NetVault Plug-in for SnapMirror to Tape 10.0.5

Snapshots: Open the Snapshots node, and then in the list of available volumes, open the applicable volume. In the list of available snapshots, select the snapshot that you want to back up. You can only select a single snapshot.


	NOTE: Clustered Data ONTAP does not support volume browsing. If you are using Clustered Data ONTAP, you cannot open a volume node in the backup selection tree to browse its contents and select a snapshot. However, you can use the Enter Backup Path method to back up an existing snapshot. For more information, see Backing up existing snapshots in C-mode.

Click Save, and in the Create New Set dialog box, type a name for the set. Click Save to close the dialog box.


	NOTE: A set name can contain alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non‑Latin characters. On Linux OS, the names can have a maximum of 200 characters. On Windows OS, there is no length restriction. However, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended on all platforms

In the Plugin Options list, select an existing Backup Options Set, or complete the following steps to create a set.

Click Create New to open the NDMP Backup Options page.

Configure the following settings.

Table 1. Standard Backup options
Option	Description
Backup Method	Select the Standard option. This method creates a Full or Level 0 Backup of the selected volumes. For more information about the Standard Backup method, see Backup methods. NOTE: If the BLI backup method is not supported on your filer, the plug-in automatically uses the Standard Backup method.
Delete Snapshot on Exit	Select this check box to delete the snapshot created by the plug-in on completion of the job. This option is only applicable to the Standard Backup method. NOTE: You cannot use the snapshots created for Standard Backups to perform BLI Backups.
Number of Backups to Run in Parallel	Type or select the number of jobs that can be run concurrently. The default value is zero. Use the default value to run all jobs in parallel, limited only by the availability of drives, network bandwidth, and other resources. To achieve the desired result, you must set the same value for each job.
Delete Auto Generated Backup Jobs on Completion	The plug-in creates individual subjobs for each qtree and volume included in a backup. If this check box is not selected, all subjobs are listed on the Job Status page. This can create confusion when you try to view the details of the parent job. To avoid this and include only a single entry for the parent job, leave this check box selected.

Click Save, and in the Create New Set dialog box, type a name for the set. Click Save to close the dialog box.

Select or create the Schedule Set, Target Set, and Advanced Options Set. For more information about these sets, see the Dell NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.


	IMPORTANT: We recommend that you assign specific media groups to the Plug‑in for SnapMirror to Tape backups and do not mix them with backups created using other plug-ins.

To submit the job for scheduling, click Save & Submit. You can monitor the job progress from the Job Status page and view the logs from the View Logs page.

To save the job definition without scheduling it, click Save. You can view, edit, or run this job from the Manage Job Definitions page. This job is not displayed on the Job Status page until you submit it.

For more information about Job Status, View Logs, and Manage Job Definitions, see the Dell NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.

Performing BLI Backups

The BLI Backup method uses snapshots to perform Full, Incremental, and Differential Backups of the selected volumes. You can either create a snapshot with Plug-in for SnapMirror To Tape or use an existing snapshot to perform these backups.

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Creating new snapshots using Plug-in for SnapMirror To Tape: The plug-in automatically creates a new snapshot for Full Backup. This snapshot is used as the base for subsequent Incremental and Differential Backups. To create new snapshots for Incremental and Differential Backups, select the “Create New Snapshot” check box while creating the Backup Options Set.

The snapshots are named as follows:

snapshot_for_smtape.x-x-x-x.n

Here “x-x-x-x” represents a hexadecimal number and “n” represents the snapshot sequence number (0 for Full Backup, 1 for Incremental Backup 1, 2 for Incremental Backup 2, and so on).

Examples:

snapshot_for_smtape.5574d877-cfa3-11e1-9449-123478563412.0

snapshot_for_smtape.5574d877-cfa3-11e1-9449-123478563412.1

snapshot_for_smtape.5574d877-cfa3-11e1-9449-123478563412.2

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Using existing snapshots: The plug-in can also use existing snapshots for BLI backups. These snapshots must be named as follows:

snapshot_for_smtape.<any string>.n

Here “n” represents the snapshot sequence number (0 for Full Backup, 1 for Incremental Backup 1, 2, and so on).

Examples:

snapshot_for_smtape.Vol1.0

snapshot_for_smtape.Vol1.1

snapshot_for_smtape.Vol1.2

To use existing snapshots for backups, do not select the “Create New Snapshot” check box while creating the Backup Options Set.

To perform Full, Incremental, or Differential Backups using the BLI backup method

In the Navigation pane, click Create Backup Job.

— or —

In the Navigation pane, click Guided Configuration, and then on the NetVault Configuration Wizard page, click Create Backup Jobs.

In Job Name, specify a name for the job.

In the Selections list, select an existing Backup Selection Set, or complete the following steps to create a set.

