SEP sesam Glossary

Glossary

This SEP sesam glossary contains terms and definitions found in the SEP sesam manuals. Most of the terms are specific to the SEP sesam product.

A

access mode

Defines the communication method and access type between the SEP sesam Client and the SEP sesam Server. The following access modes are available: CTRL (default), SMSSH (SEP sesam SSH based control communication), PROXY (available vendor-specific protocols are: vSphere (vCenter Server), Citrix Xen Server, NetApp and Novell SMS for NetWare 5.1/6.0/6.5), SSH (Secure Shell), and RSH (Remote Shell). Access mode is defined in the Client Properties dialog.

access rights

See user's permissions.

ACL

An access control list (ACL) is a list of permissions attached to an object. It specifies which access rights each user has to a particular object, as well as what operations are allowed on particular objects.

admin

A person who is responsible for managing SEP sesam. Admin is the only user with full control over the SEP sesam. See also user types.

alarm (sm_alarm)

One of the SEP sesam configurable interfaces, intended for system administrators. Alarm is executed on the SEP sesam Server to warn the system administrator when a fatal error occurs. It can only be used if it has been activated before. See interfaces.

archive

See SEP EasyArchive (SEA).

ASR

Automated system recovery (ASR) is a Windows XP/Windows Server 2003 feature that simplifies recovering from a disaster by performing an automated backup and an automated restore. SEP sesam supports system disaster recovery based on ASR writer. ASR writer is used as part of a VSS backup-and-recovery application that performs disaster recovery. See also VSS.

autoloader

See loader.

B

backup

The process of copying and storing file system and/or application data.

backup day

A time interval between two NEWDAY events. SEP sesam enables you to define a backup day according to your backup routines. For example, your backups can run after midnight but retain the backup date of the prior day. A backup day is defined by time set in the NEWDAY event. See also NEWDAY.

backup client

See SEP sesam Client.

backup level

Used to specify the level of data that is copied from source to destination. It is defined when configuring a new backup event in the Main Selection window -> Scheduling -> New Backup Event, tab Parameter, option Backup Type. Available backup level types are: FULL, DIFF, INCR and COPY.

backup plans

An overview of all configured migrations, task groups, tasks and related backup events. Backup plans overview is selected in the Main Selection window -> Tasks -> Backup Plans. In the Backup Plans window you can also configure a new backup event.

backup server

See SEP sesam Server.

backup task

Used to configure a backup for the selected client. A backup task always contains specification of the backup type, client and source information. Optionally, other parameters can also be specified when configuring a backup task, such as the pre- and post-exec scripts.

backup type

Used to select the type, according to which the data is backed up. It is defined in the Main Selection window -> Tasks -> By clients, when configuring a New backup task. Possible backup types are: Path Backup, SAP Hana, Exchange Server, Lotus Notes, MySQL, VMware vSphere etc.

bare metal recovery (BMR)

See disaster recovery.

bare system recovery (BSR)

Also called bare metal recovery. See disaster recovery.

C

calendar sheet

An overview of scheduled as well as expired events and their current status. Calendar is selected in the Main Selection window -> Scheduling -> Calendar Sheet. In the main window the day view is displayed, showing all events in the range of 24 hours. The weekly and monthly view are displayed at the upper right side corner. All events are recorded by SEPuler.

Changed Block Tracking (CBT)

A VMware feature that backs up only the blocks that have changed, thus enabling incremental backups for VMware virtual machines (VMs). CBT is disabled by default. It has to be enabled manually in the backup task configuration for the SEP sesam to use it. SEP sesam uses CBT to perform block level incremental (INCR) and differential (DIFF) backups of VMDKs after a full (FULL) backup has been successfully executed. For details, see SEP sesam backup client for VMware vStorage API.

circular logging

Circular logging is a Microsoft Exchange Server method of conserving hard disk space by periodically overwriting the transaction log file contents. In order to perform incremental (INCR) and differential (DIFF) backups of the Exchange databases, circular logging has to be disabled. For details, see Disable Circular Logging.

client

See SEP sesam Client.

cold backup (C)

An offline backup of VMs and databases. See also hot backup.

command line

The prompt, where you enter commands.

