HP Application Recovery Manager software A.06.10 Concepts guide (March 2008)

Application data consistency
A simple ZDB of logical volumes or disks guarantees only filesystem consistency, but
not application data consistency. After an instant recovery of such a backup, the
database may not recover properly. For supported integrations, Application Recovery
Manager ensures that the application is set in to backup mode (online backup) or
shut down (offline backup), but you must back up transaction logs separately. For
non-integrated applications, you must ensure that the backup is usable for database
recovery. You can either shut down the application or set it to an appropriate mode
by using pre-exec scripts.
Transaction logs
When backing up database applications online, you need to back up separately
any archived database transaction logs in order to be able to perform a complete
database recovery. Archived logs can be backed up only to disk or by using
third-party backup software, which streams data to tape. The script that starts the
backup can be specified in the Post-exec option in the Application Recovery Manager
ZDB specification. In this way, the backup of archived logs is started automatically
after the replica creation completes.
Restore
See the Application Recovery Manager support matrices for details of restore methods
available with supported database applications.
With instant recovery, you can recover a database to the point in time at which the
replica was created. In most cases however, to fully recover the database, the
transaction logs must be applied afterwards. Using these logs, you can also roll
forward the database to a certain point in time.
For detailed instructions on how to use the Application Recovery Manager disk array
integrations with the database applications, see the HP Application Recovery Manager
software integration guide.
Application integrations and Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service
In the traditional backup model, the backup application coordinates various systems
and components involved in the backup process: the application and backup systems,
and the disk array. This is the case with the Application Recovery Manager Disk
Array XP and Enterprise Virtual Array integrations, where the SSE and SMI-S agents
Using Application Recovery Manager for ZDB and instant recovery44