Creating an SLA policy

You can create custom SLA policies to define backup frequency, retention, replication, and offload policies that are specific for your environment.

To create an SLA policy, complete the following steps:

1. In the navigation pane, click Manage Protection > Policy Overview.
2. Click Add SLA Policy.
   The New SLA Policy pane is displayed.
3. In the Name field, enter a name that provides a meaningful description of the SLA policy.
4. In the Operational Protection section under Main Policy, set the following options for backup operations. These operations occur on the vSnap servers that are defined in the System Configuration > Backup Storage > Disk window.

   Retention

   Specify the retention period for the backup snapshots.

   Disable Schedule

   Select this check box to create the main policy without defining a frequency or start time. Policies created without a schedule can be run on-demand.

   Frequency

   Enter a frequency for backup operations.

   Start Time

   Enter the date and time that you want the backup operation to start.

   Target Site

   Select a primary or secondary backup destination.

   If more than one primary or secondary storage site is available to IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, the vSnap backup destination with the largest amount of available storage is used first.

   Only use encrypted disk storage

   Select this check box to back up data to encrypted vSnap servers if your environment includes a mixture of encrypted and unencrypted servers.

   Restriction: If this option is selected and there are no encrypted vSnap servers available, the associated job will fail.

5. Under Replication Policy, set the following options to enable asynchronous replication from one vSnap server to another. For example, you can replicate data from the primary to the secondary backup site.
   Replication partnerships requirement: These options apply to established replication partnerships. To add a replication partnership, see the instructions in Establishing a replication partnership for a vSnap server.

   Backup Storage Replication

   Select this option to enable replication.

   Disable Schedule

   Select this check box to create the replication relationship without defining a frequency or start time.

   Frequency

   Enter a frequency for replication operations.

   Start Time

   Enter the date and time that you want the replication operation to start.

   Target Site

   Select a primary or secondary replication destination.

   If more than one primary or secondary storage site is available to IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, the replication destination with the largest amount of available storage is used first.

   Only use encrypted disk storage

   Select this option to replicate data to encrypted vSnap servers if your environment includes a mixture of encrypted and unencrypted servers.

   Restriction: If this option is selected and there are no encrypted vSnap servers available, the associated job will fail.

   Same retention as source selection

   Select this option to use the same retention policy as the source vSnap server. To set a different retention policy, clear this option and set a different policy.

6. In the Additional Protection section, set the following options to offload data to cloud storage or to a repository server. Data is backed up to the vSnap server for short term protection, and then offloaded to the selected cloud storage or repository server for longer-term protection. During the first offload of a backup volume, the snapshot is backed up in full. After the first offload of the base snapshot is completed, subsequent offloads are incremental and capture cumulative changes since the last offload. Cloud or repository server restore operations can be performed from any available vSnap server.

   Offload to Cloud Storage

   Select this option to offload data to cloud storage or to a repository server.

   Disable Schedule

   Select this check box to create the offload relationship without defining a frequency or start time.

   Frequency

   Enter a frequency for offload operations.

   Start Time

   Enter the date and time that you want the offload operation to start.

   Same retention as source selection

   Select this option to use the same retention policy for the cloud offload backup as the source vSnap server. To set a different retention policy, clear this option and set a different policy.

   Restriction: Offload retention options are disabled if a server that uses write once read many (WORM) retention is selected in the Target Offload Server field.

   Offload source

   Click the source for the offload operation:

   Main Policy Destination

   The source for the offload operation is the target site that is defined in the Main Policy section.

   Replication Policy Destination

   The source for the offload operation is the target site that is defined in the Replication Policy section.

   Offload Destination Type

   Click Cloud Servers or Repository Servers.

   Target Offload Server

   Click the server to which you want to offload data.

7. Click Save. The SLA policy can now be applied to backup job definitions.