Dell PowerScale: Data Protection with Dell Avamar NDMP Accelerator
Download PDFFri, 23 Feb 2024 22:02:09 -0000
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Dell Avamar for PowerScale Data Protection
Dell Avamar provides fast, reliable NAS system backup and recovery through the Avamar NDMP Accelerator, dramatically reducing backup times and the impact on NAS resources and allowing for an easier and faster recovery. The NDMP accelerator is available as both a virtual and hardware appliance. The fast-Incremental software architecture provides an efficient solution to protect High-Density File Systems (HDFS).
To back up and restore data residing on NAS systems, Avamar uses a device called an Avamar NDMP Accelerator, hereby referred to as the accelerator. The accelerator is a dedicated Avamar server node that functions as an Avamar client. The accelerator uses NDMP to interface with and access NDMP-based NAS systems.
Data from the NAS system is not stored on the accelerator. The accelerator performs NDMP processing and real-time data deduplication and then sends the data directly to the Avamar server.
The accelerator can be connected to either a Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN) with respect to the Avamar server. However, to ensure acceptable performance, the accelerator must be located on the same LAN as the NAS systems.
On-demand and scheduled NAS system backups can be performed with the accelerator:
- Using Avamar Administrator or the Avamar Management Console Command Line Interface (MCCLI), both on-demand and scheduled backups can be performed.
- Using the avndmp command line interface, on-demand backups can be performed.
Benefits of using Avamar for NAS device data protection
Multiple NAS systems with one accelerator
Single accelerator can support more than one NAS system.
Multiple simultaneous data streams
NDMP plug-ins have a Maximum Concurrent Data Streams setting to control the maximum number of simultaneous NDMP data streams that can be allocated to each NAS system backup or restore operation.
PowerProtect DD support
Backups can be stored on either the Avamar server or a PowerProtect DD system. Backup metadata is stored on the Avamar server.
PowerScale SmartConnect support
Avamar backup data can be stored or restored from a backup to an PowerScale cluster with SmartConnect configuration.
Avamar Installation Manager
Avamar 7.4.x and later versions install the Avamar Installation Manager on the NDMP accelerator node.
Year 2038
Avamar 19.2 and later server subsystems support backup retention until February 2106. However, for earlier releases, due to the signed 32-bit integer time format of UNIX and Linux operating systems, the Avamar server subsystems will support backup retention until January 2038 and therefore cannot restore backup after this date.
NDMP plug-in options for backup
- Maximum concurrent data streams: Maximum number of streams that can be processed concurrently
- Filer dump mode: Prefer Incremental but do a Full if required, force a level 0 dump, and force an incremental (level 1) dump
- Backup label: Custom descriptive label for the backup
- Option to store backup on Dell PowerProtect DD series appliances: Store the backup on a PowerProtect DD instead of the Avamar server
- Encryption method to PowerProtect DD: Encryption method for data transfer between the client and the PowerProtect DD system during backup
- Run user-defined script at start and end of backup: Script to be run before and after each backup target is processed
- PowerScale Browse username: User account for Dell PowerScale™ OneFS™ with privileges for browsing the file system
- PowerScale Browse password: Password for the Dell PowerScale™ OneFS™ user account
NDMP plug-in options for restore
- Maximum concurrent data streams: Maximum number of streams that can be processed concurrently
- Encryption method to PowerProtect DD: Encryption method for data transfer between the client and the PowerProtect DD during restore
- Run user-defined script at start and end of restore: Script to be run before and after each restore target is processed
Virtual NDMP (vNDMP) accelerator node
A customer can leverage the vNDMP option to protect the NAS workload.
The vNDMP option offers the customer a complete user experience from deploying the OVA to registering the NDMP client to the Avamar Server to integrating the vNDMP client instance with the NAS environment. Hence, the user will no longer be required to manually perform the activity.
Upgrading the accelerator software
The accelerator software upgrade workflow contains an upgrade to the SLES 12 SP5 operating system. Avamar 19.4 supports upgrading the NDMP accelerator node from OS SLES 11 SP1 on the Gen4S hardware platform.
