h19639 Powerprotect DD Commvault Configuration WP

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and
Commvault Integration
June 2023
H19639.1
White Paper
Abstract
This white paper outlines the configuration steps for Dell PowerProtect
DD series appliance with Commvault software.
Copyright
The information in this publication is provided as is. Dell Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect
to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular
purpose.
Use, copying, and distribution of any software described in this publication requires an applicable software license.
Copyright © 2020-2023 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Published in the USA June 2023 H19639.1.
Dell Inc. believes the information in this document is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change
without notice.
2 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

Contents
Contents
Executive summary ........................................................................................................................ 4
Solution components...................................................................................................................... 5
Reference architecture ................................................................................................................... 8
Configuration overview .................................................................................................................. 9
Configuring Commvault DD Boost Storage Library .................................................................. 10
Configuring CIFS on DD series appliances and Commvault .................................................... 13
Configuring NFS on DD series appliances and Commvault ..................................................... 18
Configuring DD BoostFS plug-in in Commvault ........................................................................ 23
Configuring DD VTL and adding it to Commvault...................................................................... 29
Backups ......................................................................................................................................... 35
Restores ......................................................................................................................................... 40
PowerProtect DD replication and restore from replication ....................................................... 43
Dell Cloud Tier ............................................................................................................................... 46
Technical support and resources ................................................................................................ 50
Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 3

Executive summary
Executive summary
Overview With improvements in disk technology and cost, disk-to-disk backup has become a
preferred solution for protecting data, a valuable corporate asset. However, there is a
world of difference between writing backups to disk and designing a disk-based data
protection solution optimized for fast and reliable recoveries.
Dell Technologies is the industry’s leading provider of purpose-built backup appliances

(PBBAs). Dell PowerProtect DD series appliances are uniquely designed for cost-efficient,
fast, and verifiable data protection. DD series deduplication technology provides up to
65:1 data reduction. DD series technology enables network-efficient WAN and FC vaulting
for disaster recovery (DR), remote office data protection, and tape consolidation.
In addition, DD series appliances offer unprecedented levels of data integrity, verification,

and self-healing, which are unavailable in traditional file systems or conventional disk
systems. DD series appliances support a wide array of third-party backup applications,
including Commvault. DD series appliances offer remarkable improvements in
performance, reliability, and TCO to any IT organization considering disk-based solutions
for both onsite and offsite data protection.
This paper describes how to configure various protocols of DD series appliances with
Commvault backup software.
Revisions Part number/

Date Description
revision
January 2021 H19639 Initial release
June 2023 H19639.1 • Added content for configuring Commvault DD Boost

Storage Library
• Updated:
 Backups section
 Template/editorial
We value your Dell Technologies and the authors of this document welcome your feedback on this
feedback document. Contact the Dell Technologies team by email.
Author: Chetan Padhy
Note: For links to other documentation for this topic, see the Data Protection Info Hub.

Solution components
Solution components
Introduction to The solution components described in this document include Commvault Complete Data
solution Protection and Dell PowerProtect DD series appliance.
components
PowerProtect DD PowerProtect DD series appliances and older Data Domain systems are disk-based
series appliances that run DDOS (formerly DD OS) to provide inline deduplication for data
appliances protection and disaster recovery (DR) in the enterprise environment. The DD series
appliance serves as a target appliance for backup applications.
The DD series appliance provides high-speed backup and restores with scalable
deduplication. It incorporates a Data Invulnerability Architecture, which delivers the
highest levels of data integrity and recoverability by end-to-end verification, fault tolerance
and containment and continuous fault detection and healing. Its seamless integration with
existing infrastructures, enabling ease-of-use with leading backup and archiving
applications, and offering superior performance with Dell PowerProtect software and Dell
Data Protection Suite.
DD series appliances can be deployed physically or virtually. The virtual appliance is

known as PowerProtect DD Virtual Edition (DDVE) and has some different limitations from
the physical appliance, such as maximum capacity. The DD series appliance supports
multiple front-end protocols such as CIFS and NFS, DD VTL, and its own DD Boost
protocol. The DD series appliance can integrate with and is supported by many popular
backup software offerings. It uses disk storage with deduplication. Deduplication
technology and global compression reduce data down to its raw essentials by pooling
redundant patterns within a file, across files, and even within a block, and stores only
unique data segments. This compression algorithm aggressively minimizes the capacity
needed for storing backup images.
The primary storage for DD series is called the Active Tier. DD series also supports a
secondary tier called Cloud Tier. The Cloud Tier is a separate deduplication domain from
the Active Tier. There is a cache disk that is set up for the Cloud Tier that is separate than
the disk storage used for the Active Tier. The data is either moved from the Active Tier to
the Cloud Tier-based on age of data or by an application policy from a supported backup
application.

Solution components
DDOS features include:

• Data integrity—The DDOS Data Invulnerability Architecture protects against data
loss from hardware and software failures.
• Data Deduplication—The file system deduplicates data by identifying redundant
data during each backup and storing unique data once.
• Restore operations—File restore operations create little or no contention with
backup or other restore operations.
• DD Replicator—DD Replicator sets up and manages the replication of backup data
between two protection systems.
• Multipath and load balancing—In a Fiber Channel multipath configuration,
multiple paths are established between a protection system and a backup server or
backup destination array. When multiple paths are present, the system
automatically balances the backup load between the available paths.
• High availability—The High Availability (HA) feature lets you configure two
protection systems as an Active-Standby pair, providing redundancy in the event of
a system failure. HA keeps the active and standby systems synchronized. If the
active node fails due to hardware or software issues, the standby node can take
over services and continue where the failing node left off.
• Random I/O handling—The random I/O optimizations in DDOS provide improved
performance for applications and use cases that generate larger amounts of
random read and write operations than sequential read and write operations.

