You can modify many of the SQL Safe Backup Agent properties from the Management Console and adjust performance parameters to suit your system needs.
If the SQL Server instance is running SQL Safe Lite, the Send Status every x seconds option is ignored. SQL Safe displays operation status information only for Backup Agents running with an enterprise edition license.
If the SQL Server instance is running SQL Safe Freeware Edition, all settings are unavailable. You must upgrade the Backup Agent to either SQL Safe Lite or the enterprise edition to make changes to the Backup Agent properties. For more information, see manage licenses.
How do you access the Backup Agent properties?
To manage your SQL Safe Backup Agents:
- In the navigation pane, click SQL Safe Agents.
- Right-click the appropriate SQL Server instance.
- Click Properties from the context menu.
- Change the SQL Safe Agent properties to improve the performance of your backup and restore operations, enable debug mode for troubleshooting an issue, or configure settings to enable Virtual Database operations.
- Click OK.
You can also change the port assignment for the Backup Service.
What options can you edit in the SQL Safe Backup Agent properties window?
On the SQL Safe Agent Properties window, you can edit the following settings:
- On the General tab, you can edit by:
- Status
- Management Server - the name of the server hosting the SQL Safe Management Service that the Agent is configured to communicate with.
- Send Status every X seconds - select this option to have the SQL Safe Backup Agent communicate with the SQL Safe Management Service. Also, define communication frequency.
- Performance
- Max Load - the maximum number of concurrent operations that the backup agent can perform.
- Priority - use this option to define the thread priority at which backup agent threads run.
- Troubleshooting
- Enable Debug Mode - select this option to enable debug logging on the Agent.
- The Advanced button provides access to define the following options: More detailed messages, Backup Service Engine, Backup Service I/O, Map Generation, Filter Service Engine, and Filter Service Driver. Additionally, you can set Log Files options and define if you want to roll logs.
- Status
- On the SQL Server tab, you can edit by:
- SQL Server Connectivity
- Timeout - set the timeout in seconds.
- Virtual Device Interface (VDI) Defaults
- Timeout - set the timeout in seconds, which determines how long the Backup Agent will wait for a response from SQL Server before timing out.
- Buffers - define the number of buffers used for the VDI operation.
- Transfer Limit - set the maximum size of a transfer block for the VDI operation.
- Block Size - set the size of a VDI device block. All data transfers are integer multiples of this value.
- SQL Server Connectivity
- On the SQL Virtual Database tab, you can edit by:
- Default Database File Location - use this option to specify which folder SQL VDB uses to stores data files when creating a virtual database. Click Browse to change the Database File location.
- Cleanup Unused Files - use this option to remove the temporary files used for a VDB that are left behind after the database is deleted. Click Clean Up to remove these files and free up space.
Why should you enable troubleshooting?
Occasionally when you contact IDERA support for assistance, a representative will ask you to enable logging to get a better idea of what the issue is in your environment. SQL Safe allows you to customize your debug settings when troubleshooting an issue with your Backup Agent.
Is there a disadvantage if you leave debug mode enabled for a long period of time?
There is no disadvantage to leaving SQL Safe in debug mode for an extended period of time. If you experience an issue that occasionally and unexpectedly occurs, or you want to capture data over a long period of time, leave debug mode enabled. This setting gives you the advantage of already logging the data when the issue occurs.