My Blog

EMC Networker and SQL Backup’s

Eric Bursley — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:29:09 +0000

Well after 5 days of trying, I gave up and chatted with EMC support. After an hour, we managed to get a SQL backup completed. The trick is:
Configure a group for your SQL backups. Then configure snapshots with serverless_backup
Configure the client resource with the backup command: nsrsnap_vss_save
Configure the application information section with: NSR_SNAP_TYPE=vss
finally configure the save set with the output of the command: nsr_vss_save on the SQL server w/o the quotes and the first line.
Everything else remains the same for the client config. i.e. remote access is *@*, client aliases match the netbios name and FQDN
I’ve asked EMC to update NMM to include an easy wizard to configure backup’s like this. It should take someone with experience to configure SQL backup, instead a nice easy to follow wizard would benefit the user and the program.

BRS, the joy of my life these days

Eric Bursley — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:55:46 +0000

BRS, or Backup and Recovery Systems has become a real pain. Data Domain and Avamar are pretty darn easy to setup. However Networker has so many different things to it, that if you miss one configuration screen, your backup’s fail. I think EMC should spend some development time on EMC Networker to make it just as user friendly as Data Domain and Avamar. My case, We setup SQL Server backup via Avamar last week in less than 1 hour. I spent most of Saturday trying to get NMM (Networker Module for Microsoft Applications) to work, and still haven’t.
Of course the admin, install, and configuration guides provide little to no assistance. I also have the class materials, and NMM is literally a blurb that says read the admin, install, and configuration guide.
VADP backup is just as fun. I’ve already set it up twice for customers, and despite that, it still took 3 hours of tweaking to get my backup’s to work in Networker using VADP.
Ah, the joys of Networker…
I hope to become a local expert on this product so that EMC and my company can grow its BRS base. I’m meeting with the EMC BRS team this week to demo Avamar, Data Domain, and EMC Networker, and I’ll be sure to give them some suggestions for the next release.

Data Domain Certified

Eric Bursley — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 22:40:19 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I got tired of studying, and just went and took the exam for Data Domain. Overall, not that bad of a test, and I probably over studied for it. I’m glad I got it knocked out however so that I can move on to my next certification. Either I’ll complete the VNX TA certification or EMC Networker. Having EMC Network and Data Domain certifications along with having an EMC BRS TA certification would go a long way for my business in back and recovery systems. However a VNX TA would give us bigger discounts. In either case I’ll probably have both done by the end of June. I just need time.

Completed Backup and Recovery Systems Technology Architect certification

Eric Bursley — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:16:58 +0000

This week I took the final exam for the BRS TA certification from EMC and managed to pass it the first time around. It is a very difficult exam, covering Avamar, Data Domain, Data Protection Adviser, and EMC Networker. This goal was asked of me by EMC earlier this year, and I found the time to knock it out despite everything else that is going on.

Next I plan to complete the VNX IE and TA certifications. Both should be straight forward for me because of my years of experience with the Clariion and Celerra arrays. In addition, I’ve been implementing VNX since EMC started to sell them earlier this year.

I also plan on finishing up the Exchange 2010 MCTS and MCITP certifications soon as well. I know big goals, but I’m starting to like Exchange 2010 now that I’ve implemented it a few times.

Study mode if full

Eric Bursley — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:43:32 +0000

These last few weeks I’ve put in long hours at work. Not only have I done two deployments, but I’ve also needed to study on the EMC Backup and Recovery (BRS) TA Design exam, as well as Microsoft Exchange 2010. Its been busy, but I love to learn new things. My concern with the EMC BRS TA design exam is that two EMC employees that focus on BRS have failed the exam three times each. I’ve taken the practice exam several times, but I’m concerned that I’m just memorizing answers on it, and not really focusing on what the real exam need me to know. There is a lot of material, covering Avamar, Data Domain, Networker, Data Protection Adviser, and I’m hoping that I understand enough to take the test with a pass the first time around. I had to take BRS TA administration test twice to pass. Talk about a rough exam…
With Exchange 2010, I finally got off my butt and started to put some effort on learning it. I’ve had to material for months, but with the completing my Master’s degree and other work related studies, I haven’t had the opportunity to catch up.
After these two, I have Recover Point and VNX exams that I need to finish by end of year…

Just another blog update

Eric Bursley — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:13:56 +0000

It has been a while since I updated my blog, and I thought I’d post what I’ve been up to. I recently completed my Master’s study, earning a Master of Information Systems from the University of Phoenix. Its been a long effort, but I believe well worth it. Now I have more than 20 hours a week I can use for other things.
My work is keeping me busy with all things EMC. I’m learning EMC Recover Point, and I truly love this technology. I’m also discovering more cool things I like about the VNX series arrays. FAST Cache is way cool.
I spent the last few days mentoring a new colleague of mine, passing along important information regarding deployment services with EMC. Its always a good thing to pass along information. Note to self, I need to write up a document of all of the EMC tools and procedures I’ve learned over the years to pass along to others…
I’m also preparing for vacation soon. I’m really looking forward to taking time off, and recharging.

Pretty good week

Eric Bursley — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:19:34 +0000

This week I’m at EMC World. It is also my last week in my Master’s program. I’ve learned a lot at EMC World this week, and but I’m looking forward to getting back home and spending some quality time with my family. Its good to have my last week in school away from my family because there is a bit of work left to do, and I can focus on getting that final A.

EMC Symmetrix certification

Eric Bursley — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 17:29:41 +0000

I spent the better month of January working towards the coveted EMC Proven Professional Symmetrix Implementation Specialist certification. After two weeks of classes from EMC, and running through many class exercises, I finally took the exam and passed. This array is very advanced. Far more advanced than the EMC Clariion / Celerra arrays that I’m used to managing. I’m really looking forward to gaining more experience on this array in the near future.

Accomplishments

Eric Bursley — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 23:31:32 +0000

This week was a nice week. With a two week break from my Master’s program, I was able to concentrate on passing Commvault Simpana 9 certification exams. I took the class in early December, but because of work and school responsibilities, I wasn’t able to focus on the core material until this week. To make a long story short, I worked through all of the class labs again, and then took all three exams, passing them all.

After that very long day, I was able to focus on the most important thing in my life, my family. With Christmas here this week, I wanted to make sure I didn’t have any additional work, so that I could just focus on them for once. It was nice on Christmas and today when we as a family played Guitar Hero, with Kay and I on Guitar, and Amber on drums. It was awesome!

This up coming week should also be nice without school, and only two days of work. After that, its back to the grind, studying for three EMC certification in January, and working on completing by Master’s program. Fortunately my Master’s program is just about over. Only three more classes, with graduation scheduled in May.

Two EMC tests later

Eric Bursley — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 19:15:05 +0000

In the past month, I had to re-certify on the Clariion array to be able to deploy it, as well as get certified on the Celerra array. Through many hours of study, I managed to do both, while still keeping my life some what stable, and completing and starting another classes for my Master’s program.

My new job is ready for me to start deploying so that I can finally earn my keep, and so am I. I’m looking forward to my first install in the next couple of weeks. I finally after nearly four years get to be technical again. Not that the last four years was bad or anything. I really enjoyed them. Its just I would rather be leading a team, or doing technical stuff myself. Since I wasn’t able to obtain a position in leadership, I decided to move back into a technical role.