Intelli Snap

Technical Report
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp

Solution Overview
Subhash Athri, NetApp
July 2017 | TR-3920
Abstract
NetApp® Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp management software is changing today’s
backup and recovery landscape. Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software combines
simplified manageability, power, and flexibility for virtual environments with full support for
enterprise database applications. Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp integrates with NetApp
Snapshot® technology in a virtually seamless way for fast and efficient backup operations
and with NetApp SnapVault® and NetApp SnapMirror® software to support content
cataloging and data movement to tape-based media.
This document is an introduction to the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp solution. It
contains an overview of the technology and describes the basic configuration options for
getting started with Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Solution Components ...............................................................................5
1.2 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Basic Terminology ....................................................................................7
2 Clustered Data ONTAP Overview........................................................................................................ 7

2.1 Clustered Data ONTAP Basic Terminology ....................................................................................................7
2.2 Clustered Data ONTAP Replication Prerequisites ..........................................................................................8
3 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Technical Overview .................................................................. 9

3.1 Basic Functions...............................................................................................................................................9
3.2 Understanding the Backup Workflow ............................................................................................................25
3.3 Understanding the Restore Workflow ...........................................................................................................31
3.4 Data Cloning .................................................................................................................................................31
3.5 OSDP for Data ONTAP 7-Mode Target ........................................................................................................32
3.6 OSDP for Clustered Data ONTAP Target .....................................................................................................33
4 Application Data ................................................................................................................................. 34
5 Virtualization Data .............................................................................................................................. 36

5.1 VMware and Applications..............................................................................................................................37
6 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Network and Security Considerations .................................. 38

6.1 Firewall Considerations .................................................................................................................................38
7 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for E-Series .............................................................................. 38
8 Role-Based Access Control for Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp ............................................. 39
9 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for MetroCluster ...................................................................... 40

9.1 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Backup Configuration for MetroCluster ..................................................40
10 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Disaster Recovery................................................................... 41

10.1 Disaster Recovery Backups ..........................................................................................................................41
10.2 Disaster Recovery Failover ...........................................................................................................................41
10.3 Alternate Disaster Recovery Method ............................................................................................................42
11 Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 42
2 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp © 2017 NetApp, Inc. All rights reserved.
Resources .................................................................................................................................................. 42
Version History ......................................................................................................................................... 42
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1) Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp provisioning policies preconfigured in OnCommand Unified Manager 5.x.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................12
Table 2) Default storage provisioning policies in OnCommand Unified Manager 6.0. ..................................................14
Table 3) Enterprise example of scheduling and retention. ...........................................................................................30
Table 4) Application support, iDAs, and restore granularity..........................................................................................35
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1) Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software overview. ....................................................................................5
Figure 2) Unified management for Data ONTAP 7-Mode, clustered Data ONTAP, and OSDP......................................6
Figure 3) Distinction between node, HA pair, cluster, and SVM. ....................................................................................8
Figure 4) NetApp NAS NDMP iDA. ..............................................................................................................................10
Figure 5) Windows file system iDA. ..............................................................................................................................10
Figure 6) OnCommand handling of storage provisioning and replication. ....................................................................12
Figure 7) Default storage provisioning policies in OnCommand 6.0 GUI. ....................................................................14
Figure 8) NAS volume mirroring. ..................................................................................................................................15
Figure 9) Fan-in topology for vaulting NAS qtrees in Data ONTAP 7-Mode. ................................................................16
Figure 10) Fan-in topology for vaulting NAS volumes and qtrees in Data ONTAP 7-Mode. .........................................16
Figure 11) Poor storage layout of multiple clients with LUN data on a common volume. .............................................17
Figure 12) Better storage layout of multiple clients with LUN data on separate volumes. ............................................18
Figure 13) Efficient storage layout of a single client with LUN data on a common volume. ..........................................18
Figure 14) Flexibility of replication combinations. .........................................................................................................21
Figure 15) GUI path for adding AltaVault to Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp as a disk library. ................................24
Figure 16) AltaVault specified as a disk library in the Add Disk Library dialog box.......................................................24
Figure 17) Snapshot management options for AltaVault. .............................................................................................25
Figure 18) Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp example workflow: vault > mirror > tape. ..............................................26
Figure 19) Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for clustered Data ONTAP backup workflow. .......................................27
Figure 20) Example schedule and retention at specific times. ......................................................................................28
Figure 21) OSDP backup workflow. .............................................................................................................................33
Figure 22) VSA layers. .................................................................................................................................................36
Figure 23) Datastores in separate subclients with different storage policies. ...............................................................37
Figure 24) Datastores in the same subclient with fan-in. ..............................................................................................37
Figure 25) Capabilities to associate with clients and entities. .......................................................................................39
Figure 26) GUI path for integrating CommServe with Active Directory users and enabling SSO. ................................39
Figure 27) Cluster failover. ...........................................................................................................................................40
1 Introduction
NetApp is an industry leader in array-based data protection. The efficiencies of Snapshot copy technology
and data replication have changed the way the industry looks at backup and recovery and at disaster
recovery strategies. The explosion of data with which enterprises are dealing makes the need to achieve
faster SLAs and meet backup windows a constant challenge. Data center consolidation through
virtualization has created additional challenges for data protection. Disk-to-disk data protection solutions
have become more widely accepted for both backup and recovery and disaster recovery.
NetApp data protection solutions offer speed and flexibility while reducing storage capacity requirements
through the use of efficient array-based technologies. The result is a simplified approach that reduces
costs and administrative effort.
NetApp Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp management software offers enterprise-class management for
backup and recovery in the data center. The Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software manages
Snapshot copies on NetApp primary storage and data replication to secondary and tertiary storage as
well as tape creation. Regardless of whether you are protecting application data, file data in network-
attached storage (NAS), file data in LUNs, or data in virtualized environments, the Commvault IntelliSnap
for NetApp solution provides the management, the storage provisioning, the cataloging, and the granular
recoverability that are required for seamless operation. Figure 1 shows the basic flow of the Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp solution.
Figure 1) Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software overview.
1.1 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Solution Components

The Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp solution has the following high-level components:
• Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp server. Functions as a single interface for unified management
(Figure 2 shows the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp unified management console).
• NetApp OnCommand® Unified Manager. Enables automated storage provisioning.
• FAS storage system (NetApp controllers). Provides Snapshot backups and integration with Data
ONTAP® data protection technologies.
• Third-party storage or direct-attached storage (DAS). Can be backed up to NetApp storage
through Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for open systems (open system data protection [OSDP]).
• iData agents (iDAs). Provide client communication and application consistency.
Figure 2) Unified management for Data ONTAP 7-Mode, clustered Data ONTAP, and OSDP.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software can be used to protect the following applications hosted on
NetApp primary storage by using their respective iDAs:
• Microsoft Exchange Server (including DAG configuration)
• Microsoft SQL Server (including availability group deployments)
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
• Oracle Database (RAC configurations)
• DB2
• SAP for Oracle
• Lotus Domino
In addition, the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp solution supports the following virtualization products:
• VMware vSphere
• Microsoft Hyper-V
For a complete list of supported platforms and product versions, refer to the NetApp Interoperability Matrix
Tool.
1.2 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Basic Terminology
The following specific components work together to create a full Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp
solution:
• Backup set. A layer of management within iDAs for grouping subclients.
• Clients. Hosts that run iDAs for which data is protected.
• CommCell. A single instance of a Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp environment.
• CommCell console. The Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp management interface.
• CommServe. The master server in a Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp environment. This server
uses a SQL Server database; therefore, it must be a Windows system (Windows Server 2003 or
2008).
• Disk library. A storage resource with an associated mount path that is used to store backups of
index information in the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp solution. These backups are also targets
for backups to cloud storage (NetApp AltaVault® appliance [formerly known as SteelStore]) and act as
backup targets for streaming backups.
• iDAs. The agents that control data consistency during backup operations.
• MediaAgent. A media server in a Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp environment. MediaAgents have
broad operating system support, including Windows, Linux, and UNIX options.
• NetApp management console (NMC). The NMC is an interface used for creating resource pools
and provisioning policies within the OnCommand framework. The NMC should be installed on a
separate system from the OnCommand Unified Manager server.
• NetApp primary storage. The production NetApp storage array.
• NetApp secondary storage. The secondary NetApp storage array used as a destination for
replication.
• NetApp tertiary storage. A third NetApp storage array used for replicating previously replicated data.
• OnCommand Unified Manager server. A server running OnCommand Unified Manager software.
The OnCommand server and the CommServe server are typically separate systems. The
OnCommand server is mandatory for replication (auxiliary copy) and adds additional capabilities to
the system, such as monitoring, alerting, and reporting.
• SnapMirror. A NetApp replication technology used for disaster recovery. In the Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp solution, a mirror copy uses SnapMirror.
• Snapshot copy. A NetApp array-based, point-in-time copy used for recovering data.
• SnapVault. A NetApp replication technology used for backup and recovery. In the Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp solution, a vault copy uses SnapVault.
• Storage policy. A logical object through which a subclient is protected. The storage policy defines
how data is backed up and replicated; it also defines retention requirements.
• Subclient. A layer of management within a backup set. A client can have multiple subclients, each of
which can be associated with different source data.
2 Clustered Data ONTAP Overview
2.1 Clustered Data ONTAP Basic Terminology

The following clustered Data ONTAP concepts are relevant for the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp
solution:
• Cluster. One or more storage nodes that are interconnected and managed as a single system.
• Clustered Data ONTAP. The Data ONTAP operating mode that supports the interconnection of
nodes into a cluster.
• Cluster interconnect. A dedicated high-speed, low-latency, private network used for communication
and replication between nodes in the same cluster.
• Data network. The network used by clients to access data.
• HA interconnect. The dedicated interconnect between two nodes in one high-availability (HA) pair.
• HA pair. Two nodes configured in a pair for high availability.
• Intercluster LIF. A LIF used only for intercluster replication, assigned to only one node.
• Intercluster network. The network used for communication and replication between different
clusters.
• Interface group. A collection of combined physical ports to create one logical port that is used for link
aggregation; an integration group.
• Logical interface (LIF). A logical interface that is assigned an IP address that provides an Ethernet
access point to a particular node in the cluster.
• Management network. The network used for administration of the cluster, storage virtual machines
(SVMs; formerly called Vservers), and nodes.
• Node. A single NetApp controller or one of the controllers in an HA pair.
• Port. A physical port, such as e0e or e0f, or a logical port, such as a virtual LAN (VLAN) or an
interface group.
• SVM. A logical storage server that provides data access to LUNs, a NAS namespace, or both from
one or more LIFs.
Figure 3 shows how the cluster, HA pairs, nodes, and SVMs are related in the clustered Data ONTAP
architecture.
Figure 3) Distinction between node, HA pair, cluster, and SVM.
2.2 Clustered Data ONTAP Replication Prerequisites

