Chapter 14 Basic Planning Methdlgy
This chapter prvides a basic and generic methdlgy fr planning prtectin requirements. It fcuses n the primary cnsideratins fr designing and implementing a basic strage plicy design strategy. The fllwing chart highlights the steps fr designing a strage plicy and subclient strategy. Requirements fr Custm Cntent Definitins (Subclients) The Simpana sftware suite ffers pwerful features t prvide great flexibility in managing data. One f the mst pwerful features is the ability t lgically address cntent requiring prtectin by using subclients. Subclients allw cntent t be explicitly defined such as files, flders, mailbxes, dcument repsitries, r databases. Althugh mst envirnments nly use the Default subclient t prtect all data managed by an agent, custm subclients can prvide granular management f data which can be used t imprve perfrmance, make mre efficient use f media, r define custm data handling methds t meet specific prtectin requirements.
Cnsider using custm subclients fr the fllwing situatins: When custm retentin settings are required fr specific data such as a flder, virtual machine r a database. When special strage requirements exist fr specific data such as islating financial data nt separate media frm ther data being managed by the agent. When special file handling must be perfrmed such as using VSS r Simpana QSnap t prtect pen files. When specific files must be prtected and managed independently frm ther data in the same lcatin such as PDF and DOC files requiring specific retentin r strage requirements. When scripts need t be used t place data in a specific state prir t backup such as quiescing a database befre backing it up. When Simpana sftware is initially deplyed in mst envirnments, nly a default subclient is used. In the KISS philsphy f keeping things simple, unless there are predefined reasns fr prtecting specific data, this step may be skipped. Mdifying, adding r deleting subclients is a simple prcess that can be perfrmed at any time. Retentin Requirements fr Cntents Retentin requirements shuld be based n specific cntents within a file system r applicatin. All t ften, determining retentin requirements is nt easy, especially when data wners d nt want t cmmit t specific numbers. This cncept is discussed in greater detail in the Defining Data Retentin & Destructin Plicies chapter f this bk. Cnsideratins fr Retentin Requirements: Keep it simple. Unless specific cntent within an applicatin r file system requires special retentin requirements, dn t ver design subclients. Cnsider using default retentin plicies prviding several levels f prtectin. Prvide the ptins t the data wners and allw them t chse. Als stipulate that if they d nt make a chice then a primary default retentin will be used. Als state a deadline in which they must prvide their retentin requirements. It is imprtant t nte that this is a basic recmmendatin and yu shuld always fllw plicies based n cmpany and cmpliance guidelines. Cnsider defining retentin rules fr the fllwing: Disaster Recvery requirements shuld be based n the number f Cycles f data that shuld be retained. This shuld als include hw many cpies (n-site / ff-site) fr each cycle. Data Recvery requirements shuld be based n hw far back in time (days) that data may be required fr recvery. Data Preservatin/Cmpliance shuld be based n the frequency f pint-in-time cpies (Mnthly, Quarterly, Yearly) and hw lng the cpies shuld be kept fr (Days).
