Dell™ DR Series Appliance Virtual Tape Library Best Practices Topics covered: -- Dell DR VTL Container -- NetVault nVTL A Dell Technical White Paper © 2014 Dell Inc. All Rights Reserved. Dell, the Dell logo, and NetVault are trademarks of Dell Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. VMware and vSphere are registered trademarks of VMware, Inc.
Table of contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................3 Executive Summary .....................................................................................................................................................5 Pros and Cons of each VTL Technique ................................................................................................................
Introduction Dell™ DR Series appliances are high-performance, disk-based backup-and-recovery appliances that deliver innovative features such as inline deduplication and compression, advanced data protection, and replication. Additionally, the management features, ease of deployment, and architecture that enables core backup data to remain on disk and online longer can help organizations reduce the complexity associated with backups. For most common data types, Dell recommends using Rapid Data Access (RDA).
• NetVault SmartDisk is a NetVault Backup technology that is occasionally considered for use in conjunction with the DR Series appliance. NetVault SmartDisk is a post-process, targetside deduplication technology that can be configured to perform deduplication while data is being written to disk. Because the DR Series appliance provides deduplication of the data coming into it, using both technologies generates a significant input/output (I/O) load with minimal storage savings.
Executive Summary This document provides detailed information about setting up a Dell™ DR Series Disk Backup Appliance as a target for the DRs owns native Virtual Tape Library (VTL Container), and a NetVault Backup nVTL. The goal is to define the best technique users can deploy for backing up data to the DR Appliance. In these configurations, the VTL is configured for target-object storage use for data-protection operations.
Pros and Cons for each VTL Technique While Virtual Tape Libraries can be implemented in my ways on the Dell DR Appliance and Dell NetVault Backup software solution some are better suited to deployment in differing environments. In the sections below specific features that impact the decision process regarding which VTL technique users should implement is clearly defined in a Pro vs Con format.
Technical setup and configuration DR VTL Container -- best practices This section highlights key configuration and setup best practices to add the DR Series appliance for the use with native VTL container instance(s). General setup and configuration DR VTL Container -- best practices For additional details on the following prerequisites, refer to the manufacturer’s documentation. • Ensure that cabling is configured correctly. • Configure interfaces, protocol, and addressing.
Example: Starting with a storage appliance with 2TB of physical disk space. Based on the 10x usage recommendation, you can create a DR VTL Container of 20TB of total storage. But given that the data backed up per week is 2TB and data retention is 4 weeks, the total amount of data stored at any given time would only be 8TB. Thus, reducing the DR VTL Container to 10TB would be a more efficient use of space.
In our sample DR VTL Container, we can now look at grouping the data that is to be backed up to work with media groups as target sets. For example, if we have 2TB of data to back up, the backup is processed on a weekly Full Backup basis, and the retention is 4 weeks, we need 8TB of media. With media at 100GB each, 80 pieces of media can be added to the target media group. The main reason for using media groups is so we can force the DR Series appliance to reuse media before using blank media.
Installing and configuring the DR Series appliance 1. Rack and cable the DR Series appliance, and power it on. 2. Log on iDRAC using the default address 192.168.0.1, user name root, and password calvin. 3. Launch the virtual console.
4. After the virtual console is open, log on the system as user administrator with 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 it is correct.
7. Using the IP address that you just provided, log on the DR Series appliance administrator console as the user administrator with the password St0r@ge! (the “0” in the password is the numeral zero). 8. Join the DR Series appliance to Active Directory. Note: If you do not want to add the DR Series appliance to Active Directory, refer to your user’s guide for guest login instructions.
a. In the tree in the left pane, click Active Directory. b. Enter your Active Directory credentials.
Configuring the DR VTL Container 1. Create and mount the container. a. In the left pane, click Containers, and then click Create at the top of the page. b. Enter a Container Name, select the Virtual Tape Library check box.
b. Enter a Container Name, select the Virtual Tape Library check box. Click Next. c. Select the Is OEM checkbox, define Tape Size, define NDMP, enter your NetVault Backup servers IP address in the Access Control field, define Marker type as Unix Dump. Click Next. d. Click Create a New Container.
e. Select on the DR VTL Container that was just created. In the upper right corner click on Edit. e. In the edit screen define the number of Virtual Tapes you would like your VTL container to have. Click on Next. f. Click on Modify this Container.
Technical setup and configuration nVTL -- best practices This section highlights key configuration and setup best practices to add the DR Series appliance for the use with NetVault Backup nVTL instance(s). General setup and configuration -- best practices For additional details on the following prerequisites, refer to the manufacturer’s documentation. • Ensure that cabling is configured correctly. • Configure interfaces, protocol, and addressing.
NetVault Backup nVTL setup and configuration -- best practices Due to various factors such as data-set size, data-set iteration or count, retention period, and change rate, it can be difficult to determine the best VTL size and configuration for any deduplication situation. One of the best practices is to size the VTL to no more than 10x the physical available disk space or to assess how much data the customer has to back up and the required retention periods for each set of data.
Using and managing a NetVault Backup nVTL on a DR Series appliance General guidelines and best practices for using a NetVault Backup VTL on a DR Series appliance: • Only create enough media to cope with one full cycle of backups and the relevant retention policies. • Set the Automatically label BLANK media parameter to off (clear the check box) to prevent erroneous use of blank media and to ensure efficient use of available media within a tape pool.
To alert administrators that a job has run out of media, you can use NetVault Backup’s global notification to send an email to the system operator indicating that there is No Suitable Media to complete the job. The media request can then be placed on hold in the Device Management window. Blank media can be added to the relevant target media group, and the media request taken off hold. While this is not ideal, it does allow the job to finish.
Installing and configuring the DR Series appliance 1. Rack and cable the DR Series appliance, and power it on. 2. Log on iDRAC using the default address 192.168.0.1, user name root, and password calvin. 3. Launch the virtual console.
4. After the virtual console is open, log on the system as user administrator with 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 it is correct.
7. Using the IP address that you just provided, log on the DR Series appliance administrator console as the user administrator with the password St0r@ge! (the “0” in the password is the numeral zero). 8. Join the DR Series appliance to Active Directory. Note: If you do not want to add the DR Series appliance to Active Directory, refer to your user’s guide for guest login instructions.
a. In the tree in the left pane, click Active Directory. b. Enter your Active Directory credentials.
Configuring NetVault Backup nVTL 1. Create and mount the container. a. In the left pane, click Containers, and then click Create at the top of the page.
b. Enter a Container Name, select the Enable CIFS check box, select the preferred client access, and add clients as necessary. For improved security, Dell recommends adding IP addresses for the following (not all environments will have all components): • Backup console (NetVault Backup Server) • NetVault Backup SmartClient (Media Server) • Hyper-V® hosts (on-host proxy for Hyper-V® environments) • Off-host proxies (for Hyper-V® environments) • Backup proxies (for VMware vSphere® environments) c.
d. Confirm that the container was added. e. Select the container that you just added, click Edit, and note the container path, which you will use later to target the DR Series appliance. f. Click Cancel to exit.
Note: This section assumes that the you have already created the required CIFS, NFS, or CIFS/NFS container and assigned the applicable permissions described earlier in Installing and configuring the DR Series appliance. This section also assumes that the user is using Active Directory integration with the DR Series appliance. 2. Using a web browser, use the NetVault Backup WebUI to connect to the NetVault Backup Server. 3. In the Navigation pane, click Change Settings, and then click Server Settings. 4.
5. In the Plugin Options dialog, make sure that the Allow disk libraries to have entry/exit ports option is selected, clear the Check available disk space before creating disk libraries option, and click Apply to save the changes. 6. Click Media Manager.