To provide cross-site disaster recovery (DR) capabilities to data centers, clustered Data ONTAP 8.1 and
later allows replication between different clusters or different SVMs. Replication involves the following
clustered Data ONTAP concepts:
• Cluster peering. The act of connecting two clusters to allow replication to occur between them.
• Intercluster LIFs. Logical network interfaces used for intercluster communication.
• Intercluster ports. Ports dedicated to intercluster replication.
• SVM peering. SVM associations defined in OnCommand Unified Manager.
For replication between clusters, clusters must be joined in a peer relationship before replication between
them is possible. Cluster peering is required for replication because it defines the network on which
replication between different clusters can occur. Cluster peering is a one-time operation that must be
performed by the cluster administrator. To configure replication between different clusters, the cluster
administrator must complete the following steps:
1. Understand the prerequisites for cluster peering.
2. Determine whether to share ports for data access and intercluster replication.
3. Designate ports for intercluster replication, if using dedicated ports.
4. Create intercluster LIFs on each node in the clusters.
5. Peer the clusters together.
For replication between SVMs, SVMs must be joined in a peer relationship before replication between
them is possible. SVM peering became a prerequisite for replication between SVMs starting with
clustered Data ONTAP 8.2. In clustered Data ONTAP 8.1, any SVM could replicate data to any other
SVM in the same cluster or in a peer cluster. Control of replication security could be maintained only at
the clusterwide level. Clustered Data ONTAP 8.2 offers more granularity in replication security because
replication permissions must be defined by peering the SVMs together.
Before any replication relationships can be created between a pair of SVMs, the SVMs must be in an
SVM peering relationship. The SVMs can be local (intracluster) or remote (intercluster). SVM peering is a
permission-based mechanism and one-time operation that must be performed by the cluster
administrator. To configure replication between different SVMs, the cluster administrator must complete
the following steps:
1. Understand the prerequisites for SVM peering.
2. Peer the SVMs together.
3. Create NetApp SnapMirror and SnapVault relationships between different SVMs.
Note: Before you can run replication workflows within Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp, you must
configure cluster peering and SVM peering through the OnCommand Unified Manager interface.
Best Practice
The best practice for naming SVMs is to name each SVM with a unique fully qualified domain name
(FQDN). For example, you can name an SVM as dataNasSVM.HQ or as
mirrorDisasRecovSVM.Offsite. SVM peering requires unique SVM names; using the FQDN
naming convention makes the task of making sure of name uniqueness much easier.
3 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Technical Overview

This section covers the technical details of the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software and how the
components work together.
3.1 Basic Functions

The Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp solution delivers several basic functionalities to create a simplified
user experience:
• Snapshot copy creation
• Cataloging and indexing
• Storage provisioning through OnCommand Unified Manager
• Data replication through SnapVault, SnapMirror, or both
• Data movement to tape
• Data movement to the cloud
Snapshot Copy Creation
The Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software creates Snapshot copies on the NetApp primary storage
as the first backup copy. Snapshot technology allows backups to complete very quickly. Primary
Snapshot copy creation is handled differently for different types of data.
For NAS data, the NetApp primary storage system is treated as a client. The system is associated with an
iData agent (iDA), called NetApp NAS NDMP. Subclients within this iDA are configured and associated
with the NetApp data that requires protection. When a backup for the subclient runs, Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp creates Snapshot copies for the volumes in that subclient. Figure 4 illustrates this
process for a NetApp primary storage system and its iDA.
Figure 4) NetApp NAS NDMP iDA.
For LUN data hosted on NetApp primary storage, the host accessing the data is treated as the client. The
attached drive on the client is associated with a subclient within either the file system iDA or the
associated application iDA. On Windows clients, to make sure that the data within the file system is
consistent, the file system iDA calls Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). With application-
integrated Snapshot copies, to enforce backup consistency, the application iDA calls VSS (on a Windows
client) or places the database in hot-backup mode (on a UNIX or Linux client). Commvault IntelliSnap for
NetApp then creates the Snapshot copy for the volume containing the LUN on the NetApp primary
system. Figure 5 illustrates this process for a Windows client and its file system iDA.
Figure 5) Windows file system iDA.
Cataloging and Indexing

Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software catalogs (that is, indexes) the data that it backs up. This
functionality is a core value of the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp backup solution. Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp uses different strategies to index data:
• For basic NAS data, Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp directly indexes the contents of the Snapshot
copies that it creates.
• For LUN data, Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp indexes the contents of the LUN with the help of
LUN clones and of the file system iDA for the client’s operating system (Linux or Windows).
• Application-specific indexing for Exchange Server, SQL Server, Oracle Database, VMware vSphere,
and the other applications supported by Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp is handled by the iDAs for
each application.
During the index-creation operation, Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp uses a temporary working area,
called index cache, to keep metadata. The index cache directory is the location where a single index-
creation job places its working files while the job is running. These files are not deleted immediately when
the job completes, but they may be aged out to free up more working space if needed. By default,
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp creates the index cache under the software installation directory of the
MediaAgent during installation.
When a backup job runs, the index data is written to two places:
• During the course of the job, it is written to the index cache on the data mover MediaAgent.
• During the archive index phase, it is written to the disk library that is part of the storage policy.
Best Practice
When configuring a location for the index cache, observe the following recommendations:
• For best backup performance and reliability, place the index cache on a local disk of the
MediaAgent computer.
Note: Changing the index cache directory is not allowed in Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp 10
SP9 and later versions.
• For optimal performance, use solid-state drive technology for the local index cache disk. This is
particularly important when you:
 Run NDMP backups by using the NAS iDA
 Back up large file servers
 Have any situation in which performance is critical
The indexing process can also be deferred until after the backup has been successfully transferred to the
secondary storage. This option allows you to decouple backup and indexing schedules and have further
control over processing cycle utilization. If the need arises for you to run a restore before indexing is
performed, you can use the live browse feature to browse Snapshot backups instantly and list files and
folders for the restore operation. The live browse feature is helpful in scenarios that involve tight backup
windows on production controllers or a lot of files; it can also be used when you want to complete the
backup job as quickly as possible. In these cases, you specify in the backup policy the primary or
secondary copy (vault or mirror Snapshot copy) on which Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp should run
the indexing operation. Regardless of when and where you choose to index the backups, after the
indexing operation completes, you have a full backup catalog that is browsable and searchable.
Note: The live browse feature is available for the NAS and VMware iDAs.
Indexes are stored in disk libraries. NetApp recommends creating disk libraries with paths that point to
NetApp primary storage.
Note: For NAS data, iDA full indexing is performed only once for a subclient. Subsequent full indexes
are the copy of the last full index plus the delta (incremental indexing).
Storage Provisioning
Storage provisioning is required whenever Snapshot copies on NetApp primary storage must be
replicated to NetApp secondary storage and tertiary storage. Before replication can be established, the
secondary system must have the appropriate volumes in place along with the correct volume settings.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software takes care of these tasks by using the provisioning services
of OnCommand Unified Manager.
OnCommand Unified Manager uses policy-based rules that define how storage should be provisioned
under different circumstances. The location of the provisioned storage is also flexible because
OnCommand uses pools of storage called resource pools: OnCommand containers that point to one or
more aggregates within a NetApp storage system. The storage administrator needs only to provide
resource pools to the backup administrator. The backup administrator then directs the Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp software to use these resource pools and provisioning policies for replication
purposes. The appropriate storage is provisioned automatically.
Figure 6 shows how OnCommand Unified Manager handles provisioning and replication. When a new
replication relationship is configured in Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp management software, this
information is passed on to OnCommand, which creates the datasets that are required to manage the
replication requirements.
OnCommand then provisions the necessary volumes, using the resource pools and provisioning policies
that were assigned in the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp configuration.
Figure 6) OnCommand handling of storage provisioning and replication.
Before the automatic storage provisioning process can be initiated, you must create resource pools
manually by using the OnCommand Unified Manager interface. The Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp
software then discovers the resource pools and makes them available in the CommServe console for
selection. You do not need to create provisioning policies manually unless custom policies are required.
OnCommand Unified Manager 5.x has three preconfigured provisioning policies that can be used with
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp. These policies are described in Table 1.
Table 1) Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp provisioning policies preconfigured in OnCommand Unified
Manager 5.x.
Policy Name Availability Deduplication Space Thresholds

Commvault IntelliSnap for RAID DP® No No
NetApp_RAID-DP
Policy Name Availability Deduplication Space Thresholds
Commvault IntelliSnap for RAID DP On demand 80%, 90%
NetApp_Dedupe
Commvault IntelliSnap for RAID DP No 80%, 90%

NetApp_Mirror_Destination
The policies in Table 1 have the following characteristics:

• Because NetApp recommends the use of NetApp RAID DP technology for resiliency, all of the
preconfigured provisioning policies enable RAID DP.
• Deduplication can be enabled or disabled for vault copies independently of the deduplication setting
on the primary data volume. Deduplication for vault copies uses the on-demand setting and runs
automatically as vault copy jobs complete. To enable deduplication for vault secondary storage, you
can use the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp_Dedupe provisioning policy. For vaulting
that does not require deduplication on secondary storage, use the Commvault IntelliSnap for
NetApp_RAID-DP policy.
• Mirror copies inherit the deduplication settings of the primary data volume. Therefore, deduplication is
disabled in the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp_Mirror_Destination provisioning
policy. If the primary volume has deduplication enabled, the mirror copy volume is also a deduplicated
volume.
• Space thresholds represent the nearly full threshold and full threshold properties that are used when
provisioning storage.
If additional settings apart from the ones in the preconfigured policies are required, OnCommand Unified
Manager 5.x supports custom provisioning policies created by using the NMC. The Commvault IntelliSnap
for NetApp software automatically discovers custom provisioning policies, but their names must begin
with the prefix Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp _ for Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp to be
able to discover them.
OnCommand Unified Manager 5.x is used to provision storage for Data ONTAP 7-Mode environments.
OnCommand Unified Manager 6.0 offers comparable functionality for clustered Data ONTAP
environments. Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp requires an OnCommand 5.x server for Data ONTAP 7-
Mode and Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for open systems (OSDP) data and an OnCommand 6.0
server for clustered Data ONTAP data.
Like OnCommand Unified Manager 5.x, OnCommand Unified Manager 6.0 has default storage
provisioning policies that can be used with Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp. Figure 7 shows the four
default provisioning policies in the OnCommand Unified Manager 6.0 GUI. Table 2 describes these
policies.
Figure 7) Default storage provisioning policies in OnCommand 6.0 GUI.
Table 2) Default storage provisioning policies in OnCommand Unified Manager 6.0.
Policy Name Availability Description

SnapMirror Destination RAID DP Policy on the secondary volume
used for mirror replication
SnapVault Destination RAID DP Policy on the secondary volume

used for vault replication
SnapVault Destination with RAID DP Policy with deduplication enabled

Deduplication on the secondary volume used for
vault replication
SnapVault Destination with RAID DP Policy with deduplication and

Deduplication and Compression compression enabled on the
secondary volume used for vault
replication
SnapMirror Destination RAID DP Policy on the secondary volume

used for mirror replication
Note: Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp does not support the creation of custom storage provisioning
policies for clustered Data ONTAP.
Note: Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp can enable Data ONTAP storage efficiencies such as
deduplication and compression while provisioning volumes for secondary storage (replication
targets) through the provisioning policies in Table 2. However, you cannot use the Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp GUI to enable storage efficiency settings on primary volumes (source
data). On primary volumes, you must enable the settings manually on the controller by using the
native Data ONTAP commands.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Subclient Mapping to OnCommand Datasets
When a new replication job is created in Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp, that task is given to
OnCommand Unified Manager for implementation. OnCommand creates the required datasets,
provisions the required volumes, and initiates the baseline data transfers. This subsection explains in
more detail how source data gets from a subclient to a dataset and then to a destination volume during
replication. This process differs depending on the replication type and on the data type.
In all cases, a Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp subclient has a one-to-one mapping to an OnCommand
Unified Manager dataset. In addition, a Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp subclient cannot span clients.
NAS Data
If a single NetApp primary system is configured as a NAS client, all of the NAS volumes on that primary
system can be grouped together in a single subclient. The result is a single dataset in OnCommand
Unified Manager. If the storage policy in the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software calls for this
subclient to be mirrored, then the dataset creates mirror relationships for each of the volumes in the
subclient.
For example, in Figure 8, three NAS volumes are grouped into a single subclient. Creating a mirror copy
results in a single dataset in the OnCommand server, and three mirror relationships are established, one
for each of the volumes.
Figure 8) NAS volume mirroring.
Vaulting NAS data is slightly different because a vault can be more granular in scope. In Data ONTAP 7-
Mode, either an entire volume or individual qtrees in a primary volume can be selected for vaulting
purposes.
In Figure 9, single qtrees from three volumes are grouped into a single subclient. Creating a vault copy
results in a single dataset in the OnCommand Unified Manager server, and three vault relationships are
established, one for each of the qtrees. In this example, OnCommand is configured to allow a fan-in of
the vaulted relationships.
Note: To enable fan-in on the OnCommand server, you must set the dpMaxFanInRatio parameter on
the server. For example, to set the fan-in ratio to 10, run dfm options set
dpMaxFanInRatio=10 on the OnCommand server.
Figure 9) Fan-in topology for vaulting NAS qtrees in Data ONTAP 7-Mode.
If, in contrast, the entire three volumes are vaulted, six vault relationships are established because
SnapVault creates a relationship for each volume’s nonqtree data and a relationship for each of the
volume’s qtrees. In Figure 10, the three volumes are grouped into a single subclient and vaulted with fan-
in enabled.
Figure 10) Fan-in topology for vaulting NAS volumes and qtrees in Data ONTAP 7-Mode.
In the fan-in scenarios in Figure 9 and Figure 10, multiple SnapVault primary volumes are backed up to
one SnapVault secondary volume. The primary use case for this topology is multiple remote sites that
back up to one central data center. In Data ONTAP 7-Mode, fan-in means that multiple qtrees can be
backed up to the same secondary volume; that is, SnapVault replicates at the qtree level. This topology is
referred to as volume-level fan-in.
In clustered Data ONTAP, by contrast, you cannot back up multiple volumes to a single secondary
volume because relationships are configured at the volume level. However, you can back up SnapVault
primary volumes from multiple storage virtual machines (SVMs), clusters, or both to separate volumes in
a single destination SVM, which can be in a different cluster from the source SVM. This topology is
referred to as system-level fan-in.
LUN Data
When working with LUN data, you must follow specific guidelines independently of whether you use an
application iDA or the file system iDA. Because Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp subclients does not
span clients, you must lay out primary data with the subclient in mind.
NetApp recommends that all LUNs in the primary volume be protected by a single subclient. For this
setup to work, the following conditions must be true:
• All LUN data on the volume must belong to the same client.
• All LUN data on the volume can be protected by the same iDA.
Volumes with LUN data split across multiple subclients result in increased capacity requirements for
replication operations. Consider an example in which three clients (F:\) each map to LUNs in a common
volume. Three subclients are used to protect these LUNs. If these subclients were mirrored, the result
would be three datasets and three baseline copies of the common volume, as shown in Figure 11.
Vaulting would result in the same wasted capacity and duplicated data unless each LUN were located in
its own qtree.
Figure 11) Poor storage layout of multiple clients with LUN data on a common volume.
In Figure 12, the LUNs are provisioned on separate volumes. Notice how the replication operation results
in an improved storage layout.
Figure 12) Better storage layout of multiple clients with LUN data on separate volumes.
In Figure 13, the LUNs on the common volume are mapped to a single client and grouped in a single
subclient rather than spread out in three separate subclients. The results of mirroring this subclient are a
single dataset and a single baseline copy for the common volume. This configuration is ideal for
maximizing the available storage capacity.
Figure 13) Efficient storage layout of a single client with LUN data on a common volume.
Storage Layout Design Considerations

SVM mapping is both LUN agnostic and NAS agnostic. When you create storage pools in OnCommand
Unified Manager, consider the following points as they relate to SVM associations:
• There are two ways of associating SVMs: You can create an association between any source SVM
and any destination SVM or between a specified source SVM and a specified destination SVM. After
an SVM association is created, it cannot be modified. You must delete it and create a new one.
• By default, SVM associations are not bidirectional. For example, if you created the svmProdLocA >
svmProdLocB association and now you want to replicate data from svmProdLocB to svmProdLocA,
then you must create a new svmProdLocB > svmProdLocA association in OnCommand Unified
Manager and define the appropriate SnapVault or SnapMirror relationship for the new SVM
association.
• To replicate data between SVMs belonging to different clusters (intercluster replication), use
OnCommand System Manager or the Data ONTAP CLI to enable cluster peering between the
clusters that contain the SVMs before you create the SVM associations.
• You can create an SVM association with only one destination SVM per cluster. For example, suppose
a four-node cluster has three SVMs: svm1, svm2, and svm3. If you already created the associations
svm1 > svm2 (SnapMirror) and svm1 > svm3 (SnapVault), OnCommand 6.x does not allow svm1
to be associated with any other SVM within that cluster. However, you can still associate svm1 to any
SVM that belongs to a different cluster as long as you observe the restriction of having only one
destination SVM in that cluster as well.
Data Replication Using SnapVault and/or SnapMirror

Two types of replication operations can be configured using the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp
solution: vault copies and mirror copies. This section explains the difference between the two types of
replication.
A vault copy uses NetApp SnapVault software, and a mirror copy uses NetApp asynchronous volume
SnapMirror software. SnapVault and SnapMirror replicate data in a similar way in that they both replicate
only the blocks that have changed since the last replication operation; a full copy of the data is created
only once. From that point on, SnapVault and SnapMirror make block-based incremental backups. This
approach to disk-to-disk data protection increases speed, network efficiency, and storage capacity
savings.
A vault copy has a certain independence from the primary data, allowing the retention levels of the
primary copy and of the secondary copy to be different. For example, a vault copy can have longer term
retention than the primary copy.
A mirror copy depends more firmly on the primary data and is an exact mirror of the source volume and
its Snapshot copies. A mirror copy cannot have an independent level of retention. Mirror copies are
traditionally used in disaster recovery (DR) solutions because they allow failover to the secondary copy.
Another use case for mirror copies is for duplication of a vault copy to a remote location.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp allows several combinations of vaulting and mirroring to satisfy many
disk-to-disk-to-tape requirements. Clustered Data ONTAP 8.2.x supports cascading SnapMirror and
SnapVault relationships. A SnapMirror secondary copy can be the source of a SnapVault relationship
(backing up a DR mirror), or a SnapVault secondary copy can be the source of a SnapMirror relationship
(protecting a backup). In a SnapMirror to SnapVault relationship, you cannot specify which Snapshot
copies are transferred to the SnapVault secondary copy. SnapVault always transfers the Snapshot copy
exported by SnapMirror or the base copy of the SnapMirror relationship. This behavior is similar to the
SnapMirror base Snapshot only option in Data ONTAP 7-Mode.
SnapVault for Clustered Data ONTAP

