Move the Data Protection Manager (DPM) SQL Databse to a New Location

By Steven Jordan on March 7th, 2013.

Takeaway:  This walk through provides instructions on how to move the DPM SQL database to a new drive or directory location.

Problem:  The system drive on the DPM server is consistently low on drive space. Low disk space creates havoc for Windows Updates and Volume Shadow Service (VSS) snapshots.

Background:  The DPM system drive resides on a 64GB NTFS volume.  The volume is nested on a Raid 1 partition which mirrors 2 x 64GB hard drives.

The system drive contains the DPM protection group mounting points; and uses iSCSI to connect to a SAN which stores the protection groups replica data.

The server was installed in 2010, and at the time 64GB seemed appropriate.  Overtime, the limited space proved insufficient for our growing network.  

Solution:  Add storage and make configuration changes.

  • Add new drives (2 x 146GB, RAID 1)
  • Create new data volume.
  • Move the DPM SQL database to the new volume.
  • Complete additional DPM maintenance steps.
Steps:

  1. The Dell Open Manage Administrator makes adding additional drives a snap.  Simply add the drives and configure the virtual disks for a new RAID 1 partition in the OMSA web GUI -no need to power off the server.



    Use the Windows Disk Management to enable the disk and create a new NTFS volume.

  2. It's time to put that extra storage to good use.  The DPM SQL database is close to 30GB in size, that's nearly half of the entire system drive!  The DPM SQL database will be the first thing to go. 

    Let's stop the DPM services before we move the database:  Server Manager → Configuration → Services → Stop the DPM services.

  3. Open the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio to detach the DPM database.  SQL Server Management Studio → Databases → right click the DPMDB database → left click on Detach.




       Note that the DPMDB is no longer listed under the available databases.

  4. The DPM database is located in \\C:\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\DPM\DPMDB.  Move the DPMDB directory to the new location.



  5. Attach the DPMDB database using Server Management Studio.   SQL Server Management Studio → right click Databases →left click on attach → browse to the new DPMDB location.




    Note the DPMDB is available in the Management Studio list of databases.

  6. Start the DPM service from the Server Manager (e.g., step 3).

  7. Use the DPM Management Shell to synchronize the database:  DPMSync -sync.

  8. Start the DPM Administrator Console.  N.B., all DPM replicas are in an inconsistent state.



    Perform consistency check on every replica.  The process can be manually performed or use PowerShell to a issue constancy check for all replicas.

  9. The primary DPM server will work great after the consistency check.  The system drive now has nearly 30GB free.

  10. Run the DPMSync -sync on any other secondary DPM server and follow with consistency check to complete the process. 

    N.B., My first consistency checks failed with the following error:  The VSS application writer or the VSS provider is in a bad state.  The secondary DPM server's off-site protection group synchronized after I manually started the DPM Writer service on the primary DPM server.
  11. If the secondary DPM server protects the primary DPM server with a full metal backup the WindowsImageBackup location may be optionally changed to the new drive space. 

    The DPM server uses Windows Backup Server to backup its own System State.  DPM runs the system state backup (SSB) on the system drive.  Change the WindowsImageBackup location as follows: 

    • On the primary DPM server, navigate to c:\Program Files\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\DPM\Datasources.
    • Edit PSDatasourceConfig.XML with notepad.
    • Change the value from %systemdrive% to the new location.
    • Save the file.
    • On the secondary DPM server, run a consistency check on the system state backup protection group, which protects the primary DPM server.
    • Wait for the check to fail.  In the alerts, click Modify protection group, and complete the wizard steps.
    • Perform consistency check on the same group.

    That's It!
     
O #DPM #Consistency  O


References:
 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff634229.aspx

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/5e0deb70-ab35-4b1b-941f-70ab7ae0c792/permanently-changing-the-windowsimagebackup-location-in-dpm-2010?forum=dpmssandbmrbackup


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