In Dell PowerProtect Data Manager (PPDM), protecting the application itself is a critical administrative task. This is handled through the Server Disaster Recovery (DR) backup configuration.
When an administrator navigates to Infrastructure > Disaster Recovery to set up or edit the DR backup schedule, the system requires a frequency to be defined for the backup of the PPDM metadata and configuration database.
The Schedule Field: The specific field labeled "Backup Once Every" is designed to ensure that the system state is captured frequently enough to meet the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of the management plane.
The Unit: According to the PPDM Administration Guide, this field is expressed in Hours. By default, it is often set to 8 or 12 hours, but it can be adjusted by the user within the allowed numerical range (typically 1 to 24 hours).
Storage Target: These DR backups are sent to a pre-configured PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) system to ensure that, in the event of a total PPDM VM failure, the environment can be restored using the ISO and the metadata stored on the protection storage.
Setting this in hours allows for a more granular protection cycle than "Days" or "Weeks," which would be insufficient for a dynamic environment where protection policies and assets change throughout the day.