SnapVault was rebuilt from the ground up for its debut in clustered Data ONTAP 8.2. Although users will
find similarities between the newer version and the 7-Mode version, major enhancements have been
made to the clustered Data ONTAP version of SnapVault.
An important architectural change is that SnapVault in clustered Data ONTAP replicates at the volume
level, not at the qtree level, as does SnapVault in Data ONTAP 7-Mode. In clustered Data ONTAP, the
source of a SnapVault relationship must be a volume, and the volume must replicate to its own volume on
the SnapVault secondary copy.
Note: Both the primary and secondary storage systems must be running clustered Data ONTAP 8.2 or
later.
SnapVault users can now take advantage of nondisruptive operations, the cornerstone of clustered Data
ONTAP. SnapVault administrators can seamlessly rebalance SnapVault primaries and secondaries
according to performance or capacity needs, because SnapVault primary and secondary volumes can be
moved to different aggregates or nodes within a cluster without disrupting SnapVault operations. If a
SnapVault transfer is in progress when a volume is moved by using volume move, the transfer may
pause for a few minutes during the volume cutover phase, but it then resumes from the most recent
transfer checkpoint after the volume move operation completes. Administrators never have to reconfigure
a SnapVault relationship just because a volume was moved to another node by using the volume move
operation.
One major advance in the clustered Data ONTAP version of SnapVault is the ability to preserve the
storage efficiencies of the primary volume throughout a SnapVault transfer. If deduplication and
compression are enabled on the primary volume, these efficiencies are preserved during SnapVault
transfers, resulting in less data being transmitted over the network and leading to shorter backup windows
and bandwidth savings. The data is already deduplicated and compressed on the secondary volume after
the SnapVault transfer completes, and there is no need to run the deduplication and compression
processes on the secondary volume.
For the SnapVault transfer to be successful, it requires at least the same amount of available free space
on the secondary volume that would be needed to copy the data from the primary volume in a
nondeduplicated and noncompressed format. During the SnapVault transfer, it appears that the expanded
size of the primary data has been consumed on the secondary volume. However, as soon as the transfer
completes, the storage-efficient dataset size is reflected in the amount of space consumed.
It is possible for deduplication and compression to run on the secondary volume after the SnapVault
transfer has completed independently of the storage efficiencies that are configured on the primary
volume. However, enabling the compression process to run on the SnapVault secondary volume causes
the storage efficiencies present on the primary volume not to be preserved on the SnapVault secondary
volume.
SnapMirror for Clustered Data ONTAP

Data replication can be performed within the same cluster or remotely to another cluster. Data ONTAP
provides integrated data replication technologies for creating replica copies that can be used for the
following purposes:
• Performing disaster recovery
• Offloading tape backup processes from the primary storage
• Distributing datasets to other locations
• Creating read/write clones for test and development environments
SnapMirror is integrated with NetApp Snapshot technology, which provides a method for quickly and
efficiently creating on-disk replicas or point-in-time copies of data. SnapMirror replication is efficient
because it replicates only the 4KB blocks that have changed or that have been added after the previous
update. Additional efficiency is gained when SnapMirror is combined with other NetApp storage efficiency
technologies. When FAS deduplication is used on the primary storage, only unique data is replicated to
the DR site. If compression is enabled on the source, then compression is maintained on the destination.
Data is not uncompressed when it is replicated. Storage efficiency technologies can result in
telecommunication savings and significant storage capacity savings.
SnapMirror is an integral part of DR plans. If critical data is replicated to a different physical location, a
serious disaster does not result in extended periods of unavailable data. Clients can access replicated
data across the network until the damage caused by the disaster is repaired. Application servers at the
recovery site can access replicated data and restore operations for business-critical applications for as
long as necessary to recover the production site. Recovery operations might include recovery from data
corruption, natural disaster at the production site, accidental deletion, and so on.
Note: Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp offers a single interface for managing and scheduling
SnapVault and SnapMirror relationships outside of Data ONTAP. Automatic provisioning of
secondary storage or tertiary storage is managed by OnCommand Unified Manager in the back
end.
Replication Options
Mirroring and vaulting strategies for replicating data can be architected in various ways. You can use
mirroring and vaulting separately, or you can use them together and configure them through storage
policies. A storage policy creates two data copies by default: a primary classic copy and a primary snap
copy. The primary classic copy is used for tape copies. The primary snap copy relates to the Snapshot
copy on the primary system. To vault or mirror that primary data, you must create additional copies in the
storage policy:
• To create a mirror of the primary data, create a mirror copy that points to the primary snap copy as its
source.
• To create a vault of the primary data, create a vault copy that also points to the primary snap copy as
its source.
To vault the mirror copy, the source for the vault is set to the mirror copy. Figure 14 shows some of the
replication combinations that can be configured.
Figure 14) Flexibility of replication combinations.
In a fan-out topology, a single primary volume is replicated to multiple destinations. This topology allows a
single primary volume to be protected and backed up and provides a read-only copy at a secondary site.
Clustered Data ONTAP supports the fan-out topology with a limit of four replication destinations for a
single source. The limit of four destinations is shared between SnapMirror and SnapVault relationships:
You can have any combination of SnapMirror and SnapVault relationships for a single source as long as
the total number of relationships is not greater than four.
Note: Clustered Data ONTAP 8.2.1 supports higher fan-out ratios up to eight relationships.
Note: Cascading Snapshot > SnapVault > SnapMirror is not supported in Commvault IntelliSnap for
NetApp.
Selective Copy
A selective copy allows you to use SnapVault to copy data from a specific source copy. The source copy
can be either a primary copy or a synchronous copy. Selective copying gives you the freedom to create
frequent Snapshot copies on the primary storage but only vault selective ones to a secondary location for
backup purposes (for example, you could vault one Snapshot copy per day). This feature helps control
secondary storage usage.
Selective copying is applicable only to full backups. You can define a selective copy to be:
• Time-based. For example, only the first or last full backup that occurs within the selected week,
month, quarter, half-year, or year is copied. Note that, for these selection criteria, SnapVault
considers the start time of the backup job.
• Automatically selected. For example, if the copy is defined with the setting All Fulls, all full backups
from the primary copy are copied during an auxiliary copy operation.
• Automatically not selected on the primary copy. In this case, you can manually select the jobs
that you want to be copied.
Data Movement to Tape

The Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp solution supports several methods of replicating backup copies to
tape, such as NDMP dump, SMTape, and tape streaming through MediaAgents.
Dump is a Snapshot copy–based backup and recovery solution that backs up files and directories to tape
and restores them to a storage system. SMTape is a Snapshot copy–based backup and recovery solution
that backs up the required metadata and the data blocks of a FlexVol® volume to tape and restores them
to a storage system. You can enable tape backups in the storage policy properties; under the Snapshot
tab, select Enable Backup Copy.
Note: Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp never backs up data directly to tape or to cloud storage. For
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp to do that, you must create a primary snap copy and then
stream it—immediately delete it after the move of snap to media operation is completed, defer the
operation to anytime, and source it from any additional snap copies. To stream data directly to
tape or any other disk target, enable the Commvault capacity-based licensing model and manage
everything from the same GUI
Tape backups can use the primary classic copy in the storage policy. Alternatively, you can create a new
primary backup copy for the storage policy. Tape backups can be configured so that any of the Snapshot
copy locations can be used as the source for the tape copy. You can select the source for the backup
copy in the storage policy properties; under the Snapshot tab, modify Source Snap Copy.
The NetApp NAS NDMP iDA is the only agent that allows NDMP dump and SMTape backups. Tape
copies from other iDAs stream through a MediaAgent in a more traditional backup fashion. Backups can
be streamed to tape libraries that are connected to either the MediaAgent or the FAS controller.
Clustered Data ONTAP 8.2 has limited SMTape functionality for allowing SnapMirror and SnapVault
relationships to be seeded by copying the initial baseline to tape and restoring it to the secondary storage.
Seeding relationships is the only supported use of SMTape in clustered Data ONTAP 8.2. Clustered Data
ONTAP 8.3 has introduced support for NDMP-based SMTape and SMTape block-level incremental
backups. Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp 10 SP9 and later leverages these new features.
The method to use for replicating full or incremental copies to tape depends on how the Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp backup was initiated. To run incremental tape jobs, you must create incremental
schedules for the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp backup. You can select the tape backup jobs to
move to tape in the storage policy properties; under the Snapshot tab, modify Selection Rule.
Clustered Data ONTAP 8.2 and later supports SVM-aware NDMP backups. This backup mode optimizes
NDMP backup performance by choosing efficient data transfer paths and being fully compatible with the
integrated nondisruptive operations and volume mobility capabilities of clustered Data ONTAP. The
cluster-aware backup (CAB) extensions that are required to support this feature are available with the
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp 10 SP8 release and later versions.
The clustered Data ONTAP CAB extensions define a mechanism and protocol within Data ONTAP for
establishing efficient data connections for the backup and recovery operations of a storage cluster. The
CAB extensions present details of the storage cluster’s resource locations as a means to accomplish the
following goals:
• Identify backup resources within the storage cluster:
 The required backup resources may be located anywhere in the storage cluster.
 The required backup resources may have been moved since a previous backup.
• Enable a local backup instead of a three-way backup when possible.
• Prevent data flow across the intracluster network.
Choosing an Appropriate Tape Backup Method

Depending on the requirements that you have for your tape backup, either the dump or the SMTape
backup engine can offer you the most benefits:
• Use dump backup and restore if you want the following features:
 Individual file and directory backup and recovery
 Preservation of backups for several years
 Exclusion of specific files and directories during a backup
• Use SMTape backup and restore if you want the following features:
 A DR solution that provides high performance
 SnapMirror tape seeding
 Preservation of deduplication and compression settings after backup and restore operations
 Backup and restore of volumes that have millions of files to achieve desired backup windows
 Full-volume recovery only
For more information about NDMP configuration, refer to the following documents:
• Clustered Data ONTAP 8.2 Data Protection Tape Backup and Recovery Guide
• TR-4330: Cluster-Aware Backup Configuration for Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp and Simpana
Data Movement to Cloud Using AltaVault

