To better coordinate and integrate OpenStorage Technology (OST) with QoreStor data storage operations, the following guidelines list the required components and supported operations. For details on the supported operating systems and data management application (DMA) versions, see the QoreStor Interoperability Guide.
QoreStor licensing is all-inclusive, so that no additional licensing is required to use OST or the optimized duplication capability. The OST plug-in that gets installed on a supported Linux or Windows media server platform is a free download. However, Veritas NetBackup requires that you purchase an OpenStorage Disk Option license. Similarly, Veritas Backup Exec requires that you purchase the Deduplication Option to enable the OST feature.
- OST Media Server Component:
- An OST server component resides on the QoreStor server.
- For Linux media server installations, use the Linux OST plug-in and the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) installer
- For Windows media server installations, use the Windows OST plug-in and the Microsoft (MSI) installer
- Windows-based OST plug-in
- Linux-based 64-bit OST plug-in
- Supported OpenStorage (OST) protocol:
- Supported Veritas DMAs
- Supported OST operations
- Backup (Passthrough writes and Optimized writes)
- Restore
- Replication
- Auto Image Replication (AIR)
The Network Data Management protocol (NDMP) is used to control data backup and recovery between primary and secondary storage in a network environment. For example, a NAS server (Filer) can talk to a tape drive for the purposes of a backup.
You can use the protocol with a centralized data management application (DMA) to back up data on file servers running on different platforms to tape drives or tape libraries located elsewhere within the network. The protocol separates the data path from the control path and minimizes demands on network resources. With NDMP, a network file server can communicate directly to a network-attached tape drive or virtual tape library (VTL) for backup or recovery.
The QoreStor VTL container type is designed to work seamlessly with the NDMP protocol.
iSCSI or Internet Small Computer System Interface is an Internet Protocol (IP)-based storage networking standard for storage subsystems. It is a carrier protocol for SCSI. SCSI commands are sent over IP networks by using iSCSI. It also facilitates data transfers over intranets and to manage storage over long distances. iSCSI can be used to transmit data over LANs or WANs.
In iSCSI, clients are called initiators and SCSI storage devices are targets. The protocol allows an initiator to send SCSI commands (CDBs) to the targets on remote servers. It is a storage area network (SAN) protocol, allowing organizations to consolidate storage into data center storage arrays while providing hosts (such as database and web servers) with the illusion of locally attached disks. Unlike traditional Fibre Channel, which requires different cabling, iSCSI can be run over long distances using existing network infrastructure.
iSCSI is a low-cost alternative to Fibre Channel, which requires dedicated infrastructure except in FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet). Note that the performance of an iSCSI SAN deployment can be degraded if not operated on a dedicated network or subnet
The VTL container type is designed to work seamlessly with the iSCSI protocol. For details, see Creating a VTL type container .
The table below describes the processes that QoreStor installs and runs on the QoreStor server.
Table 5: QoreStor processes
| Process |
Description |
|
nhm |
Node Health Monitoring service - maintains a database for alerts and events. |
| object_server |
Used for object container support |
|
oca_idm_eda |
An event and data aggregator service for events and alerts. |
|
ocaagent_charts |
Periodically (every hour) sends QoreStor chart related data to the Global View Cloud. |
|
ocaagent_diagnostics |
Periodically queries database for keep-alive commands. Responsible only for handling diagnostic upload command. |
|
ocaagent_keepalive |
Queries the Global View Cloud for keep-alive commands ( diagnostic upload and portal unregistration) and runs them. This query occurs once a minute. |
|
ocaagent_managebutton |
Allows for remote control of QoreStor through Global View Cloud. When enabled, waits for remote management RPC commands from Global View Cloud, invokes them via API on QoreStor, and sends results back to the Global View Cloud. |
|
ocaagent_registration |
Handles Global View Cloud registration, operates on a DB table responsible for holding registration status, and performs registration/unregistration requests. |
|
ocaagent_stats |
Periodically( every 30 minutes, or when significant changes occur) sends statistic data (storage groups, containers, analytics, system information etc.) to the Global View Cloud. |
|
ocaconfigsvc |
QoreStor configuration service to manage the storage groups, containers, and replication links and handle requests from the QoreStor CLI and UI. |
|
ocafsd |
QoreStor file system service to export containers, process data and manage the data on the disk. |
|
ocahttp |
QoreStor HTTP server to service requests for QoreStor web UI and REST API methods. Uses ocafsd, ocaconfigsvc and r3 database (graphs). |
|
ocamonitor |
QoreStor process for periodically collecting stats from ocafsd, ocaconfigsvc and Linux system monitoring tools and populating an internal (r3) database. |
|
ocardslogwriter |
Process captures logging from all the processes, writes the data to the corresponding logs, and rotates the logs. |
|
sc_server |
A Secure Connect server that handles secure connects from OST and RDA plug-ins |
|
watcher |
Watcher process monitors other QoreStor processes. The watcher process will respawn other processes as necessary to keep the service online. |
|
watcher_spawn |
This process monitors watcher process and spawns if necessary. |