Command Line Interface (CLI)

A utility that provides an alternate way to execute SEP sesam commands in UNIX and Windows environments. The CLI supports most of the commands that are available in the SEP sesam GUI. In addition, you can create, modify or delete SEP sesam objects, and generate reports (lists) in different output formats. The CLI may be called from operating system batch files. The CLI description is available at SEP_Sesam_CLI.

command task (command event)

Allows the execution of an arbitrary program together with arguments on a SEP sesam Client.

complete restore

A process by which an entire save set is restored. The other restore types are selective restore and generation restore.

components

The first item in the Main Selection window of the SEP sesam GUI that provides a list of the components of the SEP sesam environment. The following components are available: topology, clients, data stores, loaders, drives, media pools, and media. Selecting a component opens the corresponding main window for the selected option. See also GUI.

compression

Used for compressing data in save sets. On Windows systems, you can select Compression under the Options 2 dialog of a New backup task: Main Selection window -> Tasks -> By clients -> New backup task. On Linux, you can activate compression globally for all backup tasks using CLI. For details, see Compression settings. Note that the data, which is stored to disk, can either be encrypted or compressed but not both. See also encryption.

COPY (C)

A backup level in which all data defined by the backup task is backed up (e.g. files), regardless of when it was last changed. The difference from full (FULL) backup is that COPY save sets are not referred by any differential (DIFF) or incremental (INCR) save sets.

D

daemon

A long-lived program that implements a service. For instance, sm_qm_main is a daemon that implements the queuing and execution of the SEP sesam tasks.

daemons

Daemons specific to the SEP sesam Client/SEP sesam Server/SEP sesam Remote Device Server (RDS) installation.

data mover

See SEP sesam data mover.

data store

A device type used for writing the save sets directly on one or several configured storage locations — into the file system. Data store configuration consists of specifying data store capacity and watermarks: HWM and LWM. The default data store type is Path. The SEP sesam additional products use dedicated data stores accordingly: SEP EasyArchive, SEP FDS Deduplication Store, or SEP Si3 Deduplication Store. For more details, see Data Store.

data store capacity

The space reserved exclusively for the SEP sesam data store. When specifying the capacity value, a dedicated partition must have enough free space. The reserved space is only meant for storing SEP sesam data. If any other data is also stored on the dedicated partition, backup and migration fail even if there is still free space on the partition. See also HWM and LWM.

deduplication

SEP sesam provides two deduplication solutions — offline and online deduplication. See SEP FDS VA and SEP Si3 target deduplication.

device

The backup device connected to the SEP sesam Server or SEP sesam Remote Device Server (RDS), used for backing up and recovering client data.

DIFF (D)

A differential backup level in which all data specified by the backup task is backed up (e.g. files). A differential backup records only data which was created or changed after the last FULL save set had been created. See also backup level.

disaster (sm_disaster)

One of the SEP sesam configurable interfaces, intended for system administrators. You have to configure this interface to enable the disaster recovery of SEP sesam Server. For details, see Configuration: Disaster Interface. See also interfaces.

disaster recovery

Recovering server data from the save sets after the data was lost due to a disaster. Disaster recovery requires special preparation and configuration. The SEP sesam disaster recovery solutions are Bare Metal Recovery Linux, Bare Metal Recovery MS Windows and SEP sesam Server self-recovery. See also restore.

D2D2T

SEP sesam provides disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T) backup and storage technique where data is initially backed up on a disk and then later copied again on tape. See also virtual tape library.

E

encryption

Supported encryption algorithms are the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit encryption and the Blowfish encryption. You can select the type of backup encryption under the Options 2 dialog of a New backup task: Main Selection window -> Tasks -> By clients -> New backup task. For every encryption you must create and store an encryption key. Data can be encrypted and compressed at the same time only if it is stored on tape, thus using the manufacturer's compression algorithms. If the data is stored to disk, it can either be encrypted or compressed, but not both. See also compression.

environment

See SEP sesam environment.

EOL

End of Life (EOL) is a media pool related parameter that specifies the number of days, for which the media from the pool are protected, thus preserving the backed up data, and cannot be used for storing save sets. See retention time.

