently, we don't have any plans for a refresh in August.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Does MS plan on making a DPM calculator available? We have a rather complex backup strategy with varying SLA's making it difficult to determine that actual disk space required.
A: Thank you for the feedback. A storage calculator for DPM is under development. We will share it publicly soon. Till then, the defaults provided in the DPM's Protection Wizard are a good starting point.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Resubmitting w/ "Ask the experts." - Will Sharepoint and Exchange function prior to the DPM release? We've struggled with both technologies and haven't been succfully backing up either. -Even with the proposed hotfix(es).
A: What versions of Exchange & Sharepoint are you using? Please send a mail to ksanand AT microsoft DOT com with details of the problems you are facing. We will help you troubleshoot.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Resubmitting w/ "Ask the experts." - Will Sharepoint and Exchange function prior to the DPM release? We've struggled with both technologies and haven't been succfully backing up either. -Even with the proposed hotfix(es).
A: I apologize for the issues you have been facing. Can you send me mail at vijaysenATmicrosoftDOTcom so that we can work with you to figure out the issues you are facing? it is our goal to have protection for SharePoint and Exchange working with Beta2 itself.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: @Karandeep Anand: I know this setting, but i dont want a dedicated Instance for DPM, just selecting an existing instance to attach the DPM DB, is this possible?
A: This is not possible as DPM needs multiple DBs and some security settings on the SQL Instance. Hence, it creates a dedicated instance. We can consider this for future releases - please do add this through the Connect website as feedback.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: After editing a word document from a sharepoint i can't save it on a sharepoint website. Why?
A: Are you seeing this issue when you use DPM, or is this a general issue being faced with SharePoint?
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: After editing a word document from a sharepoint i can't save it on a sharepoint website. Why?
A: Is this in the context of DPM? If it is just for Sharepoint, I'm not sure if there are experts available here to address this question.
Jon [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can a USB 2.0 Drive be used for DPM Storage Pool Drive...I have the Logical C:Drive with DPM installed on it then i want to use the USB Drive for the storage pool is this possible.
A: There exists various partner solutions existing for DPM including one which allows you to back up to removable disks. If you go to our website http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/dpm/partners/default.mspx you will see the list of partners.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Hi, i found the reporting on the synchronization jobs a bit poor in contrast to for example DFSR reporting, any plans on providing better reporting on this one? reporting the file types would also be nice, had some users uploading cd's resuling large sync
A: Thanks for the feedback. Can you provide specific examples of what you'd like to see through the Connect website feedback form? This will help us track & triage it. Also, for DPM 2007 we will allow for users to create custom reports by making the database schema available.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Will the DPM server be supported as a virtual server instance?
A: It is supported as a Virtual Server instance but typically not recommended for large installations due to lower disk I/O performance.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will it be possible to configure a backup policy with DPM v2 that allows an hourly backup to disk synced with production and a nightly backup (full or diff) that is immediately written onto tape to an attached robot?
A: Yes, this is definitely possible. create a Protected group that selects the option to perform short term backup to disk. set the sync frequency to 1 hour. Then walk through the wizard and go to the Long term tape screen and select the option to perform DAILY full backups (and specify the required retention range).
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: adam washburn asked the experts: Can a USB 2.0 Drive be used for DPM Storage Pool Drive...I have the Logical C Drive with DPM installed on it then i want to use the USB Drive for the storage pool is this possible.
A: No, this is not possible. USB disks cannot be natively used by DPM as DPM blocks out USB/Firewire disks due to stability issues. If you are using USB disk as a tape replacement (through partner solutions like Cristalink), then you can use this.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there anywhere a white paper about DPM and MOSS
A: We are currently working on the content for MOSS with DPM. Is there a specific question you have on protecting MOSS?
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can low cost NAS drives like Buffalo be used as the backup repository for DPM?
A: Unfortunately not. DPM cannot use a NAS disk for the storage pool (to create replicas and recovery points).
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Does data protection manager allow for restore of backup to dissimilar hardware.
