Setting Up the Dell™ DR Series System as a CIFS or VTL Backup Target on CommVault Simpana Dell Engineering June 2015 A Dell Technical White Paper
Revisions Date Description January 2014 Initial release March 2014 Updated for missed DR replication step. April 2015 Added VTL Content for v3.2 Release July 2015 Added content for configuring an iSCSI target on Linux This document is for informational purposes only and may contain typographical errors and technical inaccuracies. The content is provided as is, without express or implied warranties of any kind. © 2015 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Table of contents 1 2 3 Installing and configuring the DR Series system for use with CommVault Simpana ............................ 5 1.1 CommVault Simpana software prerequisites ...................................................................................... 5 1.2 Installing and configuring the DR Series system ................................................................................ 5 Configuring CIFS and NFS containers for CommVault Simpana ............................................
A.3.6 Adding the VTL media to the container............................................................................................. 90 A.3.7 Updating CommVault to identify newly added VTL media ........................................................... 91 A.3.8 Space reclamation ....................................................................................................................................94 B 3 Glossary ............................................................................
Executive summary This document provides information about how to set up the Dell DR Series system to run Virtual Synthetic Backup on CommVault Simpana 10. This document is a quick reference guide and does not include all DR Series system deployment best practices. For additional information, see the DR Series system documentation and other data management application best practices whitepapers for your specific DR Series system at: http://www.dell.
1 Installing and configuring the DR Series system for use with CommVault Simpana 1.1 CommVault Simpana software prerequisites This guide applies to versions of CommVault Simpana version 10 and later. The screenshots used in this document may vary slightly, depending on the version of the software you are using. For CommVault version 10, there are patch requirements to add support for NDMP VTL. Refer to the CommVault documentation for more information or contact support for details. 1.
3. Launch the virtual console. 4. After the virtual console is open, log on to the system as user administrator and the password St0r@ge! (The “0” in the password is the numeral zero). 5. Set the user-defined networking preferences.
6. View the summary of preferences and confirm that the information is correct. 7. Log on to DR Series system administrator console with the IP address you just provided for the DR Series system. Use the username administrator and password St0r@ge! (The “0” in the password is the numeral zero.). 8. Join the DR Series system into the Active Directory domain. Note: if you do not want to add DR Series system to Active Directory, see the DR Series System Owner’s Manual for guest logon instructions. a.
b. Enter your Active Directory credentials.
2 Configuring CIFS and NFS containers for CommVault Simpana 2.1 Creating containers in the DR Series system For this procedure, you will need to create and mount the container. 1. 9 Select Containers in the left navigation area of the DR Series system GUI, and then click Create at the top of the page.
2. Enter a Container Name, and select the Enable CIFS or Enable NFS check box as appropriate. (CommVault Simpana supports both CIFS and NFS protocols.) Name the container Select CIFS or NFS Enter Backup Server Info 3. Select the preferred client access credentials. Name the container Select CIFS or NFS Enter Backup Server Info Note: For improved security, Dell recommends adding IP addresses for the following: Backup console (CommVault Server, CommVault Media Agents).
4. Click Create a New Container. Confirm that the container is added. 5. Select the container and click Edit. Note down the container share/export path, which will be used later as the Disk Library for CommVault Simpana.
7. 2.2 Adding the target container(s) to CommVault Simpana 1. 12 Click Cancel to exit.
2. In the Add Disk Library window, enter a name for the Disk Library and the information about the DR Series system container, and click OK. Name the library Enter credentials of DR container Default: administrator/St0r@ge! Enter DR container share path 3. Confirm that the library is created, and that the status is Ready.
2.2 Setting up a single system environment (DR Series system as NFS disk library) 1. Mount the DR container NFS export onto a Unix/Linux Media Agent. Create a new directory Mount DR NFS Share 2.
3. In the Add Disk Library window, enter the name for the Disk Library and the mount path of DR container export, and click OK. Name the library Enter the mount path 4. Confirm that the library is created, and the Status is Ready.
2.3 Setting up a replicated system environment The replicated system environment includes a minimum of two DR Series systems that are connected to two different Media Agents. For more details, please refer to the CommVault documentation: http://documentation.commvault.com/hds/v10/article?p=features/remote_office/remote _office_how_to.htm 1. On CommCell Console, click Storage then Library and Drive. 2.
3. Click OK to continue. 4. Click the Shared Disk Device tab. 5.
6. In the Add Sharing Folder dialog box, enter the source DR container share/export information and then click OK. Select the name of MediaAgent accessing this mount path Linux MediaAgent can only select local path Windows MediaAgent can select both local and network path Note: This Device is the replication source. Device information is based on which protocol the container is exposed to the MediaAgents.
7. The system displays the device information with the MediaAgent that can access the device in Library and Drive Configuration window. 8. Right-click the device and then click Add Replica Sharing Folder.
9. In the Add Sharing Folder dialog box, enter the target DR container share/export information and then click OK. Select the name of MediaAgent accessing this mount path Linux MediaAgent can only select local path Windows MediaAgent can select both local and network path Note: This Device is the destination of the replication. Device information is based on which protocol the container is exposed to the MediaAgents.
10. The system displays the device information with which MediaAgent can access the device in the Library and Drive Configuration window. 11. On the Libraries tab, click the Start menu, and select Add -> Replica Disk Library.
12. In the Add Disk Library dialog box, enter the Alias and clear the Enable replication checkbox. Name of the disk library Unselected to use DR replication/selected to use CV replication NOTE: Enabling Replication: 22 • For the Disk Library Replication solution, select this option to use ContinuousDataReplicator to replicate data between the source (shared folder added in Step 7) and the destination (shared folder added in Step 10) mount paths.
13. In the Share Mount Path dialog box, select the device configured in step 5-10, which has two sharing folders on both the replication source an replication target, and then click OK. Select the disk device that you wish to associate as the mount path 14. Verify the disk library is configured.
2.4 Using the continuous data replicator to replicate client data to a DR Series container ContinuousDataReplicator (CDR) replicates data from a source computer to a destination computer, with both computers supporting the same network transfer protocol. In this configuration, CDR replicates between a client and a DR Series system container. The CDR package should be installed on both media agents associated with this configuration.
2. In the Create New Replication Set window, enter the Name for the Replication Set, and select Destination Host from the dropdown list. This is the client machine that has the DR container mounted (CIFS or NFS). Click OK. 3. Right-click the Replication Set, and then go to All Tasks -> Manage Pairs.
4. For Common Base Folder, enter the path pointing to the DR container share/export. Click Add-> select the Destination Path and click Close. Destination Paths :NFS 5. Right-click the managed pairs under the replication set. Select Start/Start Full Resync and monitor the State. 6. Expand the client to be backed up, right-click the target iDataAgent, and then select All Tasks –> Create New Backup Set.
7. 27 Enter the New Backup Set Name.
8. Set the appropriate Backup Schedule 9. Right-click the newly created Backup Set, and select All Tasks -> New Subclient.
10. Enter the Subclient name on the General tab. 11. Select the Storage Device tab, and click Create Storage Policy.
12. In the Create Storage Policy Wizard, select the Policy Type as Data Protection and Archiving. 13. Enter the Storage Policy Name.
14. Select the DR disk library created in Section 2 as the default library 15. Select the MediaAgent. 16. Enter the Number of Device Streams and retention policy.
Max is 32. Set depending on the speed of the data that is being sent to the DR. The total should be 500MB/s. 17. Disable deduplication for the primary copy. 18. Click Finish. 19. Disable Software Compression under Storage Device > Data Transfer Option.
20. Clear the Enable Deduplication checkbox under Storage Device > Deduplication.
21. On the Content tab, select data for backup by clicking Browse. 22. Right-click the newly created sub-client, and select Backup.
