Users Guide

The resulting Smart Copy (containing A2 and B2) contains all of Component1, as indicated by Callout 1. It also contains the
partial data set indicated by Callout 2. This partial data set is referred to as a torn data set because it does not contain all the
files in the source data set.
CAUTION: If you use this torn Smart Copy to restore Component1, you also partially overwrite Component2,
potentially destroying live data on your production computer.
When you have a torn Smart Copy, restore data only from those data sets that you know to be complete in the Smart Copy.
This process can take longer, depending on the size of the files you restore from the Smart Copy. Because of the risk of data
loss, and the more complicated recovery procedure, Dell recommends that you avoid spanning different data sets across
common volumes.
Requirements for Creating Smart Copies
The following requirements must be met before you can create a Smart Copy:
● The computer must meet the requirements described in Windows Computer Requirements.
● The computer must be logged in to each iSCSI volume that comprises the Smart Copy object, as described in iSCSI Target
Connections.
● The iSCSI volumes must have drive letters assigned, as described in Volume Mount Point and Drive Letter Assignments on
page 18.
● If you are creating a snapshot Smart Copy, the PS Series volume must have snapshot space reserved.
● If you are creating a replica Smart Copy, you must configure replication between two PS Series groups and on the volumes.
The primary group must be available and ready to start replication on the volumes. Otherwise, the operation results in an
error. ASM/ME does not require access to the secondary group. For information about using Group Manager, see the Dell
EqualLogic Group Manager Administrator’s Guide.
● If you are creating a clone Smart Copy, the PS Series group must have a minimum of free space equal to the size of the
original volumes.
● If you want to create a Smart Copy of a volume, component, or collection that affects cluster resources, you must perform
the ASM/ME operation from the node that owns the cluster resources.
Constraints for Smart Copy Operations
The following constraints apply to specific Smart Copy procedures:
● If you create or schedule a replica Smart Copies, ASM/ME allows the operation to proceed, but displays a warning that you
cannot use the resulting Smart Copy for a restore operation (specifically, an in-place restore operation).
● In clustered environments:
○ Smart Copy are visible to all nodes even though the node might not be able to use the Smart Copy for recovery. That is,
ownership of resources is not required to see the Smart Copies.
○ Smart Copies appear as unreachable in the tree panel.
● For thin clones, ASM/ME supports the creation of snapshots, clones, and replicas. These objects are displayed under the
Smart Copies folder after they are created.
● For template volumes, ASM/ME supports the creation of thin clones and clones, which appear under the Smart Copies
folder after they are created.
● Replication of a thin clone volume through ASM/ME is possible when its template volume has been replicated through the
Group Manager GUI. Replication for template volumes is not supported in ASM/ME.
● For Smart Copies of SAN boot volumes:
○ To restore data from a Smart Copy of a boot volume, you must mount it and manually copy data from it, or perform a
selective restore from the Smart Copy.
○ You can add a boot volume to a collection with other volumes. However, if you create a Smart Copy of such a collection,
you cannot perform an in-place restore from that Smart Copy. You can only perform a selective restore operation.
○ The Unmount and Logoff operations are disabled.
CAUTION:
If a Smart Copy was created before you made changes to the layout of data in a volume, you
cannot use that Smart Copy to recover data. Attempting to recover the data might cause data loss on the
original volume. For example, assume four databases are stored on a volume, and then you create a Smart
Copy of that volume. Then, you add a fifth database to the volume, and perform a restore operation from the
Smart Copy. The restore operation will complete, but you lose the fifth database.
General ASM/ME Operations 53