A: I am assuming this is in the context of bare metal restore? If yes, then DPM will be able to restore to hardware which is dissimilar in certain aspects e.g. disk drives, memory, network cards etc but not for all dissimilar hardware e.g. motherboard/CPU.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: What is the best way to estimate how much space will be needed on the DPM server for each additional backup point? Is looking at traditional incremental sizes a dec
A: The best way to estimate the space requirement is to use the DPM recommended space allocation in the Protection Wizard. This has defaults for different workloads i.e. file, SQL & Exchange. In addition, we will make a storage calculator available at a later point for more advanced calculations.
Marc (Expert):
Q: Does DPM support VMWare based virtual machines as backup clients?
A: DPM does not support VMWare natively, however DPM does provide a pre/post script feature allowing you to run a script before and after a backup inorder to take the necessary actions to backup the app safely
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: What does DPM backup in a VHD file? The whole thing or just elements within it (like Exchange and SQL)?
A: if you protect the data within the guest, then you can protect the individual data sources. for this you need to install the DPM agent on the GUEST itself. however, if you want, you can protect the VMs themselves by installing the agent on the HOST. in this case, the entire VM will be protected. Note that DPM will only perform block level (changes) backups for the VMs.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: From the standpoint of lower end Mid-size down to small business what are some configuration options for small implementations of DPM 2007 in terms of hardware and storage to host DPM and server, application and desktop backups that are supported?
A: For lower end mid-size & small business environments, DPM can be the end to end backup solution. You can use a standard server hardware for the DPM server and then use SATA disks (direct attached storage) or iSCSI targets (for larger installations). You will be able to configure protection of most MS apps with DPM in the small/medium business and will have the ability to create pre-scripts for applications that are not natively supported. Hope this helps.
Marc (Expert):
Q: If DPM needs ese.dll and eseutil.exe for Exchange, why doesn't DPM supply it? Coping it from Exchange results in a static file that presumably won't be updated over time. Also, a 32-bit DPM requires I use an old Exchange DVD to copy them from.
A: there are legal reasons why DPM cant redistribute Exchange components
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: I find SystemState backups to run once and post "Repica is inconsistent" all the time. I schedule a 6:00 AM consistancy check everyday, but it never fixes it. A manual consistency check will fix it for the day. Anyone else have this problem?
A: Can you check the production server for any NTBackup job failures? To troubleshoot this, we'll need more information. Can you post this on the DPM newsgroup for additional support?
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: I have tried to backup our Exchange 2007 Store servers using Beta2, and have yet been successful getting the initial copy. Is there a trick that I am missing?
A: What error do you get during backup? Any other details you can share?
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I have tried to backup our Exchange 2007 Store servers using Beta2, and have yet been successful getting the initial copy. Is there a trick that I am missing?
A: is there a specific error you are seeing? the beta newsgroups is a great place to get help on such issues. one common issue i have seen customers face is that they have the incorrect version of eseutil on the DPM. to verify this, remove the DPM setting to perform the eseutil consistency check after backup and see if your initial copy creation works.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: How does DPM back up itself? You can only select the DPM database to backup, not the C$, D$, SysState of the DPM server itself. That does not make sense!
A: DPM will ship with DPMBackup.exe to backup the replicas on the DPM server itself. Other than that, DPM's state is maintained in the DPM database which you can backup. To recover a DPM server, you would need a fresh installation of DPM and then recover the DPM DB to get the state backup.
Marc (Expert):
Q: What is "sychronize ever x mintues" do? It doesn't seem to backup to DPM, but maybe just to VSS in preparation for a recovery point? If so, why not just use "sychronize before recovery point"? Maybe every 15 mintues is more effiecent for the target mach?
A: every 15 mins DPM will grab the t-logs from the application e.g. Exchange being protected and move those to the DPM server giving you the ability to recover to that point in time
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: why would DPM not be a good solution for end to end backup in a large organization?
A: It is a great solution for end to end backup in large organizations as well for all Microsoft workloads i.e. file, SQL, Exchange etc. As a lot of large organizations also have non Microsoft platforms, DPM does not support those. Hope this clarifies.