EOM

End of Media (EOM) is a media properties related parameter that specifies whether there is still free space left on the medium or tape. If there is no free space left, the medium or tape is full and cannot be used for storing data.

event

Every task, which is started by the SEP sesam scheduler based on regular schedules, a single execution of a task, or a task triggered by the end of a previous task or by notification. See also SEPuler.

event priority

When configuring a new event, such as backup, migration or restore, you can also specify the priority of an event. Event priority is used by SEPuler for resolving scheduling conflicts: tasks scheduled for the same execution time are executed according to their priority parameter. The tasks with the highest priority prevail and are executed first, while the execution of the events with lower priorities is suppressed. You can set the priority for each configured event. Default priority level is 1, which is the lowest priority (the highest is 99). SEPuler always executes the schedules with higher priority first. The only exception are the schedules with priority 0, which override all other priorities and are always executed. See also SEPuler.

exclude list

Used to specify the files or directories that you want to exclude from backup. You can specify the exclude list under the Properties dialog of a New backup task: Main Selection window -> Tasks -> By clients -> New backup task.

F

file index

A database which stores information on every backed up file, file system and application specific items, such as emails.

frequency

The recurrence of backups and other scheduled tasks performed by SEP sesam. Backup NEWDAY is a daily event set by default when SEP sesam is installed. The task interval is defined in a schedule. See also SEPuler.

FULL (F)

A backup level in which all data specified by the backup task is backed up (e.g. files), regardless of whether it has been changed or not. A save set created as FULL is the basic save set for subsequent DIFF or INCR save sets. See also backup level.

full restore

See complete restore.

G

generation restore

A process by which all generations of backed up files can be browsed for and selected for restore, not only the files from the selected differential or incremental backup, but all files since the last full backup. The other restore types are complete restore and selective restore.

granularity level (MS Exchange specific)

A backup parameter, available for MS Exchange Servers, which allows to set the granularity level of items to be backed up and used as a selection criteria for restore. There are three granularity levels: single items (backup of single items, e.g. e-mails, contacts), mailboxes (backup of whole mailboxes), databases (backup of complete Exchange Server mailbox databases). Due to the MS Exchange Server 2013 single item restore limitation, the finest granularity for the MS Exchange Server 2013 is a mailbox folder. For details, see Granularity Backup Level for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

JAVA based SEP sesam GUI provides easy access to configuration and management of SEP sesam and its environment. GUI’s options are available according to the type of user. The Master GUI is used to administer multiple SEP sesam Server environments from a single location. The GUI description is available at SEP Sesam GUI. See also Master GUI.

guest operating system

An operating system that is installed and runs on a virtual machine.

H

high watermark (HWM)

The upper value for the used disk space on the data store. When this value is reached, a data store purge process is started for all EOL-free save sets. The oldest free save sets are deleted first. Purging is done until the low watermark is reached.

hot backup (H)

An online backup of VMs and databases: IBM DB2, Informix, Ingres, Microsoft SQL Server, mySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL. See also cold backup.

hybrid backup solution

SEP sesam can back up all physical and virtual environments and provides data security with local backups as well as backups in the cloud.

I

INCR (I)

An incremental backup level in which all data specified by the backup task is backed up (e.g. files). An incremental backup records all data, which was created or changed after the last FULL, DIFF or INCR save set had been created. See also backup level.

interfaces

Configurable programs, intended for system administrators. The following interfaces are available: pre (sbc_pre), post (sbc_post), alarm (sm_alarm), disaster (sm_disaster), notify (sm_notify). They can be programmed using any text editor. Before you start using an interface, it has to be activated. Once the interface is activated, it is triggered by certain system events. Interface templates are stored in <SESAM_ROOT>/skel/templates. The templates are activated when they are copied to <SESAM_ROOT>/bin/sesam directory. Interfaces can also be activated in GUI: in the menu bar, click Configuration -> Interfaces. Then click the interface you want to activate, check the interface script, which is opened in a new window, and click Save to activate the interface. The interface is saved to the <SESAM_ROOT>/bin/sesam directory.

