Open File Manager from St. Bernard Software

St. Bernard Software Open File Manager

White Paper (Version 6.2) February 22, 2000

The complete solution to the problem of backing up open files on Windows NT and NetWare systems

St. Bernard Software 16882 W. Bernardo Drive Telephone: 858-676-2277 U.S. Toll Free: 1-800-ST-BERNARD 1-800-782-3762 Fax: 858-676-2299 http://www.stbernard.com Open File Manager from St. Bernard Software

Open File Manager Version 6.2

The ideal solution to the problem of backing up open files on Windows® NT Server/Workstations and NetWare® systems.

The Critical Issue Faced by Backup Software

Network and system administrators are becoming acutely aware that their current backup software solutions are failing at the very thing they were purchased to do - back up the most critical data in the organization.

The reason for this failure is that the most important files (such as email, databases, accounting, manufacturing & technical support information software, sales contact programs, key word processing and spreadsheets in use after regular business hours, etc.) are usually "open" when the backup program is run.

In these instances, any of three things can happen, and none of them is good:

1. Files get skipped. Some backup packages will come back later and retry, but most open applications will still be open and, therefore, their files will get skipped again.

2. Users get locked out of their applications. Clearly, this is not the way to run a business.

3. The backup could get forced. Then, if any changes occur to a file during the backup of that file, parts of the changes might get captured by the backup software, while other parts may be in areas of the file that have already been read for backup. Hence, the data on tape will be corrupt. This is a very dangerous scenario, since the administrator thinks there is a copy of the file on tape, when that data is not use-able.

What is needed is a complementary utility that helps the backup software capture files that are open, even if they are changing during the backup...all without locking users out of the applications or forcing them to log off the network.

Alternative Approaches

* Application agents

Dedicated application agents are available for a handful of database and email applications. They are designed to work with specific versions of the applications and only with a particular backup software program. Upgrading your application version or changing your backup software will generally require you to discard the agent you purchased. Furthermore, pricing on these agents typically runs from $695 to $2,995 and each only works with its one defined application. Open File Manager from St. Bernard Software

* Generic agents

Early generations of generic agents addressed the limitations noted above. However, they still have several key limitations that St. Bernard Software set out to surpass in Versions 5.0 and higher of Open File Manager. The older technology is limited by:

1. Administrators have to manually identify sets of files (groups) that need to be handled in a synchronized manner. (These include database applications and other examples of linked files - such as accounting, etc.)

2. Tape backup systems prefer doing "verifies" after a file is read. This is not supported in the early technology generic agents.

3. Changing versions of backup software requires customers to obtain updates to their generic agents from the vendor in order to continue using those agents in the new environment.

4. Customers wanting to switch platforms (such as replacing a NetWare server with an NT server) had to purchase a new generic agent list license in order to protect open files on the new system. The product did not support re-loading it onto the newer server.

Features of Open File Manager V6.2

* Works on Windows NT servers and workstations, plus NetWare servers

* Support for Windows2000

* Support for NetWare 5.1 Servers

* Supports all leading backup software

* Backup hardware independent - choice of tape drives, controllers, autoloaders, etc. is solely a function of what hardware works with your backup software.

* Open File Manager is delivered configured to recognize most popular backup applications. If you are using one it recognizes, the product is ready to use immediately after installation.

* Helps your backup software handle all open files without interfering with users' access to those applications.

* Configurable to support backup verify pass. Open File Manager is configurable to maintain a stable, unchanging image of files until either they have been backed up or until the backup application's verify pass has been completed, whichever the LAN administrator prefers. Open File Manager from St. Bernard Software

*Related files are automatically treated as a logical set. Open File Manager automatically treats sets of related files that are updated together by an application as a single unit for backup purposes.

* Installation is quick and easy. Open File Manager is installed by loading either a single NetWare Loadable Module (NLM) or a Windows NT driver and executable on the system. You are not required to make any changes to your existing backup configuration.

* Intergrated CD/Web based installation, upgrades, and registration (optional)

Open File Manager's Technology

Open File Manager monitors the file system for read requests coming from a backup software program. It recognizes backup programs that run on the same system as it, as well as backup programs running on a remote system (across a network). The remote system recognition is based on the configurable user name the LAN administrator has reserved for backup.

When the backup application accesses the first file for backup, Open File Manager determines when there are no partial transactions pending. When it discovers this state, it then begins maintaining a dynamically allocated pre-write cache (in the form of a standard disk file) for all open files in the system.

From this point on, any file write operation from another application goes directly to the proper file while a copy of the data that will be overwritten is placed by Open File Manager in the pre-write cache. When the backup application's read gets to a part of a file that has been changed during the backup of that file, Open File Manager substitutes the original (pre-write) data to fulfill the read requests. The file, on tape, will then look exactly like it did when the backup application started. Meanwhile, users of the data had normal access to read and write to their files, and the information on disk is what would be expected at all times, without a backup running!

Open File Manager is configurable to release the pre-write data for a file after it is backed up, after it has been read for the backup applications verify pass, or after the backup application terminates. This provides the network administrator the flexibility to manage system disk space with respect to backup program functionality. If system disk space is scarce, Open File Manager can discard pre-write data as soon as a file is backed up. If disk space is not so constrained, Open File Manager can hold the pre-write data until the backup verify pass is complete giving the network administrator additional confidence in the backup. This provides more functionality while requiring the pre-write data be maintained for a longer period of time.

If there is a reason the entire file system needs to be static for purposes of backup for the entire length of the backup application's execution, that can be handled, too. The amount of information that is overwritten in a file during backup is minimal, so the total space required to cache changed data is slight. Open File Manager from St. Bernard Software

Open File Manager adds no noticeable overhead to the systems on which it resides. Further, the speed of the backup is fully dependent on the backup software, tape drives and network bandwidth availability (when backing up across a LAN). This, too, is not impacted by Open File Manager.

If backups take longer to complete, it's only because more data has been copied. This is good, since it is the reason backups are run. Part of the value Open File Manager brings is the fact that the "backup window" can become irrelevant, since Open File Manager allows backup software and end users to deal with open files concurrently.

The Open File Copy Feature

Open File Manager can also be used to make copies of open files for system management purposes other than backup. A system manager might, for example, wish to place a copy of a live database on another machine for training or testing purposes.

This cannot normally be done if the database is in use, because "copy" commands generally require exclusive access to the source file to be sure it is not modified during the copy. Even if access is allowed, the problem of integrity over one or more files remains.

Though the problem could be tackled by using Open File Manager with a backup program and then restoring the backed up database to the required location, it can also be done directly, using Open File Manager's Open File Copy feature. The system manager just logs in to the server containing the live database, using a login ID that has been registered in the OFM agent configuration (a login agent called "Open File Copy" is provided for this purpose). The system manager can then use any normal copy utility (e.g. Windows Explorer, or the DOS COPY command) to easily copy the live files.

With St. Bernard Software's Open File Manager...

1. Files don't get skipped. 2. Users don't get locked out of their applications or chased off the network. 3. The copy of data on tape is solid, even if the file was changing during the backup! 4. No need to worry about grouping files. 5. You can run "verifies" with your backup software program. 6. You can release pre-write cache data as required to help maintain free disk space on the volume. 7. You can continue to use the Open File Manager licenses you purchased, even if you: * Change backup software. * Change applications or versions of applications you run. * Switch from Novell NetWare to a Windows NT server.

 1996-2000 St. Bernard Software, Inc. St. Bernard and Open File Manager are trademarks of St. Bernard Software, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are hereby acknowledged. Features and specifications