NetApp AltaVault cloud storage appliances can dramatically improve the capabilities of an existing
backup infrastructure by leveraging cost-effective cloud-based storage and eliminating tape infrastructure.
The AltaVault appliances can reduce the capital and operational costs of managing DR datasets by 30%
to 50% and improve RTO/RPO reliability and efficiency.
The AltaVault appliance is a disk-to-disk data storage optimization system with unique cloud storage
integration. It easily integrates with Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp to securely protect critical
production data off site without the complexity of using tape management solutions or the cost of using in-
house DR sites and services. When you add an AltaVault appliance as a target for your backup
infrastructure, the backup server connects to the AltaVault appliance by using the CIFS or the NFS
protocol.
For a backup to an AltaVault appliance, the appliance performs in-line byte-level deduplication of the
backup data and replicates the data to the cloud. AltaVault appliances use the local disk to store enough
data for recovery of recent information. This mechanism provides LAN performance for the most likely
restores. The AltaVault appliance then writes the backup data to the cloud storage. AltaVault supports the
following cloud storage platforms and services:
• Amazon S3 and Glacier
• AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service
• HP Cloud Services
• Google Cloud
• Microsoft Azure cloud storage
• Nirvanix Cloud Storage Network
• Rackspace Cloud Files
• General instances of EMC Atmos
• OpenStack (Swift) Object Storage
AltaVault appliances optimize restores from the cloud because they move only deduplicated data over the
WAN. AltaVault is configured as a disk library in Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp. Figure 15 and Figure
16 show the options to select in the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp (CommCell) GUI for adding
AltaVault as a disk library.
Figure 15) GUI path for adding AltaVault to Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp as a disk library.
Figure 16) AltaVault specified as a disk library in the Add Disk Library dialog box.
Figure 17 shows the Snapshot management options to configure for AltaVault backups. Select the Enable
the Backup Copy option for your storage policy and specify the source copy to back up to the AltaVault
appliance.
Figure 17) Snapshot management options for AltaVault.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp can back up data in NetApp storage directly to AltaVault in a remote
topology through the two native Data ONTAP NDMP engines, dump and SMTape. In a remote backup
configuration, the disk library (AltaVault) is configured on the MediaAgent, and the backup is configured
using the NAS iData agent (iDA) on the CommServe server.
For application-aware backups to the AltaVault device, Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp uses the iDAs
for the application in question. These backups are considered streaming backups.
3.2 Understanding the Backup Workflow

Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp can manage backups for clustered Data ONTAP, Data ONTAP 7-
Mode, and heterogeneous arrays from a single interface. Heterogeneous backups are backups from
third-party storage to NetApp storage, and they are created by using Commvault IntelliSnap for open
systems (OSDP).
To understand how the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software works, it is important to understand
each of these backup workflows, starting from the source data and working outward.
Note: The backup workflows are the same for clustered Data ONTAP and Data ONTAP 7-Mode.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Operations for Clustered Data ONTAP and
Data ONTAP 7-Mode
Clients own source data and have specific iDAs, depending on the type of client and on the data being
protected. Backup sets and subclients are configured within the iDA, and they group the source data to
be protected. For example, if the volume /vol/datavol is protected on a client NetApp array, a
subclient contains an entry for /vol/datavol.
The storage policy determines the behavior of the data protection operations and the retention properties.
Each subclient is associated with a storage policy, which contains entries for the various copies in the
data protection layout. In the example in Figure 18, the client data is protected by NetApp Snapshot
copies. Vaulting is performed for longer term retention. The vaulted data is mirrored for redundancy, and
tape copies are created from the mirror copy. The Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software
orchestrates the operations, passing the vaulting and mirroring job control to the OnCommand Unified
Manager server.
Figure 18) Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp example workflow: vault > mirror > tape.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for Clustered Data ONTAP

Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for clustered Data ONTAP allows you to create Snapshot copies and
perform SnapMirror and SnapVault replication from the same interface that you use to manage your 7-
Mode and OSDP workflows. For example, you can protect a clustered Data ONTAP volume by making its
Snapshot copy and replicating the volume to create a backup copy or a DR copy.
Clustered Data ONTAP supports many protocols (such as NDMP, and NAS and SAN protocols), allowing
users to protect volumes, NFS datastores and exports, and applications hosted on LUNs. Clustered Data
ONTAP 8.2 added support for the following functionalities:
• SnapVault and SnapMirror workflows for SVM intracluster and intercluster replication
• SVM-aware NDMP backups
• CAB extensions
Figure 19 shows the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp workflow for clustered Data ONTAP.
Figure 19) Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for clustered Data ONTAP backup workflow.
The Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp backup workflow in Figure 19 has the following stages:
1. Data is quiesced and protected through application-consistent Snapshot copies.
2. Snapshot copies and clones are used to access data for indexing. You can use the deferred indexing
 NAS-only option to run indexing on the secondary storage at a later time, after the backup job has
completed.
Note: To run NAS Snapshot copy indexing in Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp, you must have
clustered Data ONTAP 8.2 P3 or a later version. The NAS live browse feature is not available
in earlier versions of clustered Data ONTAP, so if you defer indexing on the secondary
storage, you are not able to browse or have a catalog of the primary NAS data.
3. OnCommand Unified Manager 6.x handles the provisioning of the secondary storage, using resource
pools and provisioning policies for replication.
4. Disk-to-disk replication: SVM-aware backups are created by using SnapVault or SnapMirror (support
for both intracluster replication and intercluster replication).
5. Disk-to-disk-to-tape replication: SVM-aware NDMP backups are moved to tape media (support for
CAB extensions).
6. Disk-to-disk-to-cloud replication by using AltaVault: Data is moved to the cloud.
In order for Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp to discover volumes on an SVM, you must add the cluster
management LIF of the cluster that contains the SVM to the CommCell console in the Array Management
dialog box.
Note: Make sure that every SVM has a configured LIF for management access.
After the cluster management LIF is added to the SVMs, Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp can
automatically detect SVMs, and you do not need to manually add the SVM management LIF.
Note: You must create resource pools and SVM associations from the Storage menu in the
OnCommand Unified Manager 6.0 interface. The other settings can be configured and managed
within the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp interface.
Scheduling and Retention

You can schedule backups by creating individual schedules or schedule policies. A schedule policy
groups various schedules together, each with its own properties. For example, a schedule policy might
contain individual schedules for daily, weekly, and monthly backups.
Traditional backup scheduling typically calls for weekly full backups and daily incremental backups. With
NetApp Snapshot copy technology, however, the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp model consists
almost entirely of full backups. An exception to this scenario is NAS data protection. The indexing
performance of NAS data backups increases significantly for incremental backups while maintaining
seamless searching for single- file recoveries across Snapshot copies. In addition, Data ONTAP 7-Mode
systems support the live browse feature for NAS data. Live browsing allows users to opt out of the
indexing process (for example, when indexing millions of files would be intensive or lengthy) and simply
browse the backups in real time, according to their needs.
Auxiliary copies can be scheduled on specific times, or they can be configured to run automatically.
Figure 20 shows a storage policy and its associated snap copies. In this example, a subclient is
scheduled to perform a full backup (a local Snapshot copy) each day at 6 p.m. Retention for these local
Snapshot copies is configured in the primary snap copy. The policy establishes a retention model of 10
daily backups and 6 weekly backups.
Mirroring takes place each day at 6:30 p.m. Retention for the mirror copy matches the retention of the
primary copy. Vaulting starts when mirroring finishes. Retention for the vault destination is configured in
the vault copy. The policy establishes a retention model of 90 daily backups and 52 weekly backups.
Figure 20) Example schedule and retention at specific times.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp has two types of retention rules: basic retention rules and extended
retention rules. Basic retention rules apply to daily or hourly backups. Extended retention rules apply to
longer term retention, such as weekly full backups, monthly full backups, and yearly full backups. These
rules are configured in the storage policy and can be set for the primary snap copy, vault copies, and tape
copies. Mirror copies do not allow specific retention settings because they inherit the retention settings of
the primary copy.
A backup cycle represents a full backup and the incremental backups that depend on that full backup. In
many cases, full backups are used for every backup cycle. However, for NAS data that contains millions
of objects, a strategy that includes incremental backups improves indexing performance. In addition, if
backup jobs require moving incremental copies to tape, the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp backups
on the primary storage must include incremental jobs. In a full-backup-only paradigm, each backup can
be considered a backup cycle.
When incremental backups are included in a cycle, all of the Snapshot copies in that cycle are retained
until the last incremental backup in the cycle has expired. Performing more frequent full backups reduces
the number of Snapshot copies associated with a cycle. Basic retention rules allow retention entries for
days and cycles. The default setting is 7 days and 2 cycles.
Extended rules can be applied for longer retention. These rules include options to keep all full backups:
weekly full backups, monthly full backups, quarterly full backups, half-year full backups, and yearly full
backups. Extended rules are not tied to a particular backup schedule. Rather, they are tied to full backups
that start on a particular day of the week or of the month. These days can be chosen as required.
To perform both hourly backups and daily backups, you must create separate backup sets and storage
policies. One backup set should include a subclient with the hourly schedule and associated with one
storage policy. The other backup set should include a subclient with the daily schedule and associated
with the other storage policy. When running hourly backups, you must change the data aging schedule to
run hourly instead of the default setting of once per day. The data aging operation is what expires
backups and deletes Snapshot copies.
Note: Many of the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp application iDAs do not allow separate backup
sets.
Enterprise Scheduling Policy Examples