References
Author: Vinod Kumaresan
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Dell PowerScale: Data Protection with Dell NetWorker using NDMP
Fri, 23 Feb 2024 22:05:51 -0000
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NetWorker for PowerScale data protection
Dell NetWorker is an enterprise-class cross-platform data protection software solution for file servers, application servers, and database management systems across the network. NetWorker supports a wide range of data protection options, including Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) support for NAS storage devices. Dell PowerScale NAS storage integration with NetWorker software provides esteemed data protection and recovery capabilities for enterprises of all sizes in a secure way.
NetWorker software uses NDMP functionality to enable access to storage in a heterogeneous network environment. NDMP uses TCP/IP to control the movement of the data and specifies various device drivers to store the data on devices.
Three main components support NDMP data operations with the NetWorker software: NDMP Data Server (PowerScale), NDMP Tape Server (the host with the backup device to which NetWorker writes the NDMP data), and the Data Management Agent or DMA (in which the NetWorker server is the DMA).
NDMP Features with Dell NetWorker
Multistreaming
NetWorker 9.0.1 and later supports multistreaming for up to 32 streams for Isilon OneFS 8.0 and later backups. NetWorker uses the client parallelism value that is defined for a PowerScale client to determine how many backups run concurrently.
IPv6
NetWorker storage nodes support IPv6 communications with a NetWorker server. By default, NDMP backup and recovery operations use IPv6 to create the data connection between the NDMP data server and mover server.
Checkpoint restart
The PowerScale filers create a snapshot of the file system before the backup. The save set is generated from the snapshot.
Volume Based Backup (vbb) supports
Data Access in Real Time (DART) version 5.5 and later.
Direct Access Recovery (DAR) and Dynamic Direct Access Recovery (DDAR)
DAR and DDAR send file information from the NAS filer to the NetWorker server.
Methods to configure the NDMP Data Server and the NDMP Tape Server to perform backups and recoveries
NDMP local backup (Direct-NDMP)
In an NDMP local backup (Direct-NDMP), the NDMP Data Server (NAS) sends data to a locally attached tape device or library.
NDMP backups to non-NDMP devices (NDMP-DSA)
NetWorker software writes NDMP data to non-NDMP devices, including tape, virtual tape, AFTD, and Dell PowerProtect DD series appliances. A backup of NDMP data to a non-NDMP device is performed in one of two ways:
- NDMP data sent to non-NDMP devices that are local to the NetWorker server
- NDMP data sent to non-NDMP devices that reside on a NetWorker storage node
NDMP data sent to non-NDMP devices that are local to the NetWorker servers has the following characteristics:
- The backup data traverses the network between the NetWorker server and the NDMP data server.
- The metadata, the NDMP control information, and the file history (FH) remains local to the NetWorker server and still traverse the network.
NDMP backups can be configured to write data to a NetWorker storage node in one of two ways:
- Immediate save (nsrdsa_save runs on storage node)
- Non-immediate save (nsrdsa_save runs on NetWorker Server)
Immediate save (nsrdsa_save runs on storage node)
The nsrdsa_save backup command runs on the NetWorker storage node. The NetWorker software uses TCP/IP and shared memory to communicate between the nsrdsa_save and nsrmmd processes.
Non-immediate save (nsrdsa_save runs on NetWorker Server)
By default, NDMP backups to a non-NDMP device use non-immediate save. When configuring an NDMP backup to use non-immediate save, the following actions occur:
- The nsrdsa_save backup command runs on the NetWorker server.
- The nsrdsa_save process uses TCP/IP to read the data in a local buffer.
- The nsrdsa_save process transmits the data to the nsrmmd process on the storage node.
- The nsrmmd process writes the data to the storage device.
Three-party backup
A three-party or three-way backup sends NDMP data to an NDMP Tape Server, however the NDMP Data Server and the NDMP Tape Server are not the same physical host.
