NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances

Transcription

1 Technical Report NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault Christopher Wong, NetApp Jeffrey Steiner, NetApp February 2018 TR-4418 Abstract This solution deployment guide outlines how easy it is to deploy and use a NetApp AltaVault cloud-integrated storage appliance with Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN). AltaVault appliances provide a simple, efficient, and secure way to off-site data to either public or private cloud storage providers. Using advanced deduplication, compression, and encryption, AltaVault enables organizations to eliminate reliance on older, less reliable data protection solutions while improving backup windows and disaster recovery capabilities.

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 AltaVault Overview Executive Overview Oracle RMAN Architecture Overview AltaVault Appliance Overview Deploy and Configure AltaVault with RMAN AltaVault Solution Configuration Topography Hardware and Software Prerequisites RMAN Configuration Backup sets and Image Copies RMAN Incremental Merge Asynchronous exports Backup Redundancy RMAN Channels Fast Recovery Area (FRA) and Oracle FlashBack Optimize file size with maxpiecesize parameter Disable source multiplexing with filesperset parameter Compression Encryption Using the Oracle Direct NFS Client Solution Recommendations and Best Practices RMAN Best Practices Performance Tuning Linux Mount Options Linux Kernel Parameters Solaris Mount Options Solaris Kernel Parameters Windows SMB Configuration Where to Find Additional Information Version History NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

3 LIST OF TABLES Table 1) RMAN best practices LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1) Oracle RMAN component view....5 Figure 2) AltaVault appliance....5 Figure 3) AltaVault ecosystem NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

4 1 AltaVault Overview This chapter is an overview of the solution components. 1.1 Executive Overview NetApp AltaVault storage enables customers to securely back up data to any cloud at up to 90% lower cost compared with on-premises solutions. AltaVault gives customers the power to tap into cloud economics while preserving investments in existing backup infrastructure and meeting backup and recovery service level agreements (SLA). AltaVault appliances simply act as a network-attached storage (NAS) target within a backup infrastructure, enabling organizations to eliminate their reliance on tape infrastructure and all its associated capital and operational costs, while improving backup windows and disaster recovery capabilities. It s easy to set up the AltaVault appliance and start moving data to the cloud in as little as 30 minutes, compared to setting up tape or other disk replication infrastructures, which might take days. By applying industry-leading deduplication, compression, and wide area network (WAN) optimization technologies, AltaVault appliances shrink dataset sizes by 10x to 30x. This reduction substantially reduces cloud storage costs, accelerates data transfers, and stores more data within the local cache, all of which speed up recovery time. Security is provided by encrypting data on site or in flight, as well as in the cloud, using 256-bit AES encryption and TLS v1.1/1.2. AltaVault appliances provide a dual layer of encryption, which means that any data moved into the cloud is not compromised, and it creates a complete end-to-end security solution for cloud storage. Because an AltaVault appliance is an asymmetric, stateless appliance, no hardware is needed in the cloud, and you can recover the last known good state of a broken or destroyed AltaVault appliance to a new AltaVault appliance. AltaVault appliances offer the flexibility to scale cloud storage as business requirements change. All capital expenditure planning that is required for tape and disk replication-based solutions is avoided, saving organizations up to 90%. 1.2 Oracle RMAN Architecture Overview Oracle Database Server is a relational database management system that provides one of the most advanced feature sets to allow organizations to better store, view, understand, and leverage their data for business activities. Composed of myriad features, Oracle Database Server has grown from its humble beginnings to a full-fledged database management server system that provides advanced clustering capabilities, grid infrastructure and automatic storage management, and other powerful management and availability features. When it comes to protecting Oracle Database Servers, RMAN has evolved into the preferred backup tool for Oracle databases. Prior to RMAN, backup jobs had to be scripted and took the database offline for the backup. Scripts were cumbersome to implement and prone to user error. RMAN simplified database backup strategies significantly, and having the ability to back up a database while online was a huge advancement for Oracle database administrators to protect their database infrastructure. RMAN is the Oracle database application that uses database server sessions to perform backup and recovery. It stores metadata about its operations in the control file of the target database or in a repository and can also store this metadata in a recovery catalog schema in an Oracle database. RMAN as a command-line executable starts from the operating system prompt and can also be run with the backup user interface through the Enterprise Manager GUI. Backups can be written to the fast recovery area (FRA), to disk, or through a third-party media manager to tape storage. 4 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

