To organize your data, you can easily create storage groups and create containers within those storage groups on your DR Series system. A storage group allows you to create separate storage policies for different data groups and the different capacities utilized on a single DR Series system. You can also create and organize storage groups for the different organizations in your enterprise, such as Engineering, Sales, Finance, and so on.
After initialization, the DR Series system contains a single default storage group, named DefaultGroup.
Refer to these important notes about storage groups.
- Only administrator users can create storage groups.
- Data/containers cannot be moved between storage groups.
- Deduplication is defined at the storage group level and is not global to the appliance.
- Encryption is defined separately for each storage group.
- Compression is defined separately for each storage group.
- The system cleaner cannot be run on a single storage group; only at the system level.
- Before you can delete a storage group, you must delete all containers contained in that storage group.
- A filesystem scan can be run on a single storage group.
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NOTE: When upgrading to the DR Series system 4.0 release, existing containers will be placed into the Default Storage Group. You cannot move a legacy container to a newly created storage group after the upgrade. The administrator can create additional storage groups as needed. |
To view the Storage Groups page, on the left navigation menu, click System Configuration > Storage Groups.
In the DR Series system GUI you can easily view all of your storage groups on the Storage Groups page.
To view storage groups, complete the following steps.
- In the left navigation menu, click System Configuration→ Storage Groups.
- On the Storage Groups page you can view the following columns of information about your storage groups.
- Name—Displays the name of the Storage Group.
- Compression—Displays the compression type as either Fast or Best.
- Encryption—Displays whether Encryption is turned On or Off.
- Containers—Displays the number of containers in this storage group. You can click this number, which links to the Containers page for the storage group.
- Replications—Displays the number of replications defined in this storage group. You can click this number, which links to the Replications page for the storage group.
- You can also select a storage group and click to expand it to view more details, including:
Encryption—Displays the following Encryption details:
- Passphrase—Displays whether a passphrase is Set or Not Set for this storage group.
- Encryption Mode—Displays the mode of encryption applied to the storage group as either None, Static, or Internal.
- Key Rotation Interval Days(s)—Displays the number of key rotation interval days as N/A, or the number that was set for Internal Encryption Mode.
- To view a chart of throughput activity and detailed storage group statistics, select a storage group, and, in the Actions column, click the Chart icon. A page for the selected storage group is displayed, showing the following:
- Throughput chart—Displays the number of read data in Mebibytes/per second (MiB/s) based on time (in minutes), and the number of write data in MiB/s based on time (in minutes)
- Statistics—Lists the following statistics for the storage group.
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- Capacity Used
- Capacity Used in GB
- Current Files
- Post Dedupe Bytes
- Post Encryption Bytes
- Bytes Decrypted
- Compression Status
- Dedupe Savings
- Total Inodes
- Capacity Free
- Capacity Free in GB
- Current Bytes
- Post Compression Bytes
- Post Encryption Bytes in GiB
- Cleaner Status
- Encryption Status
- Compression Savings
- Total Savings
In the DR Series system GUI you can easily add storage groups on the Storage Groups page. During the process of storage group creation, you can define data storage features such as Storage Optimization/Compression Level and Encryption at Rest.
To add a storage group, complete the following steps.
- In the left navigation menu, click System Configuration→ Storage Groups.
- On the Action menu in the upper right corner of the page, click Add a Storage Group. The Add a Storage Group pane is displayed.
- In the Group Name field, enter a name for the storage group.
- Click Next.
- For Storage Optimization, select a Compression Level from the drop-down list:
- Fast — Results in shorter backup time, but with less space savings.
- Best — Provides the highest space savings, but with a longer backup time.
- Click Next.
- If you want to apply Encryption to the data in this storage group, configure the following settings.
