Requirements

AhsayOBM Installation

Make sure the latest version of AhsayOBM is installed directly on the machine where the MS SQL Server database(s) are hosted.

Backup and restore of MS SQL Server database(s) running on a remote machine is not supported.

AhsayOBM Add-On Module Configuration

Make sure the Microsoft SQL Server feature has been enabled as an add-on module in your AhsayOBM user account. Contact your backup service provider for more details.

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Backup Quota Requirement

Make sure that your AhsayOBM user account has sufficient storage quota assigned to accommodate the storage of MS SQL Server backup set and retention policy.

Java Heap Size

The default Java heap size setting on AhsayOBM is 2048MB. For MS SQL Server backup it is highly recommended to increase the Java heap size setting to be at least 4096MB to improve backup and restore performance. The actual heap size is dependent on the amount of free memory available on your MS SQL server.

MS SQL Server Registry

Make sure the MS SQL entry is present in the registry key:

"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\Instance Names\SQL"

To access this path, type “regedit” in the command prompt to launch the Registry Editor.

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Pay extra attention when you are checking configuration in Registry Editor. Any unauthorized changes could cause interruption to the Windows operation.

SQL Server Services

Ensure that the following SQL Server Services have been enabled in the Windows Services menu.

Launch Services in Windows by clicking Start then typing “Services” in the search box. All MS SQL server related services should be started by default. If in case it is not, turn it on by right clicking the item then selecting Start.

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Transport Layer Security (TLS)

For MS SQL Server 2005, 2008, 2012, and 2014 VSS and ODBC backup modes, TLS version 1.0 must be enabled as only TLS version 1.0 is supported.

To check if TLS 1.0 is enabled on the MS SQL machine, launch the registry editor and locate the following path:

"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.0\Client"

The value of the registry key should be "1" to indicate that TLS 1.0 is enabled.

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Meanwhile, for MS SQL Server 2016, 2017 and 2019 VSS and ODBC backup modes, TLS version 1.2 must be enabled as only TLS version 1.2 is supported.

To check if TLS 1.2 is enabled on the MS SQL machine, launch the registry editor and locate the following path:

"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentContolSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client"

The value of the registry key should be “1” to indicate that TLS 1.2 is enabled.

VSS Backup Mode

The VSS-based backup utilizes the Microsoft SQL Server VSS Writer to obtain a consistent snapshot of the MS SQL databases, no spooling / staging of database file(s) is required during the backup process.

User Account Privileges

Make sure the operating system account that performs the backup and restore has sufficient permission to access both SQL server and VSS.

Temporary Directory Folder

  • The temporary directory folder is used by AhsayOBM for storing backup set index files and incremental/differential delta files. To ensure optimal backup/restoration performance, it is recommended that the temporary directory folder to be set to a local drive. The temporary folder should not be located on Windows system partition or the database partition to minimize any potential performance impact on Windows or database.
  • It is recommended that the temporary directory folder should have at least free disk space of 50% of the total database size because the default Delta ratio is 50%. The actual free disk space required depends on various factors including the size of the database, number of backup destinations, backup frequency, in-file delta settings etc.
  • The SQL Windows service must have read and write permission to the temporary directory.

SQL Server VSS Writer

Make sure the SqlServerWriter has been installed and running on the SQL server, and the writer state is Stable. This can be verified by running the vssadmin list writers command in the Windows Command Prompt.

If you do not find the SqlServerWriter in the result, make sure the SQL Server VSS Writer has been started by following the instructions in Windows Services section below.


C:\Users\Administrator>vssadmin list writers
vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001-2013 Microsoft Corp.
Writer name: 'Task Scheduler Writer'
 Writer Id: {d61d61c8-d73a-4eee-8cdd-f6f9786b7124}
 Writer Instance Id: {1bddd48e-5052-49db-9b07-b96f96727e6b}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
Writer name: 'VSS Metadata Store Writer'
 Writer Id: {75dfb225-e2e4-4d39-9ac9-ffaff65ddf06}
 Writer Instance Id: {088e7a7d-09a8-4cc6-a609-ad90e75ddc93}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
Writer name: 'Performance Counters Writer'
 Writer Id: {0bada1de-01a9-4625-8278-69e735f39dd2}
 Writer Instance Id: {f0086dda-9efc-47c5-8eb6-a944c3d09381}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
Writer name: 'SqlServerWriter'
 Writer Id: {a65faa63-5ea8-4ebc-9dbd-a0c4db26912a}
 Writer Instance Id: {3de4f842-4d57-4198-9949-3b3f8c2629dc}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
Writer name: 'System Writer'
 Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}
 Writer Instance Id: {32d2fccc-624f-4baa-beb3-17b27fcae9ee}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
Writer name: 'ASR Writer'
 Writer Id: {be000cbe-11fe-4426-9c58-531aa6355fc4}
 Writer Instance Id: {e8580fb0-b51f-40ab-91bf-4eff5107c4d1}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
Writer name: 'WMI Writer'
 Writer Id: {a6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0}
 Writer Instance Id: {de1b6322-1d96-4f85-adbf-05cb517322ea}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
Writer name: 'BITS Writer'
 Writer Id: {4969d978-be47-48b0-b100-f328f07ac1e0}
 Writer Instance Id: {a623b49f-a3d4-42d2-af9a-4e924fb31262}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
Writer name: 'Registry Writer'
 Writer Id: {afbab4a2-367d-4d15-a586-71dbb18f8485}
 Writer Instance Id: {cc6b42f1-ebd0-429f-b3d3-e860905d40d3}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
Writer name: 'Shadow Copy Optimization Writer'
 Writer Id: {4dc3bdd4-ab48-4d07-adb0-3bee2926fd7f}
 Writer Instance Id: {957ff981-d54f-4a1f-8798-bd9bd76396bd}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error
 