7. Clear the Use barcodes as labels check box, and click Apply. NetVault Backup uses SmartClients to give you the freedom to attach storage wherever you like. By using SmartClients, both virtual and physical tape libraries can be easily distributed through the backup environment so that backup data does not have to pass over the network and through the NetVault Backup Server to be written to a tapebased device.
9. In the Services window, locate NetVault Process Manager, and edit its Properties. 10. Click the Log On tab, select This account, enter a user name and password that has Administrative rights to the shared folder on the DR Series appliance (it should also have Administrative rights on the local machine and be able to run a process), and click OK to save your changes.
11. Stop and restart the NetVault Process Manager; after it has restarted, close the services console. 12. In the NetVault Backup WebUI, click Guided Configuration, and then click Add Storage Devices. 13. Select Virtual tape library/media changer, and click Next. 14. Select the machine that you want to attach the VTL to, and click Next. Remember that this can be any machine in the environment that is either the NetVault Backup Server or a SmartClient.
15. Enter the path for the container to hold the VTL that was created in step 9.e of the previous section, Installing and configuring the DR Series appliance. The path should look similar to the following: \\\\folder. The folder must be created and resident in the CIFS on the DR Series appliance; otherwise, NetVault Backup will be unable to create the VTL. 16.
After the VTL is created, a confirmation screen appears and the VTL is ready for use as a backup destination.
Setting up the cleaner for the DR Series appliance After all the backup jobs are set up the DR Series appliance, the cleaner must be scheduled. The cleaner should run at least 6 hours per week when backups are not taking place, generally after a backup job has completed. Performing scheduled disk-space reclamation operations is recommended as a method for recovering disk space from system containers in which files were deleted as a result of deduplication.
Monitoring deduplication, compression, and performance After backup jobs have run, the DR Series appliance will track Capacity, Storage Savings, and Throughput on the dashboard. This information is valuable in understanding the benefits the DR Series appliance. 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 complete, the ratios will increase.
Space reclamation from the virtual media of a NetVault Backup VTL hosted on the DR Series appliance has some specific requirements. Even though NetVault Backup can locate and blank media that is marked for reuse, the DR Series appliance will not know that NetVault Backup has marked the media for reuse and will not reclaim the space on the next clean cycle. This is because the NetVault Backup only updates its database information on the media and does not scrub through and remove the old data.
3. At the bottom of the page, click Performance. 4. In the Drive Performance Options dialog, increase the Drive Block Size (the default is 32KB) and the Drive Transfer Buffer Size setting (the defaults is 257KB) to settings that your operating system can support, and click Ok. Important: The amount of memory assigned to transfer buffers (KB) is s often referred to as the shared memory setting. The shared memory is allocated in 32KB blocks with one additional byte.
Disk-space reclamation The blanking of used media in NetVault Backup VTLs created on the DR Series appliance share will not reclaim physical disk space. To reclaim this space, you must use the nvmakemedia utility to create a clean, identical “.media” file, in name and size, to replace the old media file. Before this is done, all drives must be unloaded and the Open Door command must be issued via the NetVault Backup WebUI in the Manage Devices > Tape Library Management page.
Additional resources • Dell online support resources: -- Dell technical support site: http://support.dell.com/ -- Dell TechCenter is an online IT community where IT professionals connect with Dell customers and employees to share knowledge, best practices, and other information about Dell products and installations: http://delltechcenter.com/ • Dell DR Series appliance and NetVault Backup resources: -- Dell DR Series appliance manuals/guides: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/SYSTEMS/DR4000/en/index.
Changing the NetVault Backup VTL storage location without data loss This section details the process for changing the storage device path for a CIFS-mounted NetVault Backup VTL configured on a DR Series appliance. This process uses replication to synchronize the data prior to remapping the storage path. 1. On the first DR Series appliance with the existing NetVault Backup VTL container, use the replication utility to replicate the container to the secondary DR Series appliance.
3. Click Display Statistics so you can see how long the replication will take to complete. 4. Select Time To Sync, and then click Apply Filter. This adds the amount of time remaining till replication is complete into the bar. 5. After replication is complete, delete the container-replication task. 6. Be sure that the container on the second appliance has CIFS permissions enabled (use Windows® Explorer to verify that the new container can be opened by the UNC path). 7.
Before: After: 43 Best practices for setting up Dell VTL Container or NetVault Backup native virtual tape library (nVTL)
8. In the Navigation pane of the NetVault Backup WebUI, click Manage Devices, and then click Add Device. 9. Select Re-add previously generated virtual device, and select the machine with the VTL connected to it that you want to move the storage for. The wizard will now scan through and find the modified VTL path to the new storage appliance. 10. Add the new VTL on the new DR Series appliance. 11. In the NetVault Backup WebUI, click Manage Devices, and remove the old VTL on the old DR Series appliance. 12.
Sample scripts for management of replication failover and reclamation of disk space NetVault Backup nVTL physical space reclamation script Windows® platform: @echo off :: ================================================================== :: The following parameters must be configured for the script example provided as follows: :: vtlpath = This should be the UNC path of the root share used to host the nVTL instance.
:: Open and close I/O Port, to remove a :: remaining media, wait 5 seconds :: ============================================== @echo “%nvutil%\nvopeneeport.exe” -libraryname “%library_name%” “%nvutil%\nvopeneeport.exe” -libraryname “%library_name%” choice /T 5 /C jn /N /D j >NUL: “%nvutil%\nvcloseeeport.exe” -libraryname “%library_name%” choice /T 5 /C jn /N /D j >NUL: echo Stage 3 - Completed :: :: :: ============================================== :: Export expired media and open :: I/O Port.
Linux® /UNIX® platform: #!/bin/bash # ================================================================== # The following parameters must be configured for the script example provided as follows: # vtlpath = This should be the UNC path of the root share used to host the nVTL instance.
$nvutil/nvmakemedia $media_size mediafiles $vtlpath/media/${labels[$array_num_avail]} wait echo “closing the Entry/Exit Port in $library_name” echo $nvutil/nvcloseeeport -libraryname $library_ name $nvutil/nvcloseeeport -libraryname $library_name wait echo “Blanking media ${barcodes[$array_num_avail]} - ${labels[$array_num_avail]}” echo $nvutil/nvblankmedia -barcode ${barcodes[$array_num_avail]} $nvutil/nvblankmedia -barcode ${barcodes[$array_num_avail]} # Wait a second before issuing label request to overc
NetVault Backup nVTL ghost media scrub script Windows® platform @echo off :: ==================================================================== :: Setup Vars :: ==================================================================== set nvutil=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Dell\NetVault Backup\util setlocal enabledelayedexpansion set logfile=%tmp%\logdd430-1purge.
Linux®/UNIX® platform #!/bin/bash # !*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!* # Specify the beginning of the barcodes of the # media you wish to work with here. # !*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!* # !*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!* # Gather Input from user # !*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!* echo -n “Enter Media Label Prefix to Purge: “ read name while read media_prefix do if [[ -z “${media_prefix}” ]] then echo “That was empty, try again.
NetVault Backup nVTL bulk mark for reuse script Windows® platform @echo off :: ==================================================================== :: Setup Vars :: ==================================================================== set nvutil=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Dell\NetVault Backup\util setlocal enabledelayedexpansion set logfile=%tmp%\logdd430-1purge.
Linux®/UNIX® platform #!/bin/bash # !*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!* # Specify the beginning of the barcodes of the # media you wish to work with here. # !*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!* # !*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!* # Gather Input from user # !*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!* echo -n “Enter Media Label Prefix to Expire: “ read name while read media_prefix do if [[ -z “${media_prefix}” ]] then echo “That was empty, try again.