23. Make selection under Select Backup Type and click OK. 24. Navigate to Job Controller to monitor the job Status.
3 Configuring VTL for CommVault Simpana 3.1 Creating and configuring iSCSI target container(s) for CommVault Simpana 3.1.1 Creating the iSCSI VTL container for CommVault Simpana You need to create and export the iSCSI container in the DR Series system GUI. 1. Select Containers in the left navigation area, and then click Create at the top of the page. 2. Enter a container name and select the Virtual Tape Library (VTL) container option.
3. Select the iSCSI Access Protocol. Specify the DMA Access Control by providing the storage node / media node IP Address, IQN or FQDN. Select the Auto Marker Type. 4. Finalize VTL creation by clicking Creating a New Container.
3.1.2 Configuring the iSCSI target - Windows 1. 38 You configure the iSCSI Initiator Software for Windows by providing the IP or FQDN of the DR unit in the Quick Connect > Target field. Click Quick Connection to open the Quick Connect dialog box, which indicates a connection was made but was set as inactive.
2. Close the dialog box and then select the newly discovered target. This target will have an Inactive Status as it requires authentication parameters to be provided for iSCSI login. Select the Target from the list, click the Connect button, and then in the Connect to Target dialog box, click Advanced.
3. In Advanced Settings select to Enable CHAP log on, enter the User Name and Target Secret / Password, and then click OK. Refer to Appendix A for further details about iSCSI accounts and credentials.
The iSCSI target should now show as connected, and device discovery can now proceed.
4. Open the Server Manager Snap-in and verify that the newly connected devices show up in the Device Manager. Verify that the STK Library and IBM Ultrium-TD4 Device Drivers are installed. Note: Refer to the article at: http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/home.aspx, for more information and assistance in acquiring Microsoft Device Drivers, e.g., StorageTeck Library Drivers.
3.1.3 Configuring the iSCSI target – Linux Before you begin this procedure, ensure that the iSCSI initiator is installed (iscsi-initiatorutils). For example: yum install iscsi-initiator-utils ; /etc/init.d/iscsi start To configure the iSCSI target for Linux, follow these steps. 1. Add the CHAP Authentication details for the DR Series system on the Linux Initiator as follows: a. Edit /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf and un-comment the following line: node.session.auth.authmethod = CHAP b.
3.1.4 Configuring CommVault to use the newly created iSCSI VTL 1. 44 Open the CommCell Console and, on the Storage tab, click Library and Drive. Move the desired Available MediaAgent to the Selected MediaAgents list box and click OK.
2. Click OK to continue. 3. Select the Detect/Configure Devices… menu from the Start button.
4. Make sure that SCSI Devices and Automatically Create DDS Drivepools are selected, and then click OK. It may take a few moments to detect the iSCSI VTL.
5. Click OK and then click Close. 6. Click OK.
7. Right-click the library you just added, and select the Configure context menu. 8. Select the Library and All Drives radio button and click OK. 9. Click Yes to confirm.
10. Select the appropriate media type, and then click Yes. 11. Select the new library and select Advanced Options…> Exhaustive Detection context menus. 12. Click Yes to confirm.
13. Click Close 14. Click OK.
15. Close the Library and Drive Configuration dialog box. 16. Select Policies > Storage Polices in the navigation pane and then select the New Storage Policy context menu. 17. Select the Data Protection and Archiving radio button and click Next.
18. Enter a Storage Policy Name and click Next>. 19. Select the newly added library and click Next.
20. Select the Drive Pool for the newly added library and click Next >. 21. Select the Scratch Pool that you want to use for this library.
22. Click Next. 23. Deselect Hardware Compression and click Next.
24. Click Finish.
3.2 Creating and configuring NDMP target container(s) for CommVault Simpana 3.2.1 Create the NDMP VTL container for CommVault Simpana You need to create and export the NDMP container in the DR Series system GUI. 1. Select Containers in the navigation panel on the left side of the dashboard, and then click the Create at the top of the page. 2. Specify your container name and select the VTL container option.