Writer name: 'COM+ REGDB Writer'
 Writer Id: {542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f}
 Writer Instance Id: {801fea63-6bfc-406d-9a40-4ad5af484773}
 State: [1] Stable
 Last error: No error

MS SQL Server Volumes

MS SQL Server volumes must use a file system which supports the use of VSS snapshot, for example NTFS.

Windows Services

Ensure that the following services have been enabled in the Windows Services menu.

Launch “Services” in Windows by clicking Start then typing “Services” in the search box. All MS SQL server related services should be started by default, in case it is not, turn it on by right clicking the item then selecting Start.

SQL Server VSS Writer

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Volume Shadow Copy

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MS SQL Recovery Model

VSS backup mode does not support backup of transaction log files, but for databases configured in either Full or Bulk-logging recovery model, this may eventually result in transaction logs filling up the available disk space on the volume of the MS SQL Server.

A Guide for SQL Server Backup Application Vendor

To prevent this from occurring, you can modify the recovery model of database selected for backup to Simple.

Alternatively, to truncate the transaction log files, you can perform a transaction log backup manually (with the instruction provided in Troubleshooting - Truncating Transaction Log or create an additional MS SQL database backup set in ODBC backup mode to perform a transaction log backup.

Please refer to ODBC Backup Mode for further details.

ODBC Backup Mode

Temporary Directory Folder

  • The temporary directory folder is used by AhsayOBM for storing the database files, incremental/differential delta files and backup set index files. To ensure optimal backup/restoration performance, it is recommended that the temporary directory folder is set to a local drive.
  • The temporary folder should not be located on Windows system partition or the database partition to minimize any potential performance impact on Windows or database. If the temporary directory folder is located on a network drive, make sure the login account has sufficient permission to access the network resources.

  • Please refer to the following URL for more details:

    SQL Server VDI Backup and Restore Operations Require Sysadmin Privileges

    A Guide for SQL Server Backup Application Vendor

  • It is recommended that the temporary directory folder should have at least free disk space of 150% of the total database size. The actual free disk space required depends on various factors including the size of the database, number of backup destinations, backup frequency, in-file delta settings etc.

    To determine if the drive for temporary folder has enough disk space to accommodate the spooling of the database(s) in ODBC backup mode, please refer to Trouebleshooting – ODBC Mode Authentication Permission Check.

  • The SQL Windows service must have read and write permission to the temporary directory.

Maximum Worker Thread

For SQL instance with large number of database (more than 500 databases), consider increasing the “Maximum Worker Thread” setting. Refer to the article below for further details.

Configure the Max Worker Threads Server Configuration Option

MS SQL Recovery Model

ODBC backup mode supports transaction log backup for database with Full recovery model.

ODBC Mode Authentication Methods

ODBC backup mode supports two types of authentication method:

  • Trusted Authentication

    This is the default authentication method in the MS SQL Server. When using this method, MS SQL Server uses the Windows login account to authenticate the login to the MS SQL Server.

  • MS SQL Authentication

    When using this method, the username and password are created and stored in the MS SQL Server.

    For details on how to verify if the login credentials you intend to use to authenticate the MS SQL Server backup job on AhsayOBM has the correct permissions, and to determine if the drive for temporary folder has enough disk space to accommodate the spooling of the database(s), please refer to Troubleshooting – ODBC Mode Authentication Permission Check.

    It is recommended to use the Trusted Authentication method wherever possible as this type of method is tightly integrated with Windows which has an integrated security. MS SQL Server trusts the credentials provided by Windows as Windows authentication uses a series of encrypted messages to authenticate users in the MS SQL Server.

    However, when MS SQL Server logins are used, MS SQL Server login names and encrypted passwords are passed across the network, which makes them less secure.