5 Figure 1) Oracle RMAN component view. 1.3 AltaVault Appliance Overview Figure 2 is an illustration of the AltaVault appliance. Figure 2) AltaVault appliance. AltaVault appliances are optimized and purpose built for data protection. They easily integrate into your existing backup infrastructure and favorite cloud storage provider. Setup and installation are easy because backup applications allow you to add an AltaVault appliance as a common target within its existing infrastructure. The backup server connects to the AltaVault appliance using standard Server Message Block (SMB) or Network File System (NFS) protocol. When you back up to an AltaVault device, it performs inline, variable-segment-length deduplication, compression, and encryption of the backup data to minimize storage consumption and transmission times. AltaVault appliances also use their local disk cache for fast recovery of recent backups, providing LAN performance for the most likely restores. The AltaVault appliance then securely writes the deduplicated backup data to cloud storage and accelerates restores from the cloud by moving only necessary segments of deduplicated data over the WAN. An easy-to-use graphical management console enables you to manage one or more AltaVault appliances through a web browser interface. 5 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

6 2 Deploy and Configure AltaVault with RMAN RMAN with AltaVault appliances is a flexible, easy to configure and use solution that can be deployed with major cloud storage providers. See the AltaVault Deployment Guide for the detailed steps to deploy an AltaVault appliance. 2.1 AltaVault Solution Configuration Topography Figure 3 illustrates the AltaVault solution configuration topology. Refer to the NetApp Interoperability Matrix for current versions of the backup application supported with AltaVault. Figure 3) AltaVault ecosystem. 2.2 Hardware and Software Prerequisites To install and deploy AltaVault in a backup environment, you must first complete the following prerequisites: 1. At least one server must act as the backup server where RMAN will be run. Note: Check the Oracle support site and related compatibility lists where applicable. 2. A physical AltaVault appliance or virtual AltaVault appliance must be online and connected to the physical network infrastructure. A minimum of two IP addresses must be available for AltaVault. 3. Procure and set up all necessary software licenses from each vendor, using vendor-specific guidelines, including cloud storage credentials from your designated cloud storage provider. 4. Provide physical stacking and racking of equipment at each site. All cabling and power must be operational. 5. Verify that all LAN and WAN connections are functioning to and from your Internet and cloud storage providers. 6. If applicable, make a Windows directory service (Active Directory) or UNIX Kerberos server available. 6 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

7 3 RMAN Configuration 3.1 Backup Sets and Image Copies Oracle RMAN offers two basic formats to store backup data: backup sets and image copies: A backup set contains data from one or more datafiles, archive logs, control files, or spfiles. The format of data stored in an RMAN backup set is proprietary to RMAN, and the data can only be read by RMAN. In contrast, an image copy is a duplicate of an existing database file. Data in this format can be read by applications other than RMAN. From an AltaVault perspective, there is little difference between these formats, but the way they are used after the files are created might differ. NetApp recommends backup sets for the reasons outlined in the following sections. 3.2 RMAN Incremental Merge Although both image copies and backup sets are initially written as large-block sequential writes, backup sets are not subsequently updated. In contrast, image copies are frequently updated with data from subsequent incremental backups. After an initial full image copy of the database is created, incremental backups performed at daily or hourly intervals are merged into the files of the full image copy. The merge of the incremental backup creates heavy random overwrite I/O. This situation might lead to performance problems if the drives in the AltaVault system become overloaded. 3.3 Asynchronous Exports By default, AltaVault exports file systems asynchronously. This means that AltaVault acknowledges writes before they are written to persistent storage in the AltaVault cache. This approach greatly improves performance by allowing AltaVault to delay write I/O until it can be written in the most efficient way possible. The write can be delayed by up to a configurable number of seconds. The default is 10 seconds. This delay means that a power failure or similar event might result in the loss of the previous 10 seconds of data that was written to AltaVault. When image copies are used, they are frequently the only copy of a database maintained, with the single image being updated at a defined interval. A failure during the incremental update of the image copies could result in the image copies becoming unusable. In contrast, a typical backup set approach results in multiple copies of the same data. If one copy of a given log file was damaged, RMAN would be able to read from older copies of the data and roll logs forward. 3.4 Backup Redundancy Normal Oracle RMAN retention policies should anticipate the risk that a backup file could be damaged. This applies to any RMAN backup strategy based on disk or tape. To mitigate this risk, multiple usable copies must be maintained. Datafiles are usually backed up more than once as a typical practice. For example, an RMAN backup procedure might include weekly backups that are retained for eight weeks. Each datafile is a usable starting point for restoration. If a file is damaged, the data is still retrievable from an older copy. Archive log backups also require redundancy. That can be done using the not backed up clause. For example, using backup archivelog all not backed up 1 times with each backup maintains at least two copies of each archive log on the AltaVault system. The result is that the loss of any individual backup file does not interfere with recoverability of the database because there are at least two options for restoration. 7 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

8 3.5 RMAN Channels An RMAN backup or restore operation allows the users to define multiple channels. Each channel represents a stream of read or write I/O. The parallelization of I/O improves throughput and reduces the backup or restore window. In general, two to eight channels should be sufficient to reach maximum throughput on a 10Gb interface. Care must be taken not to overload the AltaVault system with an excessive number of parallel operations: Each stream of write I/O must be processed as a single thread to compare it to existing data, deduplicate data where possible, and then compress and encrypt the remaining data before writing to disk. Each stream of read I/O requires the data to be reassembled from the deduplicated fragments on disk. NetApp recommends a maximum of 128 RMAN channels running against an AltaVault system at any given time. This includes both backup and restore activity. 3.6 FRA and Oracle Flashback File systems exported from AltaVault should not be configured as the FRA. The data in the FRA can include flashback logs or online redo logs, which create I/O patterns and demands that are not suitable for AltaVault. 3.7 Optimize File Size with maxpiecesize Parameter The AltaVault OS works best with data that is written sequentially with the largest possible sequences of unchanged data. The RMAN parameter maxpiecesize controls the maximum size of the backup files. Larger values are preferred because they allow AltaVault to more easily identify the portions of the source datafiles that have not changed since the previous backup. A maxpiecesize of 100GB yields a good balance of performance, efficiency, and manageability. 3.8 Disable source multiplexing with filesperset parameter The filesperset parameter controls multiplexing of source file data into backup set files. By default, Oracle RMAN multiplexes up to 8 source files into a single backup file. The result is small pieces of the source files are read and then merged together before being written to AltaVault. Although multiplexing does not affect AltaVault performance when creating an initial backup, multiplex data damages both performance and efficiency over time. The reason is AltaVault is tuned to deduplicate sequential I/O. As multiplexed backups are performed repeatedly, the content of the data that is written changes significantly. There would normally be extremely high levels of duplicate data within each source file, but the duplicated data is obscured when multiple source files are broken up and then merged together into a single stream. Furthermore, some restore operations require partial reads of the backup files from AltaVault. Data from files that are not in scope for restores would be skipped. The result is a read operation that is more random than sequential, which affects performance. NetApp recommends setting filesperset=1 for all backups means that no more than one file is contained in a single backup piece. The result is that repeated backups of this file deduplicate more efficiently and restores of the backup piece only require a single sequential read from start to finish. 3.9 Compression Data written to AltaVault should not be compressed as part of the backup operation. Small changes in the data being read result in large changes in the compressed output, which significantly affects AltaVault storage efficiencies. 8 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

9 Compression within the Oracle database, such as the use of Oracle Advanced Compression, does not interfere with AltaVault deduplication because only the payload of the blocks is compressed. The blocks themselves are deduplicated to AltaVault as usual Encryption Data written to AltaVault should not be encrypted as part of the backup operation. As with compression, small changes in the data being read result in large changes in the encrypted output, which significantly affects AltaVault storage efficiency. Encryption within the Oracle database, such as Oracle transparent data encryption (TDE), does not interfere with AltaVault deduplication because only the payload of the blocks is encrypted. The blocks themselves are deduplicated to AltaVault as usual Using the Oracle Direct NFS Client On UNIX-based Oracle database systems, NetApp recommends using Oracle Direct NFS to improve network transfer performance between RMAN and the AltaVault appliance. This NFS client is built directly into the Oracle database kernel, and NetApp recommends it when using NAS-based disk targets. If the Oracle Direct NFS client is being used, the AltaVault appliance NFS export must be configured with the insecure option to allow connections from Oracle Direct NFS. This step is not required if using the default NFS client with Linux or UNIX. The insecure option is available only through the AltaVault CLI and cannot be set through the AltaVault GUI. Configure the NFS export with the AltaVault GUI, then log in to the CLI and issue the following commands: en conf t nfs export modify name <existing-altavault-nfs-share-name> insecure For example, to configure the default NFS export AltaVault appliance, issue the following commands: en conf t nfs export modify name AltaVault insecure 4 Solution Recommendations and Best Practices This chapter lists recommendations and best practices for deploying AltaVault in RMAN environments. The best practices are not requirements, but NetApp recommends that you follow these suggestions for the optimal solution experience. 4.1 RMAN Best Practices Table 1 describes the recommended best practices for using RMAN with AltaVault. 9 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