Solution components
• System Administrator access—System administrators can access the system for

configuration and management using a command-line interface (CLI) or a UI (user
interface).
• Licensed features—Feature licenses allow you to purchase only those features
you intend to use. Some examples of features that require licenses are DD Boost,
and capacity on demand (storage capacity increases).
• Storage environment integration—DDOS systems integrate easily into existing
data centers
Commvault Commvault Complete Data Protection previously known as Simpana is an enterprise

Complete Data level, integrated data and information management solution, built on a single platform and
Protection unified code base. The Commvault architecture first requires discussing the various
components and their functions. The iDataAgent software is deployed on all servers,
workstations, and laptops where backups are needed.
The MediaAgent software is deployed on dedicated servers, maintains the deduplication

databases, and manages the transfer of data between the clients and the DD series
appliance. Multiple MediaAgents are used to distribute the load. The DD series appliance
is set up as a storage target using CIFS or NFS, DD Boost, or DD VTL, and is a backup
target. Depending on the size of the environment or the network and physical boundaries,
there can be multiple CommCell servers within an organization and multiple DD series
appliances can be added as backup target.
Some of the main components of Commvault backup solution are as follows:

CommCell Console
The CommCell Console is the central management user interface for managing the
CommCell group—monitoring and controlling active jobs, and viewing events related to all
activities. The CommCell Console allows centralized and decentralized organizations to
manage all data-movement activities through a single, common interface.

Reference architecture
CommServe
The CommServe host is the central management component of the CommCell group. It
coordinates and performs all CommCell group operations, maintaining Microsoft SQL
Server databases that contain all configuration, security, and operational history for the
CommCell group. There can be only one CommServe host in a CommCell group. The
CommServe software can be installed in physical, virtual, and clustered environments but
only on a Microsoft Windows host. Commvault supports high availability by replicating
data to a standby CommServe host.
MediaAgent
The MediaAgent is the data-transmission manager in the CommCell group. It provides
high-performance data movement and manages the storage libraries. The CommServe
server coordinates MediaAgent tasks. The MediaAgent software can be installed in
physical, virtual, and clustered environments. A MediaAgent can be installed on a
Windows or UNIX host.
Client
A client is a logical grouping of the software agents that facilitate the protection,
management, and movement of data associated with the client.
iDataAgent
An agent is a software module that is installed on a client computer to protect a specific
type of data. Different agent software is available to manage different datatype on a client,
such as Windows file-system data or Oracle databases. Agent software can be installed in
physical, virtual, and clustered environments, and may be installed either on the computer
or on a proxy server.
Storage policy
Storage policies act as a channel for backup and restore operations. They map data from
its original location to physical media. A policy can be used for either data protection and
archiving or disaster recovery. Retention and reduplication properties can also be defined
here.
Subclient
Subclients are logical containers that define the specific production data (virtual machines,
drives, folders, files, databases, mailboxes) to be protected on a client.
Reference architecture
The DD series appliance is presented to the Commvault server as a CIFS, NFS, DD
Boost, or DD VTL storage target, depending on the media agent platform. For CIFS, NFS,
and DD BoostFS, the first consideration to address is what level of CIFS, NFS, and DD
BoostFS sharing is wanted for the DD series appliances.
The following figure shows the high-level architecture for a Commvault server with the DD
series appliance defined as its CommCell Storage Library. With this configuration, the
Storage Library settings never need to be updated as capacity is added. When capacity is
added to the DD series appliance, the CommServe and MediaAgents immediately see the
additional capacity without additional configuration or manual intervention.

Configuration overview
By default, CIFS, NFS, and DD Boost can share the entire DD series directory structure
(\\datadomain\backup) to all or selected hosts. Alternatively, subfolders or an MTree can
be created for explicit sharing. The choice depends on the specific use case for the
customer environment.
Note: For detailed information, see the DDOS Administration Guide and DD BoostFS Commvault
Compatibility Guide.
Configuration overview
Prerequisites System prerequisites are as follows:

• DD series appliance running DDOS version 6.1 or later.
• A second, optional, DD series appliance if replication is wanted.
• One Commvault Complete backup and recovery server with CommCell.
• One server with Commvault MediaAgent installed and configured. MediaAgent can
also be installed on the Commvault server.
• Backup sources: Windows file servers, UNIX file servers, and NDMP servers.
Software prerequisites are as follows:
• Install the Commvault software, with its own prerequisites verified and configured,
including SQL Server, the Windows domain controller, and other prerequisites.
• Install the backup agent for Windows (or UNIX) on all the systems that you want to
back up.
• Install the DD BoostFS plug-in for Windows server or Linux server.

Configuring Commvault DD Boost Storage Library
The license prerequisites are:

• DD Boost license. The online compatibility guide provides the list of qualified
applications.
• DD Replicator license, required for the managed file replