Introduction
This Guide is to assist Naverisk users in setting up the Backup Monitoring in Naverisk. Once set up, Naverisk can Provide a 'single pane of glass' from which users can monitor all Backup Systems and be automatically alerted if any problems occur. Naverisk is capable of reading data from multiple sources (such as Event Logs, Email, and File Monitors).
1.0 Prerequisites
Ensure that there are Backup systems in place for every data source that need protection.
Make a note of how each data source is currently being backed up and where that Backup is saved to.
This is a critical part of planning for disaster recovery, as it is important to know how to restore systems and information in the shortest time possible in the event of an emergency.
2.0 How to Monitor Backups
2.1 Window Event Monitoring
Devices Roles allow Naverisk to Monitor Windows event logs. Backup applications often log Window Events for diagnostic purposes and Naverisk can use these to raise Alerts, and generate Reports.
2.1.1 Implementing Windows Event Monitoring
Monitoring of Windows Event Logs can be implemented from Device Roles. Device Roles can be found in the Routine Store, below is process for setting up a new Windows Event Monitor.
Identify the Event Source which the Backup software logs Events are under. When Backup software is installed, a new Event Source specific to that application will be setup, and be available as a filter Selection in Windows Event Viewer.
2. Filter the Logs by that Event Source to see all the Logs created by that specific Backup application.
3. Based on the information available you can see how the Backup software logs successful Events and Failures.
4. In Naverisk, navigate to Settings > Device Roles.
5. Create a new Device Role for this specific Backup application.
6. Click the 'Add' button for a new Monitored Event.
7. Using the information from step 3, configure Naverisk to watch out for Events raised by the Backup software, and what Events indicate.
Note: Use the % symbol if a Wildcard is needed when setting up Event Monitoring.
8. After monitoring has been set for Successful Backups and Failed Backups, save the Device Role.
9. Apply the Device Role to applicable Devices under Settings > Device Types.
2.2 Timed Windows Event Monitoring
Naverisk has the ability to set Monitoring Parameters on Event Monitoring based on time. A window of time can be specified, during which if a particular Event does not occur, a No Event Ticket will be raised. This is useful in the scenario that a Backup simply does not run (rather than succeeds or fails).
2.2.1 Implementing Timed Windows Event Motoring
Timed Windows Event Monitoring is similar to Windows Event Monitoring, with the exception that it Alerts upon the Absence of a particular Event Type. Building upon the eFolder example under section 2.2.1, this is how you might configure Timed Windows Event Monitoring to Alert you if an eFolder Backup does not happen on a particular day:
Note: In the example above, the Ticket Group was also set to 'eFolder Backup' - Meaning any Alerts raised by this will be appended to the same Ticket, raised by the Event Monitor on chapter 3.2.
2.3 File Monitoring
By using the File Monitoring capabilities of Naverisk you can ensure that Backup Files are updated as expected. If you have concerns that your Backup may Report a Success / Completion even when it fails to write to the Backup Destination, then Naverisk File Monitoring can assuage those concerns.
2.3.1 Implementing File Monitoring
From a Device Role you can also set up File and Folder Monitoring.
Naverisk allows you to monitor Files as well as Folders based on the following comparisons:
Older than – based on last change date; Naverisk will create an Alert if a Scheduled Backup does not update an existing Backup File or Folder.
Younger than – based on last change date; confirmation that a Scheduled Backup updates an existing Backup File or Folder.
Smaller than – Alerts if a Backup File size is below the value set. e.g. – the backup didn't complete and the small file size indicates its failure.
Larger than – Alerts if a Backup File is greater than the value set, e.g. – when the file size reaches a threshold that may start to impact on storage limits etc.
Exists – confirmation that a Backup File is created as expected. e.g. – When a snapshot is overwritten daily and you want to ensure it is successfully recreated.
Doesn’t exist – Similar to the ‘Exists’ criteria, this will inform you if a Backup File is not found in the location you specify.
The Units available for use with the aforementioned comparisons are:
Seconds
Minutes
Hours
Days
Weeks
As an example, to ensure that the folder Z:\Backups\ is updated daily, and that Alerts are created if it exceeds 20GB in size, the following 2 Folder Monitors can be set:
2.4 Using Different Backup Monitoring Methods together
Through the use of Ticket Grouping it is possible to use different methods of Backup Monitoring in conjunction with each other (as per the example below). To more easily interpret Tickets raised by Backup Alerts, it is recommended that descriptive Trigger Texts are used during the setup of Backup Monitoring.
3.0 Case Study - Setting up Shadow Protect Backup Monitoring
This Case Study outlines how to setup Shadow Protect Backup Monitoring using Naverisk.
Objectives
If a Backup should fail an Alert Ticket will be raised in the Service Desk.
If the Backup should subsequently succeed then the Ticket raised as a result of failure will be closed.
When running a Report, Failed Backups as well as Successful Backups will be logged. If a Backup Job is missed on a particular day, the word ‘Warning’ will appear in the Report indicating that no Backup results were detected.
ImageManager (a StorageCraft application which is used for verification and consolidation) will have the same Alerts and Reporting available as ShadowProtect.
ImageManager results should be visible in the Reports but separate to the ShadowProtect results.
Schedule Reports to be sent by email so that a daily summary of all the Backup Systems will be created, and sent to Clients.
3.1 Planning and Implementation
To implement monitoring for ShadowProtect and ImageManager, it is important to consider how these applications log Backup results. ShadowProtect and ImageManager both log Event Entries, so Device Roles can be created to monitor for these.
A ShadowProtect Event Log entry:
An ImageManager Event Log entry:
A Device Role which can monitor both of these:
Of note in this Device Role are the following points:
It may not be necessary to populate every field when specifying Monitored Events. It is often better to leave some fields unspecified to increase the likelihood that all relevant Events will be captured.
When defining the ShadowProtect successful Backup condition, ‘%completed’ was used as the Event Description. % represents a wildcard symbol so can be used to monitor for specific words or phrases in the creation of the Device Role.
A different Ticket Group has been used for ImageManager as opposed to ShadowProtect Backup Monitoring. This allows them to be represented discretely in the Backup Reports under the headings ‘SPImage’ and ‘SPBackup’.
After implementing this DevicRole, TIckets will be raised and Reporting can be run against Devices which utilize this Role.
This is an example of what a Backup Detail Report looks like when run against a Device with the ShadowProtect Device Role:
In the above example, the Device ‘Navexch1’ has had successful Backup Jobs completed over the course of 2 weeks. There is an untitled line in the Backup Detail Report which has recorded results starting from the 10th of October. This occurred because another Device Role was applied to Navexch1 on the 10th, and this Role did not have a Ticket Group specified. It illustrates the importance of the Ticket Group field in making Reports easy to read.
The ‘Warning’ entries in the above Report denote days during which no Backups where performed for the associated Backup application.
The Backup Report can be scheduled to generate automatically. This is performed from the Scheduling Tab;
3.2 Best Practices for Managing Monitored Backups
After setting up Backup Monitoring in Naverisk, it is important for this information to be readily available to ensure that Client’s systems are operating as they should be. To accomplish this it is recommend that a Business System is created which will be used to group together Devices for monitoring Backups. Once grouped, create a custom view to manage all Backup systems from one page, and attend to any issues raised by these Devices.
The process for setting this up is as follows:
Navigate to 'Settings > Business Systems'.
Create a new Business System to group monitored Backup Devices.
After this has been Created, apply the Business System to relevant Devices from the Device Management page.
4. it is recommended to create a filtered view in the Devices tab to list all of the Backup Systems.
3.3 Suppressing Performance SLA Class Tickets during Maintenance Windows
Running a backup can often result in high resource usage for Devices (e.g. high Disk queue utilisation or high CPU utilisation). By Default, Naverisk will raise alerts for sustained, high levels of resource utilisation. To ensure Naverisk does not create unnecessary Performance-related Tickets whilst Devices are in the process of running Backups, it is recommended to :
Create a Scheduled Job to Enable Performance Maintenance Mode at the start of a Device’s Backup Maintenance Window.
Create a Scheduled Job to Disable Performance Maintenance Mode once these Devices have finished their Backup.
Performance Maintenance Mode suppresses Alerts specifically raised by resource utilisation.
The steps for creating a Scheduled Maintenance Mode Job are as follows:
In Naverisk, navigate to the Scheduling Tab and select the appropriate Client from the list on the left.
Click on the ‘New Scheduled Job’ button in the top right of the Scheduling page.
Set the Job Description, Schedule Fields and Action Fields as required.
4. Click on 'Select Device Filter' to select specific Devices or select Devices based on attributes, then save the created job.
3.4 Scheduling of an Organization Wide Backup Report
To get a full overview of all Backup results across all Clients it is recommended to schedule a daily Backup Detail Report.
Under the Scheduling Tab choose the top-level Client and click on New Scheduled Job.
2. Create a Job to run a daily Backup Detail Report for all Clients