J

job

Also called task. An operation that has been scheduled for execution by the SEPuler. Types of jobs are backup, migration, restore, and media related actions.

job state

An overview of the executed jobs, sorted by job types. Job status is selected in the Main Selection window -> Job State. Job State -> Backups provides detailed information on all backup jobs, including the task name, date of the last full backup, backup type, data size, throughput, assigned media pool, etc. Job State -> Restore displays detailed information on performed restores together with relevant restore information. Job State -> Migration displays the properties for each processed migration. Job State -> Media Actions provides an overview of performed media related actions, such as initialization, readability check, purging, etc. Each status view can be customized by using filter and selection options.

K

key

See encryption.

L

label

An internal identification assigned to a backup volume by backup, which starts with a media pool name and a 5-digit number.

license

Permission to use a SEP sesam solution for a defined period of time. SEP sesam provides various licenses and editions that you can combine according to your needs. The following SEP building blocks are available: SEP sesam Server, SEP GUI, SEP sesam Client, SEP Data Mover and SEP sesam Remote Device Server, Autoloader Support, Storagepool, Database and Groupware Online Modules, SEP Services (Upgrade, Support,...). A list of all extensions is available at SEP sesam Download Center. See also SEP sesam environment.

loader

Also called tape library. A device that consists of drive(s), a magazine with slots for media and a robotic mechanism that moves media between the slots and drives. There is no dependency in SEP sesam to use specific manufacturers devices or device types. A list of supported hardware is available at Supported Storage Hardware.

location

A parameter used for logical grouping of the SEP sesam clients. Each client is always created within (and assigned to) a location, which can be defined as a group of clients and further specified as sub-locations. Such grouping enables large organizations in different locations to be managed and represented as a group with separate units (tree-like structure) that are managed centrally. New location can be added in the Main Selection window -> Components -> Topology -> New Location. See also topology.

logging

An overview of recorded actions and events for each backup day. Logging view is selected in the Main Selection window -> Scheduling -> Logging. It provides the backup status (State) overview in chronological order, records a continuous protocol for each backup day (Day Log), and displays only error messages of the entire day log separately (Error Log). Log files can be printed or sent by email. They are stored in the <SESAM ROOT>/var/prot, and <SESAM ROOT>/var/log directory.

logging level

An option that specifies the level of details of the SEP sesam events. You can set the logging level through GUI: in the menu bar, click Configuration -> Logging. In the Trace Level window, you can change the logging level from Info (default) to any other logging level: Error, Execute, or Debug. The Debug level is usually set only temporarily for support reasons and might influence the growth of the SEP sesam database. To change the logging level for other SEP sesam modules, select a value between 0-6 (0=ERROR, 1=EMERGENCY, 2=WARNING, 3=NOTICE, 4=INFO, 5=DEBUG, 6=TRACE) in the <SESAM ROOT>/var/ini/debug.ini of the SEP sesam Server installation for the specific module.

low watermark (LWM)

The lower value for the used disk space on the data store. It defines how much storage space is available for save sets with expired EOL. If LWM is set to 0, all EOL-free save sets are removed from the data store. See also high watermark.

LTO

Linear tape open (LTO) is a magnetic tape storage technology that was developed jointly by HP, IBM and Certance (now Quantum Corporation) to provide an alternative standard to proprietary magnetic tape formats. LTO is an open format, which allows for compatible offerings from multiple vendors. The preferred tape format is LTO Ultrium. It is widely used with small and large computer systems for backup and archiving.

M

machine

Any computer, including file or compute servers.

master GUI

Used as a central management interface for several SEP sesam Servers. The master GUI provides additional options and adjustments that enable the master administrator to access the user interfaces of the other SEP sesam Servers. All local GUIs of the distributed SEP sesam Servers run in parallel and can still be used autonomously. The master GUI description is available at Master GUI. See also Graphical User Interface.

medium (pl. media)

Any medium type (magnetic tape or disk) used for storing backed up data.

media pool

The collection of backup volumes, which are recognized and managed by backup and migration tasks, and identified by the media pool name.

migration

The process which creates an identical copy of the save set data to a newly created save set.

migration task

Used to select a save set and a target media pool for migration.

