Source:HPE StoreOnce Configuration

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Docs latest icon.png Welcome to the latest SEP sesam documentation version 4.4.3 Beefalo. For previous documentation version(s), check SEP sesam Archive.


Overview

This article describes SEP sesam integration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) StoreOnce Catalyst storage system. It explains StoreOnce configuration, which is not part of SEP sesam. For detailed information on HPE StoreOnce, refer to HPE documentation.
The Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) StoreOnce backup appliance allows to configure multiple Catalyst stores which can be used as a backup storage. HPE StoreOnce fully controls the backup data and enables efficient encryption, recovery, deduplication and replication. SEP sesam uses HPE StoreOnce Catalyst Library which implements the StoreOnce Catalyst client API. This API provides the remote procedure call (RPC-based interface) that allows SEP sesam to interact with StoreOnce appliance.

With SEP sesam v. 4.4.3 Beefalo V2 it is recommended to use HPE Cloud Bank Storage (HPE StoreOnce v. ≥ 4.1) as a Catalyst copy target where you can replicate or restore your data instead of regular Catalyst stores. It cannot be used as a backup target due to its limited object size.

You can create a Cloud Bank store in a similar way to Catalyst store, as described in Creating HPE StoreOnce Cloud Bank store.

StoreOnce Catalyst concept and terminology

HPE StoreOnce enables bandwidth efficient backup and restore over LAN, WAN and Fibre Channel. The data transfer during backup can be minimized by using HPE source-side deduplication. Encryption is defined on the Catalyst store side for each individual Catalyst store; once the encryption is enabled, it cannot be disabled again.

HPE uses the following terminology related to StoreOnce Catalyst:

  • StoreOnce Catalyst: StoreOnce interface name.
  • StoreOnce Catalyst store: Device type where the backups are stored on the StoreOnce appliance.
  • StoreOnce Catalyst clients: The applications which connect by using the StoreOnce Catalyst interface.
  • StoreOnce Catalyst items: The backup items stored in the Catalyst stores on the StoreOnce appliances.
  • Data job: Any backup or restore.
  • Copy job: Actual copy of the data, not mirror image. The backup application specifies outbound copy job as source store and inbound copy job as destination store. Once copied, the outbound and inbound copy jobs are independent of each other. This means that each copy job can be deleted, moved, or added to/from the backup application.
  • Physical data size quota: Maximum amount of data that can be written to the store after deduplication.
  • Logical data size quota: Maximum amount of data that can be written to the store before deduplication.
  • Data immutability period: Also named StoreOnce retention period. During the specified period, the data on store remains protected for the amount of time defined by immutability period even if the SEP sesam EOL (retention time) has already expired.

Requirements

To ensure error-free operation of SEP sesam and improve performance, make sure that the following conditions are met:

Minimum supported version of HPE system

The following list shows the minimum supported versions of HPE system Gen3 and Gen4 Storeonce platform. SEP sesam cannot assure support for releases older than the minimum supported version.

HPE system Version
Gen4 ≥ 4.1.3
Gen3 ≥ 3.18.7

Steps

Perform the following steps to use the HPE StoreOnce Catalyst store as a storage library. You can connect SEP sesam Server to the HPE StoreOnce Catalyst over Ethernet or over Fibre Channel; in the latter case, use StoreOnce Management Console to set up the backup and restore connections between the ports on the StoreOnce System and the ports on the client servers (see step 2 of the procedure).

  1. Creating HPE StoreOnce Catalyst store
  2. Setting up Fibre Channel for HPE StoreOnce Catalyst store

Creating HPE StoreOnce Catalyst store

  1. In the StoreOnce menu -> Data Services -> Catalyst Stores, click Create Store option at the top right corner. The Create Store window opens.
  2. Enter the name of your Catalyst store. The exact name is needed to add the Catalyst store to SEP sesam environment later, so write it down. Use underscores (_) or dashes (-) instead of spaces.
  3. Creating Catalyst store.jpg
  4. Optionally, under the Security Settings, set the immutability (retention) period for your data jobs and inbound/outbound copy jobs. This option may serve as additional protection for your data as you will set up the retention policy when configuring SEP sesam. If defined, the data will be protected for the defined period of time even if the SEP sesam EOL has expired. If the SEP sesam EOL is longer than the defined immutability period, the data will be protected as defined by SEP sesam.
  5. You can also enable StoreOnce encryption for each individual Catalyst store; once the encryption is enabled, it cannot be disabled again. Encryption is only supported if activated when creating a Catalyst store; SEP sesam encryption is not supported in this case.
  6. Information sign.png Note
    If you have enabled encryption, save your key store information to a file that can be retrieved later.