3. Select the NDMP Access Protocol. Specify the DMA Access Control by providing the storage node or, media node IP Address or FQDN. Select the Marker Type as Unix Dump and click Next. 4. Finalize the VTL creation by clicking Create a New Container. Note: All of the tapes will display as having a capacity of 799 GB in CommVault. This will not affect the use of smaller tapes. Smaller tapes will still be managed properly.
3.2.2 Configure CommVault to use the newly created NDMP VTL 1. 58 Open the Commcell Console and select Client Computers in the navigation pane. Select the New Client > File System > NAS context menu to add the DR Series system credentials.
2. Enter information for the Add NDMP Server dialog box, including the newly added VTL DR hostname or IP address, Login and Password. Click Detect and wait for the Vendor and Firmware Revision boxes to populate. Click OK. 3. In the CommCell Console, on the Storage tab, click Library and Drive. Select the MediaAgent and click Add.
4. This will move the desired MediaAgent to the Selected MediaAgents list box. Click OK. 5. Click OK to continue.
6. Click Detect/Configure Devices… menu from the Start button. 7. 61 Select the NDMP Devices radio button and the MediaAgent of your choice. Click OK.
8. Select the DR for the NDMP Server and click Add. Click OK. 9. Click Yes to confirm.
A dialog box opens showing progress. 10. Close the Log dialog box. 11. Click OK.
12. Right-click the library you just added and select the Configure context menu. 13. Select the Library and All Drives radio button and click OK. 14. Click Yes to confirm.
15. Select the appropriate media type and click Yes. 16. Select the tape library you just added and select the Advanced Options > Exhaustive Detection context menu. 17. Click Yes to confirm.
18. Close the Log dialog box. 19.
20. Results show that the library is now configured. Close the Library and Drive Configuration dialog box. 21. Create a new Storage Policy by selecting New Storage Policy after selecting Policies > Storage Policies in the navigation pane.
22. Click the Data Protection and Archiving radio button and then click Next. 23. Enter a Storage Policy Name and click Next.
24. Select the Library you just added and click Next. 25. Make sure that these selections are correct and click Next >.
26. Select the Scratch Pool that you want and click Next. 27. Click Next >.
28. Clear the Hardware Compression checkbox. Click Next >. 29. Click Finish.
30. In the CommCell Console, expand the newly added filer in the tree under Client Computers. You should see a NAS node followed by a defaultBackupSet node. Double-click default in the right pane.
31. Enter the path to back up in the text box of the Content tab and click Add. Use the drop down box to help you navigate the filer you want to back up.
32. Specify the Storage Policy that you just added and click OK.
33. Select the Properties of the library you just added.
34. Select the When Content Verification Fails checkbox in the Media Usage tab and click OK.
35. Select the newly updated defaultBackupSet and select All Tasks > Backup All Subclients context menu to start the backup job.
36. Click Yes to confirm backup. 37. Click OK. 38. Choose Full for the first backup job. You may schedule the job for later if needed. Click OK. 39. Monitor the progress of the job from the Job Controller tab.
40. Expand Client Computers in the tree along with the filer you want to restore to. Expand NAS and defaultBackupSet then select All Tasks > Browse and Restore context menu for defaultBackupSet..
41. Select the backup you want to restore and click View Content.
42. Select the data you want to restore and click Recover All Selected… 43. Specify the destination of the restore and click OK.
44. Monitor the job’s progress from the Job Controller tab.
4 Setting up the DR Series system cleaner Performing scheduled disk space reclamation operations are recommended as a method for recovering disk space from system containers in which files are deleted, as a result of deduplication. The cleaner runs during idle time. If your workflow does not have a sufficient amount of idle time on a daily basis, then you should consider scheduling the cleaner to force it to run during a scheduled time.
5 Monitoring deduplication, compression, and performance After backup jobs have run, the DR Series system tracks capacity, storage savings, and throughput on the DR Series system dashboard. This information is valuable in understanding the benefits of the DR Series system. Note: Deduplication ratios increase over time. It is not uncommon to see a 2-4x reduction (25-50% total savings) on the initial backup. As additional full backup jobs are completed, the ratios will increase.