N

NEWDAY

A predefined SEP sesam daily event, accessible under Schedules: Main Selection window -> Scheduling -> Schedules. It resets the event calendar, which is managed by SEPuler. A NEWDAY event is used by SEP sesam to reorder its database and enable undisturbed activity of the SEP sesam processes. It is used to cancel all pending jobs from the previous day and to define a new backup day. For example, if a NEWDAY event is set at 08:00, the backup day is defined from 8:00 AM of the current day to 8:00 AM of the next day. This way the data, which is changed today (day 1), but will only be backed up after midnight (the next day — day 2), is treated according to the actual date change rather than its official time, which would cause the creation of two backups for the same data (one save set for day 1 and another for day 2). The execution time of the NEWDAY event can be modified according to your needs. Note that complete deactivation of a NEWDAY event will cause SEP sesam to stop working properly, since the NEWDAY event also performs other roles related to the SEP sesam processes: it aborts all suspended backup tasks, purges and reorganizes the SEP sesam database, and restarts the SMS and STPD processes.

notification

A special event which is executed after a task to allow sending emails and task specific execution arguments including the result state, e.g. after a backup task execution.

notify (sm_notify)

One of the SEP sesam configurable interfaces, intended for system administrators. Notify is executed on the SEP sesam Server. It can be used for reporting on successfully finished events, such as backup, restore, migration, media initialization, and start/finish of a NEWDAY event. Before you start using any of the configurable interfaces, it has to be activated. See interfaces.

notification center

Used to dynamically send messages from the SEP sesam Server to all running GUIs. The notification center is displayed by selecting the Window option in the menu bar -> Show Notification Center. Different types of messages are sent to notify a user of important events and announcements, such as information on latest patch, license violations, non-configured interfaces, and all messages send via RSS Feeds. For details, see Notification Center.

O

open source license

A license that allows software to be freely used, modified, and/or shared under defined terms and conditions. See also open source module.

open source module

SEP sesam core components, SEP sesam Storage Server and SEP sesam Backup Client (SBC) code, are available under GNU General Public License terms and conditions, allowing users to perform backup and restore of their data.

operator

The person who monitors the SEP sesam Server status, loads backup volumes into the devices, etc. See user types.

overwrite

The directive to overwrite data during restore, if the same data, e.g. a file, already exists on the target client.

P

package

A SEP sesam collection of installation files for different SEP sesam modules, which can be downloaded from the SEP sesam package repository. See also SEP sesam environment.

parallel backups

Also called Sesam Multiplex Stream. Simultaneously backing up multiple data sources onto one drive. Sesam multiplex streaming is an optimized tape backup which uses parallel backup streams for multiple clients. It allows up to 124 continuous backup data streams for a single drive. Each of 124 channels can serve one backup source. For details, see Parallel Backups. See also Sesam Multiplex Stream Server.

post (sbc_post)

One of the SEP sesam configurable interfaces, intended for system administrators. Post is executed on the SEP sesam Client (note that SEP sesam Server is always a backup client too) and performs additional actions (such as restarting a database, sending emails) after a backup or restore is finished according to the user specified commands. To use a post interface, you have to activate it first and create your own commands. See interfaces.

pre (sbc_pre)

One of the SEP sesam configurable interfaces, intended for system administrators. Pre is executed on the SEP sesam Client (note that SEP sesam Server is always a backup client too) and performs additional actions (such as exporting a database, sending messages) before a backup or restore is started according to the user specified commands. To use a pre interface, you have to activate it first and create your own commands. See interfaces.

Q

queued job

A job that is submitted in the resource queue of SM_QM_MAIN, but not yet started.

queue manager (qm)

A SEP sesam Server service that manages the resources and balances backup and restore jobs.

R

recovery

See disaster recovery.

Remote Device Server (RDS)

See SEP sesam Remote Device Server.

restore

A process that browses for different versions of save sets, and copies data from save sets to a client. Data restore granularity depends on the selected data type. The following restore types are available: complete restore, generation restore, selective restore. See also disaster recovery.

restore task

Used to configure a restore of data from save sets to a client. A restore task always contains browsing and selecting the desired save sets by time and task/filename, selecting restore type and restore target, for example file system folder. You can configure a restore task using a restore wizard: in the menu bar, click Activities -> Restore.

retention periods

The time period for which the SEP sesam retains SEP sesam logs, readability check logs, calendar sheet entries and restore tasks. Once the retention period expires, the data is removed from the database and is no longer available. You can modify retention periods for each item separately: in the menu bar, click Configuration -> Defaults -> Retention Periods.

retention time

The time period for which the media are locked after the initialization or the last backup, thus preserving the save sets and keeping them available for restore. Once the retention time expires, the media are writable again. The retention time is defined in days when configuring a new media pool: Main Selection window -> Components -> Media Pools -> New Media Pool, or when editing the selected media pool Properties. See also EOL.

