Folks,
I was reminded that I promised to report on our company's
evaluation of the TDP for SharePoint evaluation.
Executive Summary:
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/tivoli/products/storage-mgr-sharepoint/
Cost structure is similar to other TDP products. TSM server
configuration is similar to other TDP products. Client administration
and interface is significantly different that other TDP products.
Overall, product performed as advertised, but is a little different from
other TDP offerings. Learning an application called DocAve is required
to using this Tivoli branded product.
Detail:
Procurement:
The product is new, so it couldn't be found in a "try before you
buy" version nor could it be found in the "Passport Advantage" area of
IBM. We were actually mailed a DVD with the software to do this
evaluation. I'm sure that it will eventually be available through normal
channels.
Server side:
This TDP product is like many of the other offerings from
Tivoli, in that the TSM server acts as the backend repository for the
data, but TSM does not really control the retentions or expiring of the
client data. They recommend creating a domain for the SharePoint backups
and creating a single management class set up like so:
Policy Policy Mgmt Copy Versions Versions
Retain Retain
Domain Set Name Class Group Data Data
Extra Only
Name Name Name Exists Deleted
Versions Version
--------- --------- --------- --------- -------- --------
-------- -------
SHAREPT_- ACTIVE SHAREPT_- STANDARD 1 0
0 0
DOMAIN MC
And when registering the client in that domain, setting it up so that it
has "Backup Delete Allowed?: Yes" set. That is really it from the TSM
server side.
Node Name Platform Policy Domain Days Since
Days Since Locked?
Name Last Acce-
Password
ss
Set
------------------------- -------- -------------- ----------
---------- -------
MOSS DocAve SHAREPT_DOMAIN 1
28 No
Client side:
Here's where it's different from the other TDP products, at
least the ones I am familiar with. Instead of plugging into a built-in
tool, (like the RMAN on an Oracle server), for SharePoint another
application is installed on the Windows server, and that product is the
"middle man" between SharePoint and TSM. In this case, you will install
an application from a company called Avepoint ( http://www.avepoint.com
) called "DocAve" (http://www.avepoint.com/products/sharepoint-backup/).
It looks like they have altered the standard DocAve install so
that you can click on a button to choose TSM as the backend repository,
put in the node name, password and IP address and it's set to go. So it
is simple to get it to use TSM, after that is where there is a bit of a
learning curve because you will need to learn to use the DocAve
application for backups.
TSM is just a repository, so the scope of the backups
(enterprise, site, subsite, etc), the granularity, the retentions, and
the scheduling of the SharePoint backups are all done within the DocAve
application. The DocAve application is pretty straight forward, but it
is another application you will need to learn to administer this part of
your enterprise backups.
To be honest, the SharePoint admins at our company wanted to be
the ones to administer the DocAve application, so I was not really
involved in the functional testing they did, but they have reported that
they were able to backup and restore a whole SharePoint site or just
parts of it. I haven't seen their testing criteria, and they are on
vacation for a few weeks, but they really liked the product.
I would suggest that if folks are interested in trying this
product to explore the DocAve literature on the AvePoint web site (
http://www.avepoint.com ) and perhaps even download their 30-day trial.
It looks to be identical to the Tivoli offering except for the ability
to use TSM as the backend repository.
Thanks,
Ben
Micron Technology Inc.