A VTL configuration guidelines A.1 Managing VTL protocol accounts and credentials A.1.1 iSCSI account details and management By default the iSCSI Username will be the hostname of the DR and can be confirmed by reviewing the output of the iscsi –account --user command. For example: >iscsi --account --user user: dr9-interop-a7 The default iSCSI Password is “St0r@ge!iscsi”. This can be modified by navigating to the Clients Navigation option and selecting the iSCSI tab under the Clients menu.
A.1.
A.3 Managing VTL media and space use A.3.1 General performance guidelines for DMA configuration • • • • A.3.2 The DR Series system (version 3.2 and later) provides inline VTL deduplication, compression, and encryption at rest functionality. Backup applications (such as Dell NetVault, Symantec BackupExec, Symantec NetBackup, and so on) should be configured so that any multiplexing, pre-compression, software-side deduplication, or encryption is disabled.
5. Calculate the data footprint during the retention period for change rate data sets based on a 10-1 deduplication ratio 6. Calculate the ratios within the retention period for each of the data sets 7. Determine the lowest ratio data set to be retired within the retention period and create media of size that closest matches this data footprint so that when a retention period is met the most amount of media is recycled to invoke data reclamation alignment and optimizing media consumption.
20TB Total initial footprint with a 10% change rate Week Pre-Deduplication 10% Change Rate Logical Logical Logical Incremental Size Full Metrics Metrics 1 24.2TB 20TB 2TB 2 24.2TB 20TB 2TB 3 24.2TB 20TB 2TB 4 24.2TB 20TB 2TB 5 24.2TB 20TB 2TB Total 121TB A.3.
A.3.6 Adding the VTL media to the container To add media to an existing VTL container navigate to the containers menu option. Select and edit the target VTL container. Use the resulting dialogue box field Add More Tape (no of Tape) field to input the number of tapes to add to the VTL container. Alternatively, you may also use the “vtl –create_carts” cli command for this operation.
A.3.7 Updating CommVault to identify newly added VTL media After the VTL media has been added to the target VTL container, CommVault must now be updated to be able to use the media. 1. Select the Default Scratch of the library and select Import Media. 2. Click Continue. 3. Click OK.
4. Click OK. 5. Review the resulting log and click Close.
6. Select Start > Detect/Configure Devices… 7. 93 Notice the added tapes that were added.
A.3.8 Space reclamation General Guidelines The DR v3.2 Appliance Virtual Tape Library feature is presented to operating systems and data management applications alike as devices either through iSCSI or NDMP protocol connectivity. The DMA interfaces with the virtual tape library and all its underlying components including the drives and media though these specific protocols.
3. Select All Tasks > Delete Contents context menu for the tapes you want to erase. 4. Click Yes in this warning box if you agree.
5. Enter “erase and reuse media” in the text box to confirm you want to remove the data from the selected tape. 6. Select the Media Pool you want the tape to be moved to. 7.
8. Find that tape in the Media Pool you moved it to and select the Options > Erase Media context menu. 9. 10. Select Quick Erase and click OK.
11. Click Yes if you want to erase the media. 12. Watch the progress of the erase from the Job Controller tab. 13. Once the reconciliation process has been completed on the CommVault software. From the DR initiate a cleaning cycle either via the UI or via the command line. For example: > maintenance --filesystem --reclaim_space Successfully started cleaner. 14. Check to make sure the space has now been reclaimed via the UI or via the command line.
Cleaner Status Encryption Status Total Inodes Bytes decrypted Dedupe Savings Compression Savings Total Savings 99 : : : : : : : Running Disabled 101 0 25.81 % 8.79 % 32.
B Glossary RDA : Rapid Data Access, Dell proprietary technology for faster data access. Dedupe Backup : In this mode Deduplication is done on the Client and then the deduplicated packets are sent to DR Series System. Passthrough Backup : In this mode Deduplication is done on DR Series System after data is transferred from Clients and backup media server.