Getting started

Getting started

vRanger and NetVault SmartDisk: an integration quick start

 

NOTE: The information in this topic is intended only to provide an overview of the steps required to configure vRanger and NetVault SmartDisk. Review all applicable documentation before implementing this solution.

Integrating NetVault SmartDisk with vRanger is achieved by adding the NetVault SmartDisk Instance to vRanger as a repository. Backups written to that repository are deduplicated according to your configuration. The following steps describe the integration process at a high level, and provide links to the remaining topics for more exploration. Before implementing this solution in a production environment, read this documentation thoroughly.

1	Install NetVault SmartDisk: Using the NetVault SmartDisk installer, install NetVault SmartDisk on a Windows® machine meeting the System requirements. During the installation process, you must configure:

▪	Non-Admin credentials: NetVault SmartDisk uses these credentials for most operations. The Install Wizard can create the account for you, or you can select an existing account.

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Staging Path Location: When backup data is streamed to the NetVault SmartDisk server, it is staged in the Staging directory until the data is deduplicated. The Staging directory can be local or remote and is configured in the Install Wizard. For more information, see NetVault SmartDisk Storage Pools and Defining a NetVault SmartDisk Storage Pool strategy.

▪	Store Path Location: After deduplication, the unique data is stored in the Store directory. The Store directory can be local or remote and is configured in the Install Wizard. For more information, see NetVault SmartDisk Storage Pools and Defining a NetVault SmartDisk Storage Pool strategy.

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WebDAV credentials: vRanger requires WebDAV credentials to communicate with NetVault SmartDisk. You must configure WebDAV authentication to integrate with vRanger effectively. You can configure these credentials during the installation process, or by using the NetVault SmartDisk command line, as described in Enabling or updating authentication for WebDAV access.

2	Configure NetVault SmartDisk: While the defaults may be acceptable for testing, you may want to change two key configurations to fine-tune performance:

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Deduplication window: By default, deduplication is set to “anytime” which means that deduplication runs whenever backups are available in the Staging path. Configuring a deduplication window outside of your backup window may improve performance of both deduplication and backups. For more information on configuring NetVault SmartDisk and the deduplication window, see Using the config command options.

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Garbage Collection window: When backups are retired to do retention policies, the unique data is not automatically deleted from the Store directory. The NetVault SmartDisk Garbage Collection process removes these chunks and reclaims disk space. By default, garbage collection runs at 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM, Monday through Thursday. For more information on configuring NetVault SmartDisk and the garbage collection schedule, see Using the config command options.

3	Install vRanger: Using the vRanger installer, install vRanger on a machine meeting the vRanger system requirements. For a high-level overview of the vRanger installation process, see Installing vRanger. For more information, see the Quest vRanger Installation/Upgrade Guide.

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Create NetVault SmartDisk Repository: After vRanger is installed, add the NetVault SmartDisk Instance to vRanger as a repository. Any backup written to this repository is deduplicated according to your NetVault SmartDisk configuration. For more information, see Adding a NetVault SmartDisk repository.

Product overviews

Product overviews

The following topics provide an overview of vRanger and NetVault SmartDisk, and important information about the licensing required to integrate the two products.

What is vRanger?

What is vRanger?

vRanger is the next step in the evolution of the leading backup solution designed exclusively for the virtual infrastructure. vRanger captures the complete source image — including the operating system, patches, and applications — and transfers the archive — full, incremental, or differential — to a configured data repository. These image-level backups can be restored in a matter of minutes rather than the hours required by legacy file-level solutions.

vRanger versions 5.3 and later support the use of a NetVault SmartDisk server as a repository. Simply by adding a configured NetVault SmartDisk server to vRanger as a repository, backups written to that repository is automatically de-duplicated.

vRanger licensing

Each physical CPU socket on a licensed VMware® ESXi™ host requires one CPU License. vRanger can restore and replicate to a host for which you have not configured a vRanger license. Every ESXi host for which vRanger is expected to provide protection must be properly licensed, both by VMware® and in the vRanger Host Licensing tab.

 

IMPORTANT: A Quest vRanger license is required for integration with NetVault SmartDisk. vRanger Standard Edition (SE) and vReplicator are not supported by NetVault SmartDisk. This documentation uses “vRanger” for simplicity, but only vRanger Backup & Replication is supported for use with NetVault SmartDisk.

NetVault SmartDisk overview

NetVault SmartDisk overview

The NetVault SmartDisk disk-based data-deduplication option reduces storage costs with its powerful byte-level, variable-block-based software deduplication, which packs up to 12 times more protected data into the same storage area for up to a 90% reduction in storage footprint. Hardware costs are reduced by using existing storage infrastructure instead of requiring specific drives or appliances. Seamless integration with vRanger speeds deployment while simplified ease-of-use reduces the level of storage expertise required to perform deduplicated disk-based backups.

To shrink backup windows with no additional affect on hosts or protected servers, you can schedule the NetVault SmartDisk post-process deduplication option outside the backup window.

For more information, see Understanding NetVault SmartDisk.

NetVault SmartDisk licensing

The NetVault SmartDisk - vRanger Edition is licensed on a per-instance basis. An “instance” is defined as an individual server installation of NetVault SmartDisk. Each NetVault SmartDisk Instance requires its own permanent license key, which is tied to a NetVault SmartDisk Machine ID that is unique to each NetVault SmartDisk Instance. You may configure multiple repositories per instance.

 

IMPORTANT: NetVault SmartDisk is only supported when used with Quest vRanger.

Size limits on NetVault SmartDisk Instances

Each instance is limited in the amount of deduplicated data that it can support:

•	If you use a 32-bit platform, you are limited to a Chunk Store of 5 TB of unique data.

•	If you use a 64-bit platform, you are limited to a Chunk Store of 15 TB of unique data.

For more information, see Unique Data Size > OS Bit Limit.