Jon [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: adam washburn: So in response to the partner solution link you gave http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/dpm/partners /default.mspx....you are sayin it has to be one of the drive types listed below for it to work?
A: I should have been clearer. Take a look at the Cristalink solution whitepaper: http://www.cristalink.com/Default.aspx They have a solution for USB drives.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: If you have a vhd file of 10GB with 5GB used and run a host based backup (vss backup of vhd) will it consume 10GB or 5GB?
A: What is the size of the VHD file on disk? If it is 10 GB, DPM will consume 10 GB. If it is 5 GB and set to grow automatically to 10 GB, then it will consume 5 GB.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: DPM doesnt' seem to backup itself. How do I backup its own SQL server database? Its own SystemState?
A: DPM 2007 beta 2 allows for backing up the SQL DB on the DPM server itself. In addition, DPM will ship with DPMBackup.exe to allow backing up other data from the DPM server itself.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Reporting on how many files changed, how many bytes changed, compression rate, file type, this could assist in finetuning replication jobs over WAN-links. At a certain time I encountered large sync jobs due to index files (*.cdx), I filtered them out...
A: This is good feedback. Not all of this is in the DPM database for you to write custom reports either. Please do enter this feedback on the Connect website so that we can consider it for the next update/release.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: What is the difference between DFS & DPM? What would be better to implement for file servers only for RO
A: DFS is typically used for high availability whereas DPM is used for data protection. If you want the ability to be able to recover from multiple points in times (since the synched copy will have a file deleted when the file is deleted from the source), then you need to consider a backup solution like DPM.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: is it going to be possible to upgrade Beta2 to the released version? or will we have to uninstall the beta first?
A: Yes, there will be an upgrade path from beta2 to the final release.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Can DPM run across a spanned volume using dynamic disks on WS2K3 Ent and if so, can additional disks be added to increase capacity of the volume and what if any affects will fragmentation have over time? (and thanks for reminding to check ask the experts)
A: DPM can host its storage pool across multiple dynamic disks. You can additional disks as needed to increase the capacity of DPM's storage pool. DPM will automatically span the protection volumes (replica volumes) across newly added disks. We haven't seen any significant performance impact due to fragmentation.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is there a release date for RC1?
A: None yet. We will announce the date for RC (limited release only) on the newsgroup as soon as it is available. I don't have an ETA today to share.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: What's the easiest way for me to get ese.dll and eseutil.exe 32bit?
A: Can you send me an email on ksanand AT microsoft DOT com for this?
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I get a short-term backup every two hours of my SQL database (6am-6pm). I do not have a tape device installed on my server and when I try to create a backup the long term is grayed out. Am I getting good backups and will I be able to do a complete restore.
A: Yes, the reason your long term backup is greyed out is because you dont have the tape drive. if the protection state for your database shows up as green you should be good to go. Here are some things you could do to verify your data is being backed up :- 1) check how many recovery points are available. go to the protection pane, select the DB and see the details at the bottom (or go to the Recovery UI and browse). 2) perform some test restores. you can restore this data base to the alternate location and mount it and run DBCC on it to verify the integrity.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Seeing how DPM can't keep ese.dll and eseutil.exe for Exchange up to date, what am I to do? Look at the two files every week to see if they have been patched? And must I also keep a 32-bit Exchange running and patched simply to keep DPM up to date?
A: Valid feedback. DPM will start tracking the version of the eseutil.exe and notify you of the version mismatch. We are looking at better ways to address this in future.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: So if i use that cristalink download then when i go into the DPM Manager it should notice my USB Drive?
A: In essence, yes. The step by step guide is available on their website on how to set this up. The link is available on DPM partner page (www.microsoft.com/dpm)
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: is it possible to backup both the system state and the c:\ drive ? whenever I try to backup the C drive I get a warning from DPM that you cannot then restore system files or system state.