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NOTE: Due to export regulations, the encryption at rest feature is not available in certain markets, and, therefore, may not be available in your locale. For more information about recommended guidelines for encryption, see Understanding Encryption at Rest |
- Passphrase—Enter the passphrase to be used to encrypt content encryption keys. (The passphrase string can take up to 255 characters. And, alphanumeric and special characters can be entered as part of the passphrase string.)
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NOTE: It is mandatory to define a passphrase to enable encryption. If the passphrase is compromised or lost, the administrator should change it immediately so that the content encryption keys do not become vulnerable. |
- Confirm Passphrase—Re-enter the encryption passphrase.
- Encryption—Next to Encryption, click On.
- Encryption Mode—Select the mode of key lifecycle management from one of the following options:
- Key Rotation Interval (Days)—If you selected Internal as the mode of key management, select the number of days for key rotation when a new key is to be generated.
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NOTE: In Internal mode there is a maximum limit of 1023 keys. The key rotation period is set to 30 days by default when the passphrase is set and/or encryption is turned on. You can later change the key rotation period from 7 days to 70 years for internal mode. |
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NOTE: After encryption is enabled, all of the data that is backed up is encrypted and is kept encrypted until it is expired and cleaned by the system cleaner. Note that encryption is an irreversible process. |
- Click Next.
- Review the Storage Group summary, and then click Save.
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NOTE: Once you have created a storage group, you can click the link in the Containers column, which opens the Containers page. This makes it easy to add new containers to your storage group. |
In the DR Series system GUI you can easily modify certain settings for existing storage groups on the Storage Groups page.
Figure 12: To modify a storage group, complete the following steps.
- In the left navigation menu, click System Configuration→ Storage Groups.
- In the Storage Group list, select a storage group, and, in the Actions column, click the Edit icon. The Edit Storage Group pane is displayed.
- In the Group Name field, edit the name for the storage group as needed.
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NOTE: You cannot modify the name of the DefaultGroup. |
- For Storage Optimization, select a Compression Level from the drop-down list as needed:
- Fast— Results in shorter backup time, but with less space savings.
- Best — Provides the highest space savings, but with a longer backup time.
- Click Next.
- You can modify the following Encryption settings:
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NOTE: Due to export regulations, the encryption at rest feature is not available in certain markets, and, therefore, may not be available in your locale. |
- Passphrase—Enter the passphrase to be used to encrypt content encryption keys. (The passphrase string can take up to 255 characters. And, alphanumeric and special characters can be entered as part of the passphrase string.)
- Confirm Passphrase—Re-enter the encryption passphrase.
- Encryption—Next to Encryption, click On or Off as needed.
- Encryption Mode—Select the mode of key lifecycle management from one of the following options:
- None.
- Static—A global, fixed key is used to encrypt all data.
- Internal—Content encryption keys are generated and rotated on a specified period of days.
![](/pt-br/technical-documents/image/d2be0eac-01ff-4bc4-8d71-623d9bf7f022)
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NOTE: The key mode can be changed at any time during the lifetime of the DR Series system; however, changing the key mode can be a significant operation to undertake as all encrypted data must be re-encrypted with the new mode. If you change the mode to None, no further data will be encrypted. |
- Key Rotation Interval Day(s)—If you selected Internal as the mode of key management, select the number of days for key rotation when a new key is to be generated.
![](/pt-br/technical-documents/image/d2be0eac-01ff-4bc4-8d71-623d9bf7f022)
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NOTE: In Internal mode there is a maximum limit of 1023 keys. The default key rotation period is set to 30 days by default when the passphrase is set and/or encryption is turned on. You can later change the key rotation period from 7 days to 70 years for internal mode. |
![](/pt-br/technical-documents/image/d2be0eac-01ff-4bc4-8d71-623d9bf7f022)
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NOTE: After encryption is enabled, all of the data that is backed up is encrypted and is kept encrypted until it is expired and cleaned by the system cleaner. Note that encryption is an irreversible process. |
- Click Next.
- Review the Storage Group summary, and then click Save.