Prtectin Requirements fr specific data types Managing different data types such as file systems and databases typically require special design cnsideratins fr strage plicies. These factrs shuld be cnsidered in the initial design strategy. Cnsider special prtectin requirements fr different data types in the fllwing situatins: Typically different data types such as databases and files will require different retentin settings which will result in different plicies being used t prtect the data. If the primary strage target is a tape library and multiplexing will be used it is nt recmmended t mix database and bject level backups t the same media. Using different strage plicies will frce different data types t use different media. When using Simpana deduplicatin it is recmmended t use different plicies t manage varius data types. This shuld be dne fr three reasns: Different blck sizes may be recmmended fr different data types depending n the vlume f data requiring prtectin. Different data types d nt always deduplicate well against each ther. It prvides fr greater strage scalability since each plicy will maintain their wn dedupe database. Library and Data Paths Fr simplicity f managing a CmmCell envirnment, different libraries as well as lcatin f the libraries may require separate strage plicies. This will allw fr easier plicy management, security cnfiguratins, and media management. Cnsider the fllwing when determining strage plicy strategies fr libraries and data paths: When using Simpana deduplicatin, fr perfrmance and scalability reasns different plicies shuld be used fr each Media Agent data path. This will allw the deduplicatin database t be lcally accessible by each Media Agent prviding better thrughput, higher scalability, and mre streams t be run cncurrently. If a shared disk (nt using Simpana deduplicatin) r shared tape library is being used where multiple Client / Media Agents have LAN free (Preferred) paths t strage, a single strage plicy can be used. Add each path in the Data Path Prperties tab f the Primary Cpy. Each Client / Media Agent will use the LAN Free path t write t the shared library. This will allw fr simplified strage plicy management and the cnslidatin f data t tape media during auxiliary cpy peratins. If a shared disk (nt using Simpana deduplicatin) r tape library is prtecting LAN based client data where multiple Media Agents can see the library, each data path can be added t the primary cpy. GridStr Rund Rbin r failver can be implemented t prvide data path availability and lad balancing fr data prtectin jbs.
Deduplicatin When using Simpana deduplicatin careful planning is essential. Whether a plicy will use deduplicatin r if a plicy cpy will be assciated with a glbal dedupe plicy must be determined during the initial cnfiguratin f the plicy cpy. Althugh the blck size specified during the plicy creatin can be mdified, it will seal the stre which will have a negative impact n dedupe ratis and backup perfrmance. Cnsider the fllwing when using Simpana Deduplicatin: Deduplicatin gets the best benefit frm data that deduplicates well with ther data and frm subsequent full backups that prtect the same data ver time. Nt all data will deduplicate efficiently. Fr data that will be written t nn-deduplicated disk strage, use a separate strage plicy. It is als recmmended t use a separate disk library fr deduplicated and nn-deduplicated data. Use separate strage plicies fr data types that require different blck settings and fr data that des nt deduplicate well with ther data types. This prvides fr better perfrmance and scalability. If glbal deduplicatin is ging t be used fr Primary r Secndary cpies, create the glbal dedupe plicy befre creating the ther plicy cpies. Assciating a plicy cpy t a glbal dedupe plicy must be dne during the initial creatin. In envirnments with Big Data cnsider scaling ut the envirnment t accmmdate current data vlume and future grwth estimates. This may require using dedicated strage plicies which will use independent dedupe databases allwing fr higher vlumes f data t be managed. Each database can handle up t 750 millin recrds. If certain data will als be placed in SILO strage then dedicated plicies shuld be used t separate SILO required data frm nn-silo required data. All f the preceding pints are cvered in detail in the Simpana Deduplicatin chapter. Create & Srt Data Prtectin Matrix Chart Key Fields t use in Chart: Server-Agent-Subclient. Lcatin. Data Type. Current and prjected data size. Deduplicatin requirements (dedupe/nn-dedupe and blck factr). Primary strage target and retentin. Secndary targets and retentin settings fr DR, data recvery, and data preservatin. Server Statistics & Primary Cpy Requirements Srt fields in the fllwing rder: 1. Primary strage target 2. Primary Retentin
3. Deduplicatin blck factr Sample prtectin matrix chart. The srt rder reveals that a cmmn strage plicy can be cnfigured fr the highlighted data. Strage Plicy Designs The fllwing tables use the data frm the prtectin matrix charts t design the minimum number f strage plicies required.
The fllwing table shws the strage plicies required, the device streams, deduplicatin settings, and which subclients will be assciated with each plicy.
This chapter prvides a basic methdlgy fr ntating prtectin requirements and designing strage plicies t meet prtectin needs. The use f spreadsheets allw fr the data t be srted based n cmmn attributes which can later be used t determine hw many plicies will be required. Once the prtectin and plicy charts are created, use the Creating & Cnfiguring Strage Plicies and Creating & Cnfiguring Subclients chapters t cnfigure yur envirnment.