A: Yes, you can do that. You would need to select System State for backup in addition to backing up of C:.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I want to Know how DPM can protect MOSS Server Farms and what are the benefit to do it and how I can do IT
A: DPM can protect a MOSS farm. The benefits are that DPM protects your entire farm (content and config databases) with a very easy workflow. DPM will coordinate backing up all the required databases for you. in the recovery flow, dpm will support full farm recovery, content database recovery, site recovery and in the final release item level recovery also. to protect a share point farm, you need to get a hotfix first that fixes some sharepoint issues. please write to a-jonjenATmicrosoftDOTcom and he will provide you with the hotfix and steps to perform to get your protection started.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: I believe SystemState backups is not incremental, but rather a full backup each time. If so, then I guess the only benefit in using DPM is easier mangement (but it won't save on disk space). Is this correct?
A: That is correct. In this version, DPM is a good consolidated backup & management solution on top of existing system state backup technology.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Microsoft Home Server does a full backup of attached workstations then incremental backups. It can then do a bare metal restore of any workstation in minutes. Is this available in DPM for servers and workstations?
A: Something similar will be available with the RTM version of DPM 2007. This tool will work with both servers and XP clients.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: How easy, or difficult would it be to move DPM to another server. I am using beta 2 on a test server and when the final release comes out I will put it on another server. Will I loose any backups I have created? Will I have to reconfigure everything?
A: You will not be able to migrate your shadow copies i.e. older backup copies on disk if you move servers. Other than that, you will be able to copy the replicas & DPM's database (configuration information) to the new DPM server.
Marc (Expert):
Q: Are there any business partners that will be hosting DPM to allow off-site replication to a secondary server
A: a DPM server can backup (replicate to) another DPM server out of box, and we have seen interest from partners to provide this as a service.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Regarding eseutil, if you backup an Exchange 2003 server on a DPM Server X64 should I copy the 32-bit eseutil files from Exchange 2003 or the ones from Exchange 2007?
A: Use the eseutil version from Exchange 2003.
Marc (Expert):
Q: Will MSFT be expanding the list of supported tape libraries with the RTM version?
A: the list of compatible libraries will continue to grow and we will work with any interested vendor in the market space
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: DPM allows me to "sychronize ever x mintues" on users Documents. Is there any reason to do this when I only create restore points 3 times a day? Or should I sychronize "Just Before Recovery Point" instead.
A: You can do either. The reason for synchronizing every X minutes is that in the worst case (server crash), you will not lose data any older than X minutes even if you haven't created a recovery point as you can always manually create a recovery point using the latest data on the DPM server. If you have less stringent data loss requirements, then you can select the "just before recovery point" option.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: My storage pool is on a stripe set in a SAN, the vendor recommends an alignment of 64 sectors, as the volumes are created by DPM itself, does DPM take this in account meaning, is there already an alignment foreseen?
A: DPM does not take this in to account. DPM creates the volumes using the sector size that VSS is optimized for.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: once a protected item goes in to "Recovery point creation failed", there needs to be a way to automatically perform a consistency check on that item only, not the entire protection group
A: Consistency check does run on a per protected item and not on the entire PG. am important thing to note is that you dont need to run a Consistency check everytime you get a recovery point creation failed. For e.g. the failure might be because you ran out of recovery point space on the volume. In this case, just increasing this space and clicking on the create recovery point should do the trick. About running Consistency check - you could choose to turn on the option to run the scheduled consistency check. this would run at the scheduled time and do Consistency check ONLY for those data that require it (and not for the whole PG)
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: I haven't taken the opportunity to try DPM against MOSS 2007 yet. Will DPM protect customized web-parts and such? What do I need to manually backup in MOSS that DPM won't catch?
A: You would need to backup the front end servers manually on which custom web parts are installed. The data stored by most web parts still resides in the Sharepoint's SQL databases and this is protected by DPM.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Who would a partner contact to be listed as an off-site dpm provider? In Nevada sbwh.com offers that. Contact is daveATsbwhDOTcom
A: Please get in touch with marckj AT microsoft DOT com for this.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: DPM 2006 has a file server protection limit of 6 TB, according to the documentation. Will this limitation be increased with DPM2007?