    Catalyst store security settings.jpg

  7. Under the Advanced Settings, set the primary (default) and secondary transfer policy. Depending on your environment, you can select low (LBW) or high bandwidth (HBW) for each transfer policy. By specifying the transfer policy value you define how the backup data is transferred between SEP sesam and HPE Catalyst store. Note that SEP sesam uses the primary (default) transfer policy for the data transfer between the Remote Device Server and the HPE Catalyst store. The secondary transfer policy can be used for reaching a secondary StoreOnce appliance with the replication.
    To improve your backup performance, set high bandwidth in the primary transfer policy.
  8. You can also define the physical and logical data size quota for every Catalyst store. The physical data size quota sets the maximum amount of data that can be written to the store after deduplication. When the threshold level is reached, the backup jobs can no longer write new data.
    The logical data size quota sets the maximum amount of data that can be written to the store before deduplication occurs.
  9. Catalyst store settings.jpg
    Click Create to create your first Catalyst store. Then repeat the procedure to create additional Catalyst stores.
  10. Once your Catalyst store is created, configure the Client Access permission for this store:
    Click Add Client and specify a user name and password. Catalyst Client Name is the user name.
    Note that this does not have to be the name of the backup server, you can choose whatever name you wish. Write down these credentials to create the store in SEP sesam later on. You can also change the Client Access permission later by using the Permissions tab of the already configured Calayst store.
  11. Client access.jpg

You can use StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel or over Ethernet. As stated in the HPE StoreOnce documentation, both connections function in the same way and supported backup applications do not perceive a difference. However, if you intend to use HPE StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel, you have to perform some additional configuration, as described in the next step.

Setting up Fibre Channel for StoreOnce Catalyst store

Information sign.png Note
As stated in the HPE StoreOnce documentation, the Fibre Channel settings are only relevant to certain StoreOnce models and are only available if the StoreOnce system supports Fibre Channel.

Consider the following when using StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel (CoFC):

  • Backups are supported on StoreOnce Catalyst over a Fibre Channel interface and over Ethernet networks.
  • StoreOnce System to StoreOnce System connectivity through optimized StoreOnce Catalyst copy jobs is supported over both Ethernet and Fibre Channel.
  • Administrator privileges are required to run StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel to access OS-specific device files associated with StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel devices.
  • Non-optimal Fibre Channel SAN zoning can lead to a lack of Fibre Channel connectivity. The storage administrator must ensure that network segregation, such as zoning, is set up correctly as recommended by HPE.
  • Check the HPE StoreOnce Support Matrix for compatibility at https://www.hpe.com/Storage/StoreOnceSupportMatrix (login required).

StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel zoning considerations

The following zoning considerations are recommended by HPE:

  • StoreOnce Fibre Channel World Wide Names (WWN) are found in the StoreOnce Management Console -> Catalyst Settings- > Fibre Channel. Each StoreOnce port presents one CoFC WWN.
  • Zone every backup/media server with at least two Fibre Channel ports and at least two StoreOnce node Fibre Channel ports across different Fibre Channel cards. Ideally, they are also zoned across different SANs. Multiple connections allow for higher availability.
  • If a connection is broken, StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel will automatically attempt to connect on a different path without aborting the backup. The backup will fail only if no paths are available from the media/backup server or to the StoreOnce. Zone StoreOnce Catalyst Copy over Fibre Channel source and destination copy devices the same way.
  • StoreOnce Catalyst Copy over Fibre Channel is a two-way protocol. Zone the source Initiator WWN with the destination target WWN, and zone the destination Initiator WWN with the source target WWN. The source and destination must be able to communicate with each other over Fibre Channel.
  • Use small Fibre Channel zones limiting the number of Fibre Channel ports in each zone.
  • StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel does not use or rely on any external multipath drivers. Connections are balanced using StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel internal algorithms. Catalyst over Fibre Channel ignores installed multipath drivers.

Fibre Channel configuration

  1. In the StoreOnce GUI, go to HPE StoreOnce -> StoreOnce Catalyst -> Fibre Channel settings tab and locate the Identifier at the top of the Configuration window. This is the CoFC identifier that is used as data address to access the Catalyst store over Fibre Channel and must be provided to SEP sesam during the creation of a new store. It is in the format COFC-<device-id>, e.g., COFC-1JB6Q36FMNR4JG0X.
  2. Make sure Devices per Initiator Port is configured properly.
  3. Check the Number of Logins and Number of Devices per Login for each port. These values determine the number of concurrent backup/restore and copy connections allowed on each Fibre Channel port on the HPE StoreOnce system.
    • The Number of Logins does not relate to how many total sessions can be established over a StoreOnce port; it defines the number of client-side ports that are zoned to connect to that port.
    • Devices per Initiator Port determines the number of backup and restore connections that are allowed from each SEP sesam Server Fibre Channel port to the ports on the StoreOnce system. It is recommended to increase this value according to your needs. Note that when increasing the value, you must run a device file rescan on the client for the change to be recognized.
    • StoreOnce Catalyst over Fibre Channel presents a device type of Processor. In Windows Device Manager, these devices are shown as Other Devices. After zoning the devices or changing the number of Devices per Initiator Port, right-click Other Devices and then select Scan for hardware changes to detect the new devices.

What is next?

Now create a new Catalyst store in the SEP sesam GUI. For details, see SEP sesam HPE StoreOnce Configuration.

See also

HPE StoreOnce BackupHPE StoreOnce ReplicationHow to create a Remote Device Server (RDS)