10 Table 1) RMAN best practices. Item Enable Oracle Direct NFS with AltaVault Description On UNIX-based Oracle database systems, NetApp recommends using Oracle Direct NFS to improve performance between Oracle and the AltaVault appliance. This NFS client is built directly into the Oracle database kernel, and NetApp recommends it when using NAS-based disk targets. If the Oracle Direct NFS client is being used, the AltaVault NFS share must be configured with the insecure option to allow connections from Oracle Direct NFS. See previous sections for information about allowing insecure mounting. Minimum parallelism Maximum parallelism Do not use AltaVault as an FRA Do not use AltaVault with incrementally updated image backups Export NFS asynchronously maxpiecesize filesperset=1 not backed up Compression Encryption Tune performance using RMAN parallelism. RMAN must have multiple streams, so set a value higher than 1. In general, 2 to 8 should be sufficient. The optimum value depends on your infrastructure environment. Limit the total active RMAN channels on an AltaVault system to a maximum of 128. NetApp does not recommend configuring an AltaVault SMB or NFS share as the FRA destination target. Because the FRA is intended for localized recovery of Oracle database data (such as online redo logs), Oracle suggests keeping the FRA on high-performance primary storage. Although an image copy backup is safe and appropriate for use on AltaVault, it should not be incrementally updated. This creates a random overwrite I/O pattern, which is not suitable for an AltaVault storage system. Use the async export option to get maximum performance. Refer to AltaVault documentation about setting NFS exports with the proper export flags. AltaVault performs optimally receiving large sequential streams of data from the backup application. NetApp recommends using 100GB objects for the optimal balance of backup and restore performance. If necessary, adjust the size of the maxpiecesize parameter based on your requirements. Note: While very large values can improve throughput and decrease volume counts created by the backup application, they might also result in more data being downloaded from the cloud and increased costs if these larger volumes must be prepopulated from the cloud for recovery operations. Set filesperset=1 to enable AltaVault to work with the most efficient data layout possible. Use the not backed up clause with archive log backups to make sure at least two copies of archive logs are stored on the AltaVault system. This provides protection against unexpected events such as a power failure when file systems are exported with async. If compression is used as part of the backup process, AltaVault storage efficiencies do not work. If encryption is used as part of the backup process, AltaVault storage efficiencies do not work. 10 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

11 5 Performance Tuning The following sections outline the recommended options for tuning performance for Linux, Solaris, and Windows operating systems. 5.1 Linux Mount Options The AltaVault GUI generates recommended mount options when creating an export. By default, the mount options should include: rw,nolock,hard,intr,nfsvers=3,tcp,rsize=131072,wsize=131072,bg With high-speed, low-latency networks, the rsize and wsize can be increased for additional performance benefits. The larger I/O sizes reduce the number of operations used by NFS. rw,nolock,hard,intr,nfsvers=3,tcp,rsize= ,wsize= ,bg Note: Oracle Direct NFS automatically sets the recommended values for rsize and wsize, independent of what is used at the OS level. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) slot tables are the NFS equivalent of host bus adapter (HBA) queue depth. These tables control the number of NFS operations that can be outstanding at any one time. The default value is usually 16, which is far too low for optimum performance. The opposite problem occurs on newer Linux kernels, which can automatically increase the TCP slot table limit to a level that saturates the NFS server with requests. 5.2 Linux Kernel Parameters For optimum performance and to prevent performance problems, adjust the kernel parameters that control the TCP slot tables. Run the sysctl -a grep tcp.*.slot_table command and observe the following parameters: # sysctl -a grep tcp.*.slot_table sunrpc.tcp_max_slot_table_entries = 128 sunrpc.tcp_slot_table_entries = 128 All Linux systems should include sunrpc.tcp_slot_table_entries, but only some include sunrpc.tcp_max_slot_table_entries. They should both be set to 128. Reboot the OS to allow the changes to take effect. 5.3 Solaris Mount Options The AltaVault GUI generates recommended mount options when creating an export. In general, the mount options should include: rw,setuid,devices,llock,hard,intr,vers=3,proto=tcp,rsize=131072,wsize=131072,bg,xattr With high-speed, low-latency networks, the rsize and wsize can be increased for additional performance benefits. The larger I/O sizes reduce the number of operations used by NFS. rw,setuid,devices,llock,hard,intr,vers=3,proto=tcp,rsize= ,wsize= ,bg,xattr Note: Oracle Direct NFS automatically sets the recommended values for rsize and wsize, independent of what is used at the OS level. 5.4 Solaris Kernel Parameters Configure NFS networking parameters on Solaris operating systems to optimally send data to AltaVault through configured NFS mounts. In addition to tuning the rsize and wsize mount options appropriately, 11 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