Click Create New to open the NetVault Backup Selections page.

Open the NetVault Backup Server, and then open NDMP SnapMirror to Tape.

In the list of added servers, open the applicable filer to display the following nodes:

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Volumes

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Snapshots

Select the data that you want to back up.

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Volumes: To back up all volumes, select the Volumes node.

To back up individual volumes, open the Volumes node, and select the applicable volumes.

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Click Save, and in the Create New Set dialog box, type a name for the set. Click Save to close the dialog box.


	NOTE: A set name can contain alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non‑Latin characters. On Linux OS, the names can have a maximum of 200 characters. On Windows OS, there is no length restriction. However, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended on all platforms

In the Plugin Options list, select an existing Backup Options Set, or complete the following steps to create a set.

Click Create New to open the NDMP Backup Options page.

Configure the following settings.


	NOTE: To use existing snapshots for Incremental and Differential Backups, make sure that you do not select any check box under BLI Options.

Table 2. BLI Backup options

Option

Description

Backup Method

Select the Block Level Incremental (BLI) option. For more information about the BLI Backup method, see Backup methods.

NOTE: If your filer does not support the BLI backup method, the plug-in automatically uses the Standard Backup method.

BLI Backup Type

Select the applicable option from the following:

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Full

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Incremental

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Differential

For more information, see Backup types.

Create New Snapshot

To create a snapshot for an Incremental or a Differential Backup, select this check box.

NOTE: For a Full Backup, the filer automatically generates an SMTape snapshot. Therefore, this option is not applicable to Full Backups.

Delete Previous Snapshot

To delete the snapshot for previous Incremental or Differential Backup on completion of the current backup, select this check box.

When you select this check box, the snapshots for the base Full Backup and current backup are not deleted.

Delete All Previous Snapshots

To delete the snapshots for all previous backups, including the base Full Backup, on completion of the current backup, select this check box.

When you select this check box, the snapshot for current backup is not deleted.

NOTE: Without the snapshot for the base Full Backup, a Differential Backup performed after this backup fails. The workaround is to run a Full Backup before running the next instance of the Differential Backup.

Number of Incremental/Differential Jobs Before Deletion of All BLI Snapshots

To delete all snapshots associated with a backup sequence after a specified number of Incremental or Differential Backups, select this check box. Type or select the instance ID for the backup after which the snapshots are to be deleted.

When you select this check box, the snapshot for the base Full Backup and current backup are also deleted.

NOTE: Without the associated snapshots, Incremental and Differential Backups performed after this backup fail. The workaround is to run a Full Backup before running the next instance of Incremental or Differential Backup.

Number of Backups to Run in Parallel

Type or select the number of jobs that can be run concurrently. The default value is zero. Use the default value to run all jobs in parallel, limited only by the availability of drives, network bandwidth, and other resources.

To achieve the desired result, you must set the same value for each job.

Delete Auto Generated Backup Jobs on Completion

The plug-in creates individual subjobs for each qtree and volume included in a backup.If this check box is not selected, all subjobs are listed on the Job Status page. This can create confusion when you try to view the details of the parent job. To avoid this and include only a single entry for the parent job, leave this check box selected.

Click Save, and in the Create New Set dialog box, type a name for the set. Click Save to close the dialog box.

Select or create the Schedule Set, Target Set, and Advanced Options Set. For more information about these sets, see the Dell NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.


	IMPORTANT: We recommend that you assign specific media groups to the Plug‑in for SnapMirror to Tape backups and do not mix them with backups created using other plug-ins.

To submit the job for scheduling, click Save & Submit. You can monitor the job progress from the Job Status page and view the logs from the View Logs page.

For more information about Job Status, View Logs, and Manage Job Definitions, see the Dell NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.

Important notes

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For BLI Backups, the snapshots must be numbered sequentially whether they are created using the Plug‑in for SnapMirror to Tape or through any other application. If a snapshot exists on the filer, the backup job reports the following error and fails:

Snapshot '%s' is unexpectedly already present. The backup cannot occur until this snapshot has been removed to allow the job to create a new snapshot of the same name.

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When you select the Delete Previous Snapshot check box, the plug-in retains the snapshot for that backup and the base Full Backup. It deletes all other snapshots.

Example:

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Full Backup of Set-A: The Create New Snapshot check box is grayed-out and the Delete Previous Snapshot check box is cleared.

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Incremental Backup 1 of Set-A: The Create New Snapshot and Delete Previous Snapshot check boxes are selected.

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Incremental Backup 2 of Set-A: The Create New Snapshot and Delete Previous Snapshot check boxes are selected.

In this scenario, the “.0” Full and “.2” Incremental snapshots are retained on the filer.

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To use existing snapshots for backups, do not select the BLI Options.

Example:

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