About backing up non-VSS-aware databases
With Veritas System Recovery, you can create cold recovery points manually, warm recovery points automatically, or hot recovery points of non-VSS-aware databases.
The Veritas System Recovery 18 Management Solution server includes a database, which should back up the server on a regular basis. You must stop the Altiris Notification Server services before backing up so you do not lose or corrupt data. To stop the server, you can use Veritas System Recovery through Veritas System Recovery 18 Management Solution to create a cold recovery point automatically.
A manual cold (or offline) recovery point ensures that all database transactions are committed to the hard disk. You can then use Veritas System Recovery to create the recovery point, and then restart the database.
When you automate the creation of a warm recovery point (non-VSS-aware database), you run a command file in the backup policy. The command file is run before data capture to stop the database and commit all transaction logs to the hard disk. Veritas System Recovery snaps a "virtual volume recovery point." A second command file is run in the backup to automatically restart the database while the recovery point is created from the virtual volume recovery point.
The virtual volume snapshot takes only a few seconds to create. The database is in the recovery point state momentarily; which results in a minimal number of created log files.
If a cold or warm recovery point is not possible in your organization, to back up non-VSS-aware databases, you can create a hot (or online) recovery point. Veritas System Recovery takes a crash-consistent recovery point. Such a recovery point is equivalent to the state of a system that was running when the power failed. A database that can recover from this type of failure can be recovered from a crash-consistent recovery point.