S

save set

A set of data, such as files and directories, copied onto backup medium by backup or migration. The time period for which a save set is preserved is defined by the retention time.

save set ID

An internal unique identification assigned to a save set.

schedule

Used for setting events to occur at a specific time. You can set up any kind of task to occur at a specific time, such as backup, migration or restore, thus automating the task execution. When setting up a task, among other parameters a start time, time interval and event priority have to be specified. Schedules always contain one predefined task: a NEWDAY schedule. You can explore and edit the existing schedules or set up new ones: Main Selection window -> Scheduling -> Schedules. For details, see Schedules. See also SEPuler.

selective restore

A process by which only the selected parts of data on the save set, such as individual files and directories, are restored. The other restore types are complete restore and generation restore.

SEP EasyArchive (SEA)

A policy-based integrated archival solution, which converts NTFS partitions into WORM drives. Data is archived for a specified amount of time using the predetermined data store. Archived data can be easily accessed by authorized users, it can be encrypted and deduplicated. Data can be stored on disk, tape or off-loaded to a cloud store. SEP EasyArchive requires a SEA license. SEA extension can be downloaded from SEP sesam Download Center. See also SEP sesam extensions.

SEP FDS VA

SEP File Deduplication System Virtual Appliance is an offline block-level deduplication solution, powered by FalconStor®. It provides a space-efficient repository for the SEP sesam data stores. SEP FDS VA works as a SEP sesam Remote Device Server. It includes 1 TB of repository capacity (requires one repository capacity license), but is expandable up to 5 TB. For details, see SEP FDS VA Deduplication Appliance. FDS VA extension can be downloaded from SEP sesam Download Center. See also SEP Si3 target deduplication and SEP sesam extensions.

SEP sesam Client (SBC)

A system that has a SEP sesam Client package installed, is added to the SEP sesam environment as a client and is included for data protection in the backup plans. Clients may be workstations, PCs, virtual machines or file servers with gigabytes of data. The abbreviation SBC (sesam backup client) is used in a more technical sense for programs, which are executing backup, migration and restore tasks. SBC collects and consolidates the backup data on the client system, and delivers it to STPD. The SBC module can be controlled directly without other SEP modules by using SEP sesam CLI. See also SEP sesam environment.

SEP sesam data mover (SDM)

A functional role allowing access to a third-party software API. Depending on a third-party software, a data mover role can be combined either with a SEP sesam Server, SEP sesam Remote Device Server or a client. The following data mover types are available: SEP sesam data mover for VMware vSphere (SDM-VV), for Citrix XenServer (SDM-CX), for Novell Services (SDM-NS), and for NetApp (SDM-NA). For details, see What is a SEP sesam data mover.

SEP sesam environment

A complete SEP sesam environment consists of different modules, which can be combined according to your needs to implement optimized backup. Modules interact with one another through SEP APIs, also used for interaction with another software. Each module is installed separately. Essential modules of each SEP sesam environment are: SEP sesam Server, SEP sesam GUI, SEP sesam Remote Device Server, SEP sesam Client(s), and optionally other modules represented as the SEP sesam extensions. The SEP sesam environment is managed centrally by the SEP sesam GUI.

SEP sesam extensions

Additional modules and functionality that provide consistent backup of databases (Oracle, MS SQL, IBM DB2, Informix SAP R/3, etc.), applications (like SAP), groupware systems, and virtualization environments. For details on supported extensions, see SEP sesam OS and Database Support Matrix.

SEP sesam Remote Device Server (RDS)

When relating to open source modules, also called SEP sesam Storage Server. RDS is a storage management component that controls the preparation of data, intended for backup on a SEP sesam Client and writes the backup data to the backup media. During a restore it locates the save sets and sends the data to a client. RDS consists of three components: Sesam Transfer Protocol Server (STPD), Sesam Multiplex Stream Server (SMS), and SEP sesam Client (SBC) including remote access. The control of the tasks is maintained by the SEP sesam Server.