12 nfs3_max_transfer_size and nfs3_bsize should also be tuned. nfs3_max_transfer_size and nfs3_bsize should be greater than or equal to the minimum of rsize and wsize. To set the values, edit the /etc/system file and change or add the following lines to the file: nfs:nfs3_max_transfer_size=<value> nfs:nfs3_bsize=<value> Note: A reboot of the system is required for the configuration changes to take effect. 5.5 Windows SMB Configuration You can modify Windows networking parameters for SMB to improve overall backup application performance. To make these changes, go to the Start menu and enter regedit to start the Windows registry editor. Enter administrative permissions if prompted. Changes made in the Windows registry editor are permanent upon entry, so use extreme caution when making the changes or additions. A reboot is required. [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanworkstation\parameters] "SESSTIMEOUT"=DWORD:00000e10 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AFD\Parameters] "DefaultSendWindow"=DWORD: "DefaultReceiveWindow"=dword: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters] "GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize"=dword: "TcpWindowSize"=dword: "Tcp1323Opts"=dword: If Windows 2012 or Windows 8 or later is used with AltaVault versions earlier than 4.2, the Secure Negotiate feature in those products requires SMB signing negotiation messages to be signed themselves; otherwise, the connection fails. AltaVault versions earlier than 4.2 do not sign negotiation messages, and this might cause the SMB connections to AltaVault to fail repeatedly. To work around this limitation, if you cannot upgrade AltaVault to version 4.2 or later, disable the Secure Negotiate feature on the Windows server by using the following command from Windows PowerShell. Refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base article for details. Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters" RequireSecureNegotiate -Value 0 -Force Where to Find Additional Information To learn more about the information described in this document, refer to the following documents and/or websites: Microsoft Knowledge Base article NetApp Interoperability Matrix 12 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

13 Version History Version Date Document Version History Version 1.0 May 2015 Initial version Version 1.1 November 2015 Updated for 4.1 release Version 1.2 April 2016 Updated for 4.2 release Version 1.3 August 2016 Updated for release Version 1.4 January 2017 Updated for 4.3 release Version 1.5 April 2017 Updated for release Version 1.6 November 2017 Updated for 4.4 release Version 1.7 February 2018 Updated Oracle RMAN configuration recommendations 13 NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault

14 Refer to the Interoperability Matrix Tool (IMT) on the NetApp Support site to validate that the exact product and feature versions described in this document are supported for your specific environment. The NetApp IMT defines the product components and versions that can be used to construct configurations that are supported by NetApp. Specific results depend on each customer's installation in accordance with published specifications. Copyright Information Copyright Information Copyright NetApp, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S. No part of this document covered by copyright may be reproduced in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or storage in an electronic retrieval system without prior written permission of the copyright owner. Software derived from copyrighted NetApp material is subject to the following license and disclaimer: THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY NETAPP AS IS AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WHICH ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL NETAPP BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. NetApp reserves the right to change any products described herein at any time, and without notice. NetApp assumes no responsibility or liability arising from the use of products described herein, except as expressly agreed to in writing by NetApp. The use or purchase of this product does not convey a license under any patent rights, trademark rights, or any other intellectual property rights of NetApp. The product described in this manual may be protected by one or more U.S. patents, foreign patents, or pending applications. RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS (October 1988) and FAR (June 1987). Trademark Information NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. TR NetApp AltaVault Cloud-Integrated Storage Appliances Solution Deployment: AltaVault