Users Guide

Create a Schedule for Volume Thin-Provisioning
Before you begin, understand the interaction between Smart Copy schedules and thin-provisioning operations. See About Thin-
Provisioning.
1. Right-click the volume and select Schedule Rethinning.
2. Specify the schedule name and the frequency at which the schedule runs—One time only, daily, weekly, or monthly.
(Optional) Provide a comment about the schedule and click Next.
3. ASM/ME displays a different dialog box depending on what frequency you chose. Specify the schedule options accordingly
and click Next.
4. Select the thin-provisioning parameters:
● Percentage of unused space to thin-provision; the default is 95 percent
● Defragment the volume before thin-provisioning
5. Click Create.
The thin-provisioning schedules are displayed under the Schedules list node.
You can modify, disable, or delete any schedule. For more information on working with schedules, see Modify a Schedule,
Enable the Schedule, or Delete a Schedule.
About Smart Copies
A Smart Copy is a snapshot, clone, or replica of an individual volume, application component, or a collection. Examples of
application components include an Exchange mailbox database, anSQL Server database, or a Hyper-V virtual machine.
A Smart Copy consists of the following objects:
● One or more snapshots, replicas, or clones, depending on the type of Smart Copy operation and the original object.
● A backup document, describing the Smart Copy.
The resulting Smart Copy can also be called a Smart Copy. Even if the Smart Copy Set operation involves only a single volume,
the result is still considered a Smart Copy Set. After you create a Smart Copy, you can then import and mount it, restore the
original object from the Smart Copy, or restore the Smart Copy to a new location. You can create Smart Copies instantly, or you
can create a schedule for Smart Copy creation, as described in About Schedules. When you create a Smart Copy, you can select
from the options described in the following table.
Table 17. Smart Copy Options
Smart Copy Type Smart Copy Description
Snapshot Creates a snapshot for each volume comprising the original object. For example, if the original
object is a volume, the resulting Smart Copy set contains one snapshot. If the original object
consists of a collection of two volumes, the resulting Smart Copy set contains two snapshots.
Clone Creates a new volume for each volume comprising the original object.
Replica Creates a replica for each volume comprising the original object on the PS Series group
configured as a replication partner for the original objects. Each volume that is part of the
original object must already be configured for replication in the group.
Backup type Specifies the backup behavior type that you want to create, either copy or full. This option
determines the behavior of the Smart Copy operation on the application log file. The actual
backup behavior is application dependent.
NOTE: Thin Clone is also a Smart Copy type, but this option only pertains to template volumes.
When you create a Smart Copy with ASM/ME, the Smart Copies are visible in the PS Series Group Manager GUI and CLI.
For troubleshooting, it might be necessary to access and manage a Smart Copy from the PS Series group, using the Group
Manager GUI. Dell recommends that you manage Smart Copies from ASM/ME or the VSS requestor that created them, and not
the Group Manager GUI.
General ASM/ME Operations
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