The Protection Process

Published : April 8, 2005 | Updated : August 17, 2005

The protection process, as illustrated in Figure 1.2, involves creating and maintaining a full replica of the protected data and regularly creating shadow copies of the synchronized replica. The replica serves as a full backup of the protected data. The shadow copies allow users to recover previous versions of the protected data.

Figure 1.2   Process for protecting data in DPM

The protection process involves the following steps:

1. The administrator selects data sources on the file server to be protected in DPM.

2. To start protecting data, DPM creates a full copy of the selected data sources — known as a replica — on the DPM server.

3. To provide continuous protection of current data, DPM synchronizes the replica with the data sources on a recurring schedule.

4. To support data recovery, DPM creates point-in-time copies of the replica — known as shadow copies — on a recurring schedule. Users can choose which version of the data to recover.