The following examples describe how to keep 6 hourly backups, 30 daily backups, weekly backups for 3
months, and monthly backups for 1 year on the NetApp primary system. These examples assume that
only full backup jobs are being scheduled:
• Hourly backups with 6-hour retention. Create a daily schedule for the subclient that repeats every
hour, then set a basic retention rule in the primary snap copy of the associated storage policy to
retain 0 days and 6 cycles. By default, the data aging schedule runs once per day; therefore, to expire
backups based on hourly retention, the data aging schedule needs to run hourly.
• Daily backups with 30-day retention. Create a daily schedule for the subclient that repeats every
day, then set a basic retention rule in the primary snap copy of the associated storage policy to retain
30 days and 30 cycles.
• Retaining weekly backups for 3 months. Retain one daily backup every week and keep it for 90
days. This schedule requires an extended retention rule. Set an extended retention rule in the primary
snap copy of the associated storage policy to retain weekly full backups for 90 days and set the rule
to start on the appropriate day of the week. Every daily full backup created on this day of the week is
retained for 90 days.
• Retaining monthly backups for 1 year. Retain monthly backups by retaining one daily backup
every month and keeping it for 365 days. This schedule requires an extended retention rule. Set an
extended retention rule in the primary snap copy of the associated storage policy to retain monthly full
backups for 365 days and set the rule to start on the appropriate day of the month. Every daily full
backup created on that day of the month is retained for 365 days.
Schedules and retention for replication, tape backups, and cloud backups are also set on the storage
policy:
• Replication (mirroring and vaulting). You can use methods similar to the ones in the scheduling
examples to schedule replication and vault retention. However, scheduling is set on the mirror or vault
copy in the storage policy rather than in the subclient; for vaulting, retention is set in the vault copy in
the storage policy.
• Tape backups. The backup to tape is the last hop in the backup cycle. The source of the tape
backup can be either the primary Snapshot copy or the vault or mirror copy. Schedules and retention
are set in the storage policy.
• Cloud backups. Data is backed up to the AltaVault appliance by Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp
and later moved to cloud storage, such as Amazon storage and Microsoft Azure storage, by
AltaVault. Schedules and retention for the data on AltaVault are set in the storage policy.
Note: Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp sets retention for backup data that is in the AltaVault
appliance; the cloud retention is, in turn, set on the AltaVault appliance. You must set the
same level of retention on both Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp and AltaVault. For
example, if your Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp backup retention is set to 1 year and the
AltaVault to cloud retention is set to 6 months, then there is a data loss scenario for
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp.
Table 3 contains an expanded scheduling example in which virtual machines (VMs) in VMware
datastores are protected with various requirements. Four different storage policies are required in this
example because the datastores have mixed retention requirements.
Table 3) Enterprise example of scheduling and retention.
Backup Data- Sub- Stor. Backup Local Mirror Mirror Vault Vault
Set store client Policy Sched. Retention Sched. Retention Sched. Retention
A DS1 SC1 SP1 Daily full 10 days Daily at 10 days, 6 After 90 days
at 6 p.m.1 (cycles), 6 6:30 p.m., weeks mirror (cycles),
weeks, set set in finishes 52 weeks,
in primary mirror set in
snap copy copy vault copy
schedule
A DS2 SC2 SP2 Daily full 30 days Daily at 30 days, 8 After 180 days
at 6 p.m.1 (cycles), 8 6:30 p.m., weeks mirror (cycles),
weeks, set set in finishes 52 weeks,
in primary mirror set in
schedule
A DS3 2 SC3 SP3 Daily full 10 days Daily at 10 days After 90 days
at 6 p.m.1 (cycles), 6:30 p.m., mirror (cycles),
set in set in finishes 52 weeks,
primary mirror set in
schedule
B DS3 2 SC4 SP4 Hourly, 23 hours – – – –

except at (cycles),
6 p.m. set in
primary
snap copy
Table Notes
1The local Snapshot schedules can be set at the subclient level or at the backup set level. In the
example in Table 3, all local Snapshot copies run at 6 p.m. Therefore, a single schedule at the backup
set level can be used. If subclients in a backup set require different local Snapshot schedules, then the
schedules must be set at the subclient level.
2 Datastore DS3 is defined in two backup sets (A and B) because of the need to perform both daily
backups and hourly backups for this datastore. Therefore, for the basic retention rules to work, it is
necessary to have the same datastore in the two subclients. Using two backup sets in this case enables
retention for both hourly and daily backups.
3.3 Understanding the Restore Workflow

With Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp management software, recovery is simple: You can restore data
from virtually any backup copy in a single operation. Restores from recent backups might come from local
Snapshot copies (by leveraging optimal single-file Snap Restore® technology), while historical data might
come from vault or tape copies.
You can locate the data to be restored either by browsing or by using the find feature. When the data is
located, a restore job can be initiated. You can perform restores from any of the backup copies by
browsing data from a particular copy. The copy order precedence is defined on the Copy Precedence tab
of the storage policy properties.
For volumes and LUNs on NetApp primary storage, it is also possible to revert the data in them to a
specific Snapshot copy. This feature uses NetApp SnapRestore data recovery software to revert a
volume or LUN back to a particular point in time. This option should be used with caution because a
revert operation affects all data in a volume or LUN. To initiate a revert, right-click the subclient and select
List Snaps. From the list, right-click a Snapshot copy and select Use Hardware Revert Capability if
Available.
Because Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp uses NetApp Snapshot technology, you can copy data
directly from a Snapshot copy by using CIFS or NFS.
Note: The single-file SnapRestore option is valid only for NAS datastores. Hardware reverts should be
used with caution because this option completely replaces existing data with the previous
Snapshot copy.
3.4 Data Cloning

Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software enables administrators to create data clones, which allow
read/write access to the backup data. Data clones can be used for a variety of purposes. NAS data can
be cloned when you use the NetApp NAS NDMP iDA. This functionality creates a NetApp FlexClone ®
volume and makes the content of the Snapshot copy accessible.
The file system iDA can also be used to clone LUN data. This functionality, when applied to a primary
Snapshot copy, uses LUN clone technology. When LUN data from a Snapshot copy on a secondary or
tertiary NetApp system is cloned, a FlexClone volume is created. These FlexClone volumes can be used
for test/dev purposes and do not consume any additional space until written to, and, even then, only the
deltas occupy additional capacity.
Note: To create data clones, right-click the subclient and select List Snaps. From the list, right-click a
Snapshot copy and select Mount.
You can duplicate SQL Server or Oracle databases by cloning the Snapshot copies that were created
during the database backup. This operation uses the cloning capability of the storage array hardware,
which enables you to duplicate large databases within a short period of time. Database clones can be
used for multiple purposes, such as the following:
• In test environments to troubleshoot issues found in the production database
• For quick data retrieval without the need to run resource-intensive restores on the production
environment and without consuming additional space on the destination server
• For alleviating the load on production servers for running reports and queries
You can create a clone from any full backup. During the clone creation, you can specify a reservation
period. At the end of the reservation period, the system automatically shuts downs the clone database
and frees up all resources. You can also schedule the cloning operation to run periodically to allow the
clones to get refreshed from the latest backups on a regular basis.
The SQL Server and Oracle databases can be cloned to the same instance or to a different instance.
Note: You can create database-consistent clones by right-clicking the subclient (SQL Server or Oracle
Database), navigating to All Tasks, and selecting Clone.
3.5 OSDP for Data ONTAP 7-Mode Target

OSDP adds support for backup and granular recovery of DAS and third-party data to NetApp storage.
The target for the backup is a Data ONTAP 7-Mode storage system. OSDP has block-level incremental
replication capabilities but requires full file system scans. OSDP supports select nonclustered hosts and
applications, such as Windows file systems, Linux, Solaris, SQL Server, Exchange Server, and Oracle
Database.
OSDP replicates data from UNIX and Windows clients by using source volumes carved out of either disks
that are locally attached to the clients or disks that are externally attached to the clients from third-party
arrays that are connected to a Data ONTAP 7-Mode destination as a single LUN, with a single partition
onto a SnapVault copy. OSDP uses OnCommand Unified Manager to provision the destination volumes
to which data is replicated. In Windows, data is replicated as GPT LUNs. In UNIX, a LUN keeps the same
format as the source volume LUN.
Running OSDP jobs from the replication workflow enables the use of a single NetApp volume as a fan-in
destination for many clients under a single dataset context. It allows a group of clients to be controlled by
a single job management context, providing many-to-one control. This group defines the operations job
unit that triggers the recovery point for Snapshot copies on the SnapVault destination.
Using a consolidated dataset with SnapVault automatically pulls in any efficiencies that NetApp
deduplication can achieve across the collection of replicated disk images that are maintained with OSDP.
Note: A valid IntelliSnap for NetApp controller license is required on the FAS or V-Series controllers
running Data ONTAP 7-Mode that are the targets for OSDP backups. If the target for OSDP is the
FAS primary system (which is already licensed as primary storage for IntelliSnap for NetApp),
then no additional IntelliSnap for NetApp license is required.
Figure 21 shows the workflow for heterogeneous backups created with OSDP software.
Figure 21) OSDP backup workflow.
The workflow for OSDP subclient backup jobs includes the following stages:
1. OSDP creates a software Snapshot copy of the source data by using a native snap engine, such as
VSS or QSnap or Logical Volume Management (LVM).
2. The volume is added to the OnCommand Unified Manager dataset that corresponds to the primary
snap copy of the storage policy to which the subclient is associated.
3. OnCommand carries out any provisioning tasks and requests for the destination controller to connect
back to the client for the OSDP transfer or the OSDP test process.
4. If the volume has never been protected before, the OSDP transfer performs a baseline transfer of all
the data blocks in the volume to the destination controller.
5. If the volume has been protected before, the OSDP transfer or OSDP test figures out which blocks
have changed in the volume since the last backup and then transfers only the changed blocks to the
destination file server. For a given volume, all backups, except for the first one, are incremental.
6. When the OSDP transfers to all of the associated subclients are complete, a destination Snapshot
copy is created on the destination vault copy, and this Snapshot copy is registered as the primary
data copy for that application against the primary snap copy.
7. The software Snapshot copy that was created at the start of the IntelliSnap for NetApp backup job is
deleted after the OSDP transfer of the source Snapshot copy is completed successfully.
3.6 OSDP for Clustered Data ONTAP Target