SEP sesam Server

The server system with installed SEP sesam Server software, containing the SEP sesam database together with indexes, and providing backup and other data protection related services for one or more clients on a network. SEP sesam Server is always a SEP sesam Client too. Server module can be installed on any server or workstation (Linux, Windows, etc.). For details, see SEP sesam OS and Database Support Matrix. See also SEP sesam environment.

SEP sesam Storage Server

See SEP sesam Remote Device Server.

SEP Si3 target deduplication

An inline block-level data deduplication solution for Linux servers that writes data directly from the SEP sesam Server or SEP sesam Remote Device Server to the backup media. SEP Si3 target deduplication is easily configured and ready to use by selecting Si3 deduplication data store type: Main Selection -> Components -> Data Stores -> New Data Store -> Store Types -> SEP Si3 Deduplication Store. For details, see Configuring an Si3 Deduplication Store. See also SEP File Deduplication System Virtual Appliance.

SEPuler

A process that controls scheduling of the SEP sesam backup and restore tasks. It is constantly checking for backup, restore and other predefined tasks to be executed. When such a task is found, a SEPuler initiates the execution of the event. Once the event is started, SEPuler determines the next execution event for a cyclical backup/restore task and rewrites the event to the event calendar. Every configured task is automatically recorded by SEPuler. A schedule is used for any number of events, and a particular task (backup, restore, etc.) can have events in several schedules. To prevent possible tasks conflicts and efficiently manage tasks in execution queue, SEP sesam uses the event priorities. The event calendar provides overview of all, scheduled and the expired events: Main Selection window -> Scheduling -> Calendar Sheet. See also calendar sheet and schedule.

Sesam Multiplex Stream (SMS) Server

A service that receives the backup data from STPD and writes the data to the backup media. During a restore it reads the data from the backup media and sends it to STPD.

Sesam Transfer Protocol Server (STPD)

A service that requests the backup data from the SMS Server and manages the data flow between the SEP sesam Server and a client. STPD delivers the backup data to SMS Server. During a restore STPD receives the data from SMS Server and sends it to the SEP sesam Client, which then restores the data to the target system.

source

The data source specified in backup or migration tasks.

super-user

A UNIX user with root privileges or a Windows user with Administrator rights.

system administrator

The person responsible for installing, configuring, and maintaining backup solution.

T

task

Execution of a SEP sesam backup, migration, restore or command task.

task group

A group of tasks used for scheduling.

target

A specified location for backup/migration of restored data, for example a different media pool (migration) or a folder (restore) on a client.

U

user's permissions

The permissions or access rights granted according to user types. They define which users can perform specific SEP sesam operations.

user types

SEP sesam user types are admin, operator and restore. The admin user is the only user with full control over the SEP sesam. The operator is allowed to configure and start backups on GUI client. The restore user is only allowed to start restores. The displayed GUI components depend on the user type. See also Graphical User Interface and user view.

user view

Used for adjusting the GUI display according to the user type: in the menu bar, click Configuration -> User view. By switching the view from admin to operator, certain SEP sesam GUI elements (Components, Tasks and Scheduling) are disabled.

V

vendor independent solution

A disclosure of the SEP sesam backup format provides independence from software vendors by providing the users with untroubled access to company data without any other license requirements. See also open source module.

virtual tape library (VTL)

A software appliance that emulates a traditional tape library and provides additional data storage component for backup solution.

virtualization support

SEP sesam provides backup and restore for virtual platforms, including VMware, Citrix XenServer, XEN and Hyper-V.

VM

A virtual machine.

VMDK

A virtual disk file that stores the contents of the VM's hard disk drive.

VSS

Volume Shadow Copy Service is a Windows service that allows taking snapshots of computer files or volumes, even when they are in use. SEP sesam uses only the VSS components, which are provided by Microsoft.

W

watermark

A parameter used for data store configuration. See high watermark and low watermark.

X

XBSA

X/Open Backup Services API is used by the SEP sesam backup module to connect to Sesam Transfer Protocol Server (STPD) to send or retrieve data from Sesam Multiplex Stream Server (SMS).