There are two main types of three-party backups:
- In the first scenario, NetWorker sends the NDMP data to non-NDMP devices (NDMP-DSA). The NDMP Data Server and the NDMP Tape Server reside on different physical hosts. The NDMP Tape Server is always a NetWorker Server or a NetWorker Storage Node. Hence, NDMP-DSA is also a three-way NDMP backup.
- In the second scenario, NetWorker sends NDMP data to NDMP devices. The data flows from the NDMP Data Server to the NDMP Tape Server and then to a library that is locally attached to the NDMP Tape Server. In this configuration, the NDMP save sets cannot be archived
Dynamic drive sharing
Dynamic Drive Sharing (DDS) is a feature that provides NetWorker software with the ability to recognize shared physical tape drives.
DDS enables NetWorker software to perform the following operations:
- Skip the shared tape drives that are in use
- Route the backups or recoveries to other available shared tape drives
Benefits of DDS
Enabling DDS on a NetWorker system provides these benefits:
- Reduces storage costs
- Reduces LAN traffic
- Provides fault tolerance
- Provides configuration over a greater distance
References
Author: Vinod Kumaresan
Real-time Production Workflows with Dell Technologies and Unreal Engine
Fri, 02 Feb 2024 22:58:16 -0000
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Content production has changed
Powered by technologies like Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, the creative landscape of Film, Episodic, & Live TV Broadcast has been changed forever.
With the advent of Virtual Production, which is essentially an extension of both Game Development and Post-Production practices, we have fundamentally changed the way that we create and interact with our content during production.
Due to this shift, many production facilities have been challenged by the exponential growth of content. Data continues to grow at an alarming scale, driven by increasing resolutions, expected quality of assets, and the sheer volume of content being produced to meet viewers’ insatiable demands.
Dell Technologies and Epic Games have come together to help solve this challenge, developing solutions that enable media companies to deliver massively scalable architectures that remain easy to manage, even at petabyte scale, and allow data to flow between datacenters, the edge, and the cloud.
How do we help?
This solution brings together one of the most trusted names in media storage – PowerScale OneFS – and one of the biggest names in Virtual Production technology – Unreal Engine.
In the past, when working on levels / scenes in game engines like Unreal, all data required for playback had to be localised (copied to) to the machine being used to get the response times expected. This meant tasks required lengthy copies down to the workstation and lengthy saves back up to the storage when complete.
Faster ethernet technologies (10, 25, 50, 100GbE) are much more common in both workstations and access level switching. When you combine this shift in network throughput with PowerScale OneFS All-Flash nodes, Unreal editors can access their content simultaneously on PowerScale storage while also enabling modelers, riggers, texture artists, and so on to create and amend assets.
While all this live creativity is happening, on-set editors and colorists can perform ultra high-speed editing tasks on the footage to allow the Director of Photography to visualize the shot they want in real time. Fundamentally, this solution keeps actors acting, creatives creating, developers iterating, and directors directing - without having to worry about the constraints of the technology behind the shoot.
Solution Benefits
Real-time edit
Enable more creatives to work simultaneously on more assets than ever before when using Unreal Engine with PowerScale All-Flash nodes, eliminating bottlenecks and driving creative productivity.
Build repositories
Build titles and levels quicker and more reliably using PowerScale All-Flash nodes as a lightning-fast centralized Artefact and Cache store.
Version control
Grow your production version control storage without causing downtime to your developers / editors by using PowerScale as the depot storage for your facility.
Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine 5 is the latest generation of Unreal Engine, a complete suite of creation tools for game development, architectural and automotive visualization, linear film and television content creation, broadcast and live event production, training and simulation, and other real-time applications. With UE5, game developers and creators across industries can realize next-generation real-time 3D content and experiences with greater freedom, fidelity, and flexibility than ever before.
Dell Technologies
At Dell Technologies, we believe great storytelling comes from creative people empowered by advanced technology. Our solutions for storytellers span the workflow, built with leading technologies across storage, servers, networking, workstations, displays, and partnerships with key media software and services vendors. These solutions provide media professionals with the foundation to continue driving innovation without technology getting in the way of the art, so they can deliver more powerful stories faster.
Author: Andy Copeland, Global Solutions Architect - Media & Entertainment