OSDP for clustered Data ONTAP leverages (NetApp open systems backup [NOSB]) NetApp for open
systems is a full-volume, block-level incremental replication feature. It replicates heterogeneous data from
source partitions and volumes from UNIX and Windows clients to a NetApp clustered Data ONTAP
destination storage system as a single LUN with a single partition onto a destination qtree on a single
destination volume. The source volumes could be carved out of disks that are locally attached to the
client or from disks that are externally attached to the client from third-party hardware arrays. It uses
NetApp OnCommand Unified Manager to provision the destination volumes to which data is replicated.
Data is replicated as GPT LUNs on Windows. On UNIX, a LUN has the same format as the source
volume LUN.
Running NetApp for open systems jobs from the replication workflow enables the use of a single
destination NetApp volume as a fan-in destination for many clients under a single storage policy context.
This process allows a group of clients to be controlled by a single job management context (providing a
many-to-one control). This group defines the operations job unit that triggers the recovery point Snapshot
copies on the destination.
Using a consolidated destination automatically pulls in any efficiencies that NetApp deduplication can
achieve across the collection of the replicated disk images that are maintained with NetApp for open
systems.
The NetApp for Open Systems replication occurs within the context of an IntelliSnap for NetApp backup.
To carry out the replication transfer, you should run or schedule the replication workflow from the storage
policy to which all the clients that need to be protected are associated. The workflow in turn starts
individual IntelliSnap for NetApp backup jobs for each of the associated subclients. Each IntelliSnap for
NetApp backup job for a subclient performs the following tasks:
• OCUM is used while configuring the storage policy copy to create a single destination volume
corresponding to the storage policy to hold all the data for the source clients that are associated to
the same storage policy.
• Creates a software Snapshot copy of the source data using the native snap engine such as VSS or
LVM.
• The backup process mounts the destination qtree that corresponds to its source volume from the
destination volume.
• If the volume has never been protected, then the NetApp for open systems agent performs a baseline
transfer, such as transferring all blocks for the volume to the destination storage system.
• If the volume has been protected, then the NetApp for open systems agent determines the blocks that
have changed for the volume since the last backup by using an SHA-1 checksum mechanism and a
checksum database and transfers only the changed blocks to the destination file server. For a given
volume, all backups, except the first, are incremental.
• Data is transferred using the NFS protocol wherein the client transferring the data acts as the NFS
client and the storage system as the NFS server.
When NetApp for open systems transfer to all of the associated subclients is complete, a destination
Snapshot copy is taken on the destination volume. This snap is registered as the primary data copy for
that application against the primary snap copy. The software snap that was created at the start of the
IntelliSnap for NetApp backup job is deleted after the NetApp for open systems transfer for source
Snapshot copy is successful.
4 Application Data
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp can be used to protect applications running on physical servers and
hosted on NetApp primary storage. Each supported database application has an associated iData agent
(iDA). This iDA must be installed on the client system that is running the application. The iDAs prepare
the database applications for backup consistency. In addition, they handle tasks such as log truncation
during backup, database storage mapping, and log manipulation during restore.
Table 4 lists the applications that Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp can protect by using iDAs and the
level of restore granularity that it can achieve.
Table 4) Application support, iDAs, and restore granularity.
Application iDA Restore Granularity

Protection with Application Agents
NAS NetApp NAS NDMP Qtrees, directories, and files1
VMware vSphere Virtual server VMs, VMDKs, and files2
Hyper-V Virtual server VMs and files
SQL Server SQL Server Database and file groups3
Exchange Server Exchange database Information store and DAG objects4
Oracle Database Oracle Database and tables
DB2 DB2 Database
SharePoint SQL, SharePoint Server Database and objects5
Active Directory Active Directory Objects6
Lotus Domino LN database, LN document7 Database and database plus transaction

logs; documents8
Protection with Virtualization Agents
Exchange Server Virtual server VMs, VMDKs, and files9
SQL Server Virtual server VMs, VMDKs, and files9
Table Notes
1 TheNAS iDA can restore qtrees, directories, and files. In addition, it can use SnapRestore on the
primary array to revert an entire volume. The live browse functionality for Snapshot copies is available
without indexing.
2 Single-filerestore (from a NetApp Snapshot copy) for VMs works only for Windows VMs. For Linux,
the restore works only when the backup is to a disk library or tape library (streamed copy). Using
IntelliSnap for NetApp to perform granular indexing or a single-file restore for Linux VMs from a NetApp
Snapshot copy is not supported.
3 SQL Server supports point-in-time restore with log replay.
4 ForExchange Server, message-level restores are available through mining operations. You can use
the offline mining tool, or you can configure and perform snap mining.
5 For SharePoint, document-level restores are available through snap mining operations.
6 Active Directory backups are accomplished by streaming the backup from the Active Directory server.
You can also create a system-state backup by streaming the backup through the use of the Windows
file system iDA. This operation requires that you disable the system-state backup from the default
subclient and enable the system-state backup in a new subclient (with no other content defined).
7 LN stands for “Lotus Notes.”
8 The LN database iDA supports restore operations for the database only or for the database plus
transaction logs. The LN document iDA supports the restore of documents. For more detailed
information about these restore options, refer to the IntelliSnap for NetApp online documentation (Books
Online).
9 When Exchange Server or SQL Server is virtualized and the databases are on VMDKs, you can use
the virtual server agent (VSA) to back up the VMs and perform database consistency tasks during the
VM backup. Recovery works for VMs, VMDKs, or files and is not specific to Exchange Server or SQL
Server. The options for Exchange Server allow log truncation during the VM backup. SQL Server logs
cannot be truncated when you use the VSA approach. When Exchange Server is protected in this
manner (that is, by using VSA), DAGs are supported.
5 Virtualization Data
A key feature of Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp management software is the ability to protect many
VMs very quickly. Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp can index the contents of each VM and allows
different levels of recoverability, including single-file recovery.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software is flexible and enables you to establish discovery rules so that
new VMs can be automatically added to a subclient and protected. For example, the Datastore Affinity
discovery rule automatically protects new VMs on specific datastores.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software uses the VSA to perform data protection operations for virtual
environments. The VSA is installed on a system configured as a MediaAgent. Within the VSA, Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp creates instances that define the type of virtualization solution being used. For
example, in a VMware environment, Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp creates a VMware vCenter
instance under the VSA. Within the instance, a backup set contains the subclients. Figure 22 shows the
VSA layout.
Figure 22) VSA layers.
Note: Because of the advantages that the VMware HotAdd transport mode can provide during restores,
NetApp recommends installing the VSA on a virtualized MediaAgent. This virtualized MediaAgent
should run on a VMware ESXi host that has access to production datastores, such as an ESXi
proxy host.
In the example shown in Figure 23, multiple datastores are grouped into a single backup set. However,
because the datastores have different scheduling and retention requirements, they are separated into
their own subclients, and each subclient is associated with a different storage policy. The datastores are
mirrored and then vaulted.
Figure 23) Datastores in separate subclients with different storage policies.
In Figure 24, the datastores are grouped into a single backup set and a single subclient. In this example,
the datastores have the same scheduling and retention requirements. The datastores are mirrored and
then vaulted. Because the datastores are grouped into the same subclient, it is possible to do a fan-in on
the vault copy.
Figure 24) Datastores in the same subclient with fan-in.
Backup settings can have different levels of granularity for restore operations. During restores, data for
the VMs can be browsed and recovered based on the selected recovery type. A container restore can be
performed to recover an entire VM. Individual files can also be restored for Windows VMs and may
leverage the single-file SnapRestore option if the files reside on primary storage.
5.1 VMware and Applications

When run inside a VM, Exchange Server and SQL Server have integration with the Volume Shadow
Copy Service (VSS), which maintains database consistency during the backup of the VM. The file system
iDA and the VSS provider must be installed on the guest operating system for this functionality to be
available.
Note: To enable these application-consistent backups, verify that the Application Aware Backup for
Granular Recovery checkbox is selected under the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Operations
tab for the subclient. Exchange Server backups offer the additional option to perform log
truncation as part of the backup operation. To enable this option, select Truncate ExDB Logs.
You can perform consistent out-of-place restores of SQL Server and Exchange Server databases by
restoring the flat database files. The Exchange Offline Mining tool is a standalone utility that allows the
restore of individual messages from a backup copy of the Exchange Server database.
6 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Network and Security

Considerations
All computers in a Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp environment—the CommServe server, the
MediaAgents, the OnCommand Unified Manager server, and the client machines—must be connected
through a TCP/IP network.
In a Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp deployment, the bulk of the backup data is processed at the
storage level. Therefore, defining preferred interface options for replication at the storage level isolates
the backup traffic from production networks. The backup VLAN in such deployments is used to transfer
index information to MediaAgents, backup-to-tape use cases, and a few of the restore workflows.
CommCell components separated by a firewall must be configured to reach each other through the
firewall by using connection routes. After they are configured, they can communicate to perform data
management operations such as backups, browsing, and restores.
6.1 Firewall Considerations

A Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp deployment has the following port requirements:
• Connections to OnCommand Unified Manager 6.x:
 HTTP port 80: Unified Manager web UI (redirects to HTTPS port 443)
 HTTPS port 443: Unified Manager web UI and programs using APIs
 SSH/SFTP port 22: maintenance console
 MySQL port 3306: OnCommand workflow automation and OnCommand report access
• Connections from OnCommand Unified Manager 6.x:
 HTTPS port 443: storage systems
 HTTPS port 443: AutoSupport™ server
 LDAP port 389: authentication requests for users and groups
 SMTP port 25: alert notification e-mails
 SNMPv1 or SNMPv3 port 162 (UDP): alert notifications (SNMP traps)
 NTP port 123 (UDP): time synchronization
For more information about firewall requirements and configuration between clients, MediaAgents, and
the CommServe host, refer to Firewall: Getting Started in the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp online
documentation.
7 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for E-Series

Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp supports Snapshot integration for E-Series storage systems, but open
systems data protection (OSDP) can be used to back up E-Series workloads to a Data ONTAP 7-Mode
target and clustered Data ONTAP targets, go here for more details
E-Series storage systems can also be configured as backup targets in Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp
with software compression enabled. These backups are considered streaming backups.
8 Role-Based Access Control for Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp
You can associate new users added under security in Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp with customized
user groups and the appropriate privileges and entities to manage the backup infrastructure. For
example, an Oracle database administrator can be associated with that administrator’s clients, storage
policies, and disk library so that the administrator is isolated from the enterprise backup and recovery
window. Figure 25 shows the capabilities that can be associated with clients and entities in Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp.
Figure 25) Capabilities to associate with clients and entities.
The CommServe server can be configured to integrate with existing Active Directory and Domino DNS
services with SSO enabled. Figure 26 shows the GUI path for setting these configurations.
Figure 26) GUI path for integrating CommServe with Active Directory users and enabling SSO.
9 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for MetroCluster
NetApp highly available pairs couple two controllers for protection against single controller failures.
NetApp disk shelves have built-in physical and software redundancies, such as dual power supplies and
RAID DP (double parity) technology. NetApp HA pairs and shelves protect against many data center
failures but cannot guarantee extreme levels of availability.
NetApp MetroCluster™ technology layers additional protection onto existing NetApp HA pairs to provide
extreme levels of availability. Synchronous data mirroring enables zero data loss, and automatic failover
enables nearly 100% uptime. Therefore, MetroCluster provides a zero RPO and a near-zero RTO.
NetApp HA pairs leverage takeover functionality, otherwise known as cluster failover, for protection
against controller failures. When one of the controllers in an HA pair fails, the surviving controller takes
over the failed controller’s data-serving operations while continuing its own data-serving operations.
Controllers in an HA pair use the cluster interconnect to monitor partner health and to mirror NVLOG
information composed of recent writes not propagated to disk.
Figure 27 illustrates cluster failover for a MetroCluster configuration.
Figure 27) Cluster failover.
9.1 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Backup Configuration for MetroCluster

The cluster failover scenario exemplified in Figure 27 has the following characteristics:
• Site A is the active site for the VS1 SVM, and site B hosts the mirrored VS1-MC SVM that is locked in
normal mode.
• Site A and site B have different cluster management interfaces.
• The VS1 and VS1-MC SVMs have the same interfaces (management and data).
In site A, assume that the backup configuration is primary Snapshot copy > mirror > vault. The mirror
destination is SVM (secondary) VS-Mirror, and the vault destination is SVM (tertiary) VS-Vault.
For this scenario, configure OnCommand Unified Manager for MetroCluster in the following way:
1. Define the following SVM associations for both VS1 and VS1-MC in OnCommand Unified Manager:
 VS1 > VS-Mirror (SnapMirror)
 VS1 > VS-Vault (SnapVault)
 VS1-MC > VS-Mirror (SnapMirror)
 VS1-MC > VS-Vault (SnapVault)
2. Make the resource pool configuration the same as the configuration for a normal Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp backup workflow.
Configure the CommServe server and client for MetroCluster in the following way:
3. Add the cluster in site A in the Array Management dialog box. Make sure that the client name is
resolvable to the IP address of the cluster in site A.
4. Add the cluster in site A as a client and configure the NDMP details.
5. Detect the SVMs through the Storage Virtual Machine tab in the client properties. These detected
SVMs are added in the Array Management dialog box and have tunneling enabled by default.
6. In the switchover scenario, make sure that the client name of the cluster in site A is resolvable to the
new IP address of the cluster in site B from the CommCell environment (CommServe server, client,
and MediaAgent). The NDMP details should be updated with the information for the cluster in site B.
7. In the switchover scenario, no changes to the SVM names are necessary.
In the normal state, all configured backups point to VS1 in site A; during switchover, the backups point to
VS1-MC in site B. The switchover to site B is seamless and transparent to Commvault IntelliSnap for
NetApp and does not require that you perform a rebaseline of relationships.
10 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Disaster Recovery

Different methods are available to keep the databases on the CommServe hosts synchronized. Based on
the recovery point objective of your organization, you can use one of following disaster recovery (DR)
methods.
10.1 Disaster Recovery Backups

In this method, you can run DR backup jobs to protect the production CommServe database. The DR
backups include the CommServe database and other databases hosted by CommServe, such as the
SRM database (if metrics reporting is enabled) and the Workflow Engine database. By default, a full DR
backup is run for these databases every day. These DR backups are stored in an export location or
moved to a media backup for later retrieval.
When the production CommServe host is not accessible, you can restore the most recent DR backup of
the production CommServe database to an alternate or standby CommServe host and resume CommCell
operations by using the Disaster Recovery tool.
10.2 Disaster Recovery Failover

In this method, a standby CommServe host is set up in a remote location, and the production databases
hosted by CommServe are replicated to the standby CommServe host at regular intervals. When the
production CommServe host goes offline, you can immediately fail over the CommServe functionality and
resume CommCell operations on the standby CommServe host. This failover process can be initiated
manually or automatically.
10.3 Alternate Disaster Recovery Method
Optionally, you can use the SQL Server database mirroring feature to keep the databases of the
production CommServe host and the standby CommServe host in a near-synchronized state. Committed
SQL Server transactions on the production CommServe host are immediately applied to the standby
CommServe host. The standby CommServe host can be activated by automatic or manual failover or by
breaking the mirror relationship and bringing the standby CommServe host databases online.
For detailed instructions about how to configure disaster recovery, refer to CommCell Disaster Recovery.
11 Summary
NetApp Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp management software is changing today’s backup and
recovery landscape. Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software combines simplified manageability,
power, and flexibility for virtual environments with full support for enterprise database applications.
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp integrates with NetApp Snapshot technology in a virtually seamless
way for fast and efficient backup operations and with NetApp SnapVault and SnapMirror software to
support content cataloging and data movement to tape-based media.
This document covered an introduction to the Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp solution by providing an
overview of the technology and describing the basic options that you must configure to get started with
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp. Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp offers single-interface management
for backup and recovery workflows for Data ONTAP 7-Mode, clustered Data ONTAP, limited third-party
storage to NetApp storage (OSDP), and much more. Because it centralizes all of these functions and
offers policy-based management and granular recovery across all supported workloads, Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp is a compelling enterprise backup and recovery solution.
Resources
• For more detailed installation information about Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp, refer to the
Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp online documentation (Books Online)
http://documentation.commvault.com/commvault/v11/article?p=products/netapp/c_netapp_overview.h
tm
• NetApp partners can find additional Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp information, ranging from
training presentations, best practice guides, , datasheets, technical reports, or FAQ documents, on
Field Portal:
https://fieldportal.netapp.com/Modules/FieldPortal/Binders/Content.aspx?contentID=344605
Version History
Version Date Document Version History
Version 4 March 2015 Document updated with information about the following topics:
• Clustered Data ONTAP concepts
• IntelliSnap for NetApp cataloging and indexing
• SnapMirror for clustered Data ONTAP
• IntelliSnap for NetApp integration with AltaVault
• Networking considerations for IntelliSnap for NetApp
• E-Series and IntelliSnap for NetApp
• RBAC for IntelliSnap for NetApp
• IntelliSnap for NetApp for MetroCluster
• Disaster recovery methods
Version Date Document Version History
Version 5 February 2016 • Changed all references of SteelStore to AltaVault.
• Made branding name change: SnapProtect to Commvault
IntelliSnap for NetApp.
• Added licensing information.
• Updated all graphics.
Version 6 July 2017 • Minor update.
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
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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 252.277-7103 (October 1988) and FAR 52-227-19 (June 1987).
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Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp

1.2 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Basic Terminology ....................................................................................7

2 Clustered Data ONTAP Overview........................................................................................................ 7

2.2 Clustered Data ONTAP Replication Prerequisites ..........................................................................................8

3 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Technical Overview .................................................................. 9

3.2 Understanding the Backup Workflow ............................................................................................................25

3.3 Understanding the Restore Workflow ...........................................................................................................31

3.4 Data Cloning .................................................................................................................................................31

3.5 OSDP for Data ONTAP 7-Mode Target ........................................................................................................32

3.6 OSDP for Clustered Data ONTAP Target .....................................................................................................33

4 Application Data ................................................................................................................................. 34

5 Virtualization Data .............................................................................................................................. 36

6 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Network and Security Considerations .................................. 38

7 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for E-Series .............................................................................. 38

8 Role-Based Access Control for Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp ............................................. 39

9 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for MetroCluster ...................................................................... 40

10 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Disaster Recovery................................................................... 41

10.2 Disaster Recovery Failover ...........................................................................................................................41

10.3 Alternate Disaster Recovery Method ............................................................................................................42

Version History ......................................................................................................................................... 42

Figure 1) Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp software overview.

1.1 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Solution Components

2 Clustered Data ONTAP Overview

2.1 Clustered Data ONTAP Basic Terminology

Figure 3) Distinction between node, HA pair, cluster, and SVM.

2.2 Clustered Data ONTAP Replication Prerequisites

3 Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp Technical Overview

3.1 Basic Functions

Figure 4) NetApp NAS NDMP iDA.

Figure 5) Windows file system iDA.

Cataloging and Indexing

Figure 6) OnCommand handling of storage provisioning and replication.

Policy Name Availability Deduplication Space Thresholds

Commvault IntelliSnap for RAID DP No 80%, 90%

The policies in Table 1 have the following characteristics:

Table 2) Default storage provisioning policies in OnCommand Unified Manager 6.0.

Policy Name Availability Description

SnapVault Destination RAID DP Policy on the secondary volume

SnapVault Destination with RAID DP Policy with deduplication enabled

SnapVault Destination with RAID DP Policy with deduplication and

SnapMirror Destination RAID DP Policy on the secondary volume

Figure 8) NAS volume mirroring.

Storage Layout Design Considerations

Data Replication Using SnapVault and/or SnapMirror

SnapVault for Clustered Data ONTAP

SnapMirror for Clustered Data ONTAP

Figure 14) Flexibility of replication combinations.

Data Movement to Tape

Choosing an Appropriate Tape Backup Method

Data Movement to Cloud Using AltaVault

Figure 17) Snapshot management options for AltaVault.

3.2 Understanding the Backup Workflow

Commvault IntelliSnap for NetApp for Clustered Data ONTAP

Scheduling and Retention

Figure 20) Example schedule and retention at specific times.

Enterprise Scheduling Policy Examples

Table 3) Enterprise example of scheduling and retention.

B DS3 2 SC4 SP4 Hourly, 23 hours – – – –

3.3 Understanding the Restore Workflow