Task Differences

Applies To: System Center Data Protection Manager 2007

This section explains the task differences between DPM 2006 and DPM 2007.

Installing DPM

When you install DPM 2006, DPM Setup installs an instance of SQL Server on the DPM server. When you install DPM 2007, you also have the option to specify an existing instance of SQL Server either on the local server, or on a remote server for DPM to use.

DPM Setup also adds two opt-in opportunities: Microsoft Update and the Microsoft Customer Experience and Improvement Program (CEIP).

• Use the Microsoft Update Opt-In page of the DPM Setup Wizard to sign up for the Microsoft Update service. The Microsoft Update service delivers critical and required updates from the Microsoft Update Catalog. You can change your Microsoft Update opt-in decision at any time after you install DPM 2007. To change your Microsoft Update opt-in decision, see the Microsoft Update Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=74122).

• Use the Customer Experience Improvement Program page of the DPM Setup Wizard to specify whether you want to participate in the CEIP. The CEIP collects data about your use of Microsoft applications to identify possible improvements. To change your CEIP enrollment selection at any time after you install DPM 2007, in DPM Administrator Console, click Options in the Actions pane, and then click the Customer Feedback tab.

Configuring DPM

In DPM 2006, you could not protect data until you created a storage pool by assigning disks to DPM ownership. In DPM 2007, you have several options that you can use in addition to or in place of the storage pool, as follows:

• Custom volumes. DPM can take advantage of a storage area network (SAN) by using custom volumes. Custom volumes are volumes that are not in the DPM storage pool and are specified to store the replica and recovery points for a protection group member.

• Tape-based protection. DPM can use tape libraries or stand-alone tape drives attached to the DPM server for data protection. DPM can back up data to tape directly from the protected computer.

In DPM 2006, when you configure notifications of alerts or recovery jobs, you use a semicolon to separate multiple e-mail addresses. In DPM 2007, you use a comma to separate multiple e-mail addresses.

Protecting Data

DPM 2007 significantly increases the range of protectable data and protection options, but the actual task of creating a protection group has not changed. The Create New Protection Group Wizard includes new wizard pages and options to accommodate additional types of data and methods of protection.

In DPM 2006, you changed protection options, such as synchronization and shadow copy schedules, in a Modify Protection Options dialog box; you clicked Rename in the Actions pane to change the name of a protection group; and you added new members to a protection group by using the Add Members Wizard. In DPM 2007, these functions are combined in the Modify Protection Group Wizard.

Synchronize, with the options to synchronize only or synchronize with consistency check, is no longer available on the Actions pane. To manually synchronize data, you click Create recovery point - disk in the Actions pane, and then choose the option Only synchronize. To perform a consistency check, you click Perform consistency check in the Actions pane.

The Remove from group task in DPM 2006 is renamed to Stop protection of member in DPM 2007. To delete a protection group in DPM 2006, you had to remove each member from the protection group. In DPM 2007, you can stop the protection of individual members of a protection group, and you can also stop the protection of a complete protection group. For both tasks, you still have the option to retain or delete the existing replicas and recovery points on disk or tape.

When you remove a member from a protection group or stop the protection of a protection group and choose to retain the replica and recovery points, the inactive replica is displayed in the Protection task area in DPM Administrator Console. In DPM 2006, you click Delete replica to remove the inactive replica and shadow copies. In DPM 2007, you click Remove inactive protection to remove the inactive replica and recovery points.

Administering DPM

In DPM 2006, you were restricted to running a single instance of DPM Administrator Console at a time. In DPM 2007, you can run multiple instances of DPM Administrator Console simultaneously.

Network bandwidth usage throttling is configured at the protection group level in DPM 2006. In DPM 2007, network bandwidth usage throttling is configured at the protected computer level. In addition, you can specify different network bandwidth usage throttling rates for work hours, non-work hours, and weekends, and you can define the times for each of those categories.

In DPM 2006, you could administer DPM only by using DPM Administrator Console. In DPM 2007, you can also use DPM Management Shell, which you can use to administer DPM remotely in addition to administering multiple DPM servers simultaneously.

Reporting

When you subscribe to reports in DPM 2006, you use a semicolon to separate multiple e-mail addresses. In DPM 2007, you use a comma to separate multiple e-mail addresses.

All of the reports provided in DPM 2007 are new and are described in the following table.

DPM 2007 Reports

Recovering Data

The Recovery Wizard in DPM 2007 includes new wizard pages and options to accommodate additional types of data and methods of protection.