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SharePoint backup requirements and considerations

Unitrends protects the following SharePoint environments:

Deployments where the SharePoint installation type is single server, and all SharePoint data and components reside on one server. For details, see the Microsoft article Install SharePoint 2013 on a single server with SQL Server.
Deployments where the SharePoint installation type is full farm, and the SharePoint data and components reside on one or multiple servers. For details, see the Microsoft article, Install SharePoint 2013 across multiple servers for a three-tier farm.

For all installations, the Primary SharePoint server runs the Central Administration website service, which can be accessed using http://<machine name>:<admin port>

The Unitrends Windows agent provides protection of services and resources in a Microsoft standalone or multi-server SharePoint farm.

In a SharePoint deployment, the primary node installs SharePoint services on other member servers and initiates administrative commands to manage the farm. The Central Administration service runs on the primary node to perform farm management. All nodes directly access the SharePoint central configuration database for configuration of services, features, database connections, and the like. The central configuration database resides either on the primary node or on a stand-alone SQL server. Unitrends protects the farm from the primary node, where administrative commands are run to coordinate the backup of data across other nodes in the farm.

To ensure application consistency, the agent leverages SharePoint’s STSADM and PowerShell (SharePoint 2013 and higher) tools to run backup and recovery jobs . The agent invokes commands on the SharePoint primary node and supplies STSADM or PowerShell with a local share target (/backups/rae/<client_name>/<instance>) so that jobs run on the backup appliance itself.

The agent works with STSADM or PowerShell to back up the SharePoint-specific data and files on each node in the farm. STSADM or PowerShell discovers the online nodes and performs backup operations to the local backup appliance share. If a node is not available, the backup continues without error. The resulting backup does not include any nodes that were unavailable when the backup ran.

Notes:   

SharePoint protection includes SharePoint data only. To protect an entire node in the farm, add the node to the backup appliance and run asset-level backups.
Protecting SharePoint farms - Full catastrophic farm recovery can only be performed for deployments where the installation type is single server. To check your installation type, see To determine the SharePoint installation type.

Consider the following before implementing your SharePoint protection strategy: