Users Guide

HIT Groups and Multiple Machine Management
You can manage multiple hosts from a single instance of ASM/ME. A group of one or more hosts that you are managing from
ASM/ME is called a HIT Group. You can create a HIT Group on any machine that is running ASM/ME.
HIT Groups allow you to create and manage Smart Copies and Smart Copy schedules on all your hosts, and simultaneously edit
settings on multiple hosts. When a new host is added to a HIT Group, the Host Integration Tools (including ASM/ME) are
automatically installed on the host.
See HIT Groups for more information.
ASM/ME Smart Copies
While the Group Manager GUI allows you to create snapshots, clones, and replicas of volumes, ASM/ME provides the same
capability, but additionally allows you to create snapshots, clones, and replica Smart Copies of Exchange mailbox databases, SQL
Server databases, and Hyper-V virtual machines. ASM/ME can also create Smart Copies of groups or collections of those
objects.
You can use ASM/ME to create Smart Copies of the following objects:
● Volumes—PS Series volumes formatted using the NTFS or ReFS file systems. These iSCSI objects are represented by nodes
in the ASM/ME tree panel under Volumes list node.
● Application components of SQL Server databases, Exchange mailbox databases, or Hyper-V virtual machines—Components
are represented by nodes in the ASM/ME tree panel under Applications list node.
Because ASM/ME supports Hyper-V, you can also create Smart Copies of virtual machines (VMs), VMs residing on CSVs,
and CSVs themselves. See Cluster Shared Volumes for more information.
● Collections—Related groups of volumes or application components. Collections are represented by nodes in the ASM/ME
tree panel under Collections list node. For example, you can group multiple volumes or components together as a single
collection, and then create a Smart Copy of the collection. This feature is useful when you want the Smart Copies to be
created simultaneously in one set.
You can use either the ASM/ME GUI or the Group Manager GUI to view the snapshots, replicas, and clones created by a Smart
Copy operation.
Smart Copy Types
A Smart Copy is one of three types:
● Snapshot—A point-in-time copy of a PS Series volume. Restoring a snapshot restores the volume to the state represented
by the snapshot.
● Clone—A new, independent volume containing the same data as the original volume at the time the clone is created.
Because creating a clone creates a new, independent volume, you cannot restore a clone.
● Replica—A point-in-time copy of a PS Series volume. The original volume and the replica are located on different PS Series
groups that might be separated by distance for disaster tolerance. The groups and the volume must be configured for
replication.
For example, if you use ASM/ME for a snapshot Smart Copy operation on a volume, it results in a Smart Copy consisting of one
snapshot with its associated backup document. However, if you use ASM/ME to perform a snapshot Smart Copy operation on a
collection that consists of four volumes, it results in a Smart Copy comprising four snapshots (one for each volume) and the
associated backup document.
If you promote and mount a replica set, any additional replication attempts are automatically canceled. However, you can also
create a clone of any replica, and then mount the clone to access data. This feature allows replication to continue to the replica
set.
Smart Copy Operations for Template and Thin Clone Volumes
A template volume is a read-only, thin-provisioned volume from which you can create thin clone volumes. A thin clone volume
has dependencies on its template volume. Template and thin clone volumes are useful in situations where you need to create
multiple volumes that have common data. This common data can be written to a volume, and that volume can be converted to a
template volume. Thin clones created from the template volume also include that common data, and then each thin clone
volume can be modified as needed.
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Introduction to ASM/ME