A: The 6 TB limit was a recommendation and not a hard limit. We had customer protecting up to 20 TB with a single DPM server. With DPM 2007, this will go higher. We haven't published the exact numbers but will do that soon.
Christian (Moderator):
We have a few minutes left for today’s chat. If you have any last minute questions, please submit them asap. The Experts will answer as many questions as they can in the time remaining. Thanks!
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Can DPM backup its backup disks to another disk? Can it replicate its backup disks to another disk? If not, doens't that mean if my backup disk fails, I loose all my backups? (I suppose I can backup to disk to tape, but I want a tapeless solution).
A: I am assuming that you have configured RAID on your DPM server disks anyway. In addition, you can protect a DPM server using another DPM server to get another level of redundancy.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: So basically when I move from my test server to a production server I loose all my backups?
A: If you change your disks or server, yes you will lose your backup copies on disk (all previous versions). There is no way to migrate shadow copies today.
Marc (Expert):
Q: Can DPM backup its backup disks to another disk? Can it replicate its backup disks to another disk? If not, doens't that mean if my backup disk fails, I loose all my backups? (I suppose I can backup to disk to tape, but I want a tapeless solution).
A: DPM supports backing up itself, so you can back up one DPM server with another. You can think of this as an addtional data source that DPM can protect (in addition to SQL, Exchange, Sharepoint, Virtual server....)
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is it okay to use Diskeeper or Microsofts defragmentation on DPM's dynamic disks? If so, does DPM benefit from it?
A: Please do not use periodic defrag on DPM volumes unless recommended by support.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: Thanks for the help guys.
A: You are most welcome! Thanks for attending this chat & for trying out DPM. :-)
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: What the most cost effective method to provide adequate back end storage capacity. Lets say I have my main file server currently utilizing about 1 tb of data. Recommendations are for 3 Tb's on the back end. And thats only 1 server, I have 300 in my org.
A: There are no known issues. Can you post more details of the errors you are seeing? Also, newsgroup will be a good way to get help in troubleshooting this in case we are not able to resolve this right now.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: I'm having problem installing/connecting/running DPM with an Exchange server 2003/Windows 2003 (upgraded from Win2K. Is there any known issue regarding DPM on an upgraded server?
A: There are no known issues. Can you post more details of the errors you are seeing? Also, newsgroup will be a good way to get help in troubleshooting this in case we are not able to resolve this right now.
Vijay [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: What the most cost effective method to provide adequate back end storage capacity. Lets say I have my main file server currently utilizing about 1 tb of data. Recommendations are for 3 Tb's on the back end. And thats only 1 server, I have 300 in my org.
A: I am not sure we can answer this question without a better understanding of your deployment scenario but i can offer some thoughts here. We need to be able to answer what the different types of data you are protecting, the expected churn and growth rates. The formula for disk usage is different for different data (e.g. Exchange vs SQL vs Files...). This data will help determine the number of DPM servers you would need. As a rule of thumb, a single 64 bit DPM server can protect about 300 data sources (a data source is a volume or Exchange storage group or a SQL db or a MOSS Farm). you need to then allocate storage across all these DPM servers based on the quantum of data they are protecting.
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
Q: I see DPM already comes with ese.dll. Yet its dialogs ask that I copy over both ese.dll and eseutil.exe for Exchange to DPM. Why is ese.dll already in place in DPM? Should I delete it?
A: The RTM version of DPM will not come with ese.dll. Please do delete the existing versions and then copy the latest version from the Exchange server.
Christian (Moderator):
Well that wraps it up for today’s chat. Thanks to everyone for participating, and also thanks to the Experts for being here to answer everyone’s great questions.
Christian (Moderator):
Have a great day!
Karandeep Anand [MS] (Expert):
A reminder - in case you have more in-depth technical questions or need help in troubleshooting, feel free to contact us via the DPM newsgroup!
