Microsoft SQL Server Database Considerations

Review the following information if you are considering using Microsoft SQL Server for the Arcserve Backup database:

• If you are upgrading to this release and currently running Microsoft SQL Server for the Arcserve Backup database, you must continue using Microsoft SQL Server for the Arcserve Backup database.
• By default, Arcserve Backup creates the Arcserve Backup database (ASDB) using a simple recovery model. You should retain this model for proper operation.
• Microsoft SQL Server supports local and remote communication. This capability lets you configure the Arcserve Backup database to run locally or remotely to your Arcserve Backup server.
• Note: For more information, see Remote Database Considerations.
• By default, Arcserve Backup stores information about the backed up files and directories in the Catalog Database. This behavior causes the Catalog Database to grow in size at a faster rate than the Arcserve Backup database. Given this behavior and the needs of your organization, you should plan to have a sufficient amount of free disk space to support the growth of the Catalog Database.
• For Global Dashboard, the Central Primary Server, Arcserve Backup database (ASDB) must have Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or later installed (does not support Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition as its database).
• Note: For a Branch Primary Server, no additional hardware or software is required beyond the minimum requirements for any Arcserve Backup primary server.
• To install Arcserve Backup with Microsoft SQL Server support, an administrative account such as the sa account, which has the right to create devices, is required for proper installation.
• You should use the sa account when prompted for the Arcserve Backup Database (SQL) System Account during installation of Arcserve Backup with Microsoft SQL support.
• Set the database security mode to SQL security in the SQL Enterprise Manager. This applies when using SQL security as the authentication mode and the systems that you want to back up reside inside or outside the Windows domain.
• If you specify Microsoft SQL Server 2008, or Microsoft SQL Server 2012 as the Arcserve Backup database during setup, you can use Windows authentication or SQL Server authentication to communicate with the Microsoft SQL database.
• If the Microsoft SQL Server account is changed, you must make the corresponding changes using the Server Configuration Wizard.
• The Arcserve Backup Database Engine periodically polls the status of the Microsoft SQL Server database. If Microsoft SQL Server does not respond in a timely fashion, the Database Engine assumes that the Microsoft SQL Server is unavailable and shuts down (red light). To avoid this situation, you can set the registry key to an appropriately longer value to increase the wait time for Arcserve Backup Database Engine, as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ComputerAssociates\Arcserve Backup\Base\Database\MSSQL\SQLLoginTimeout

• Arcserve Backup does not support local Microsoft SQL Server installations on Arcserve Backup servers in NEC CLUSTERPRO environments. In NEC CLUSTERPRO environments, you must install the Arcserve Backup database instance on a remote system.
• If the ODBC driver is configurable, the System Data Source "ASNT" under System DSN, in the ODBC Data Source Administrator should have the Client Configuration set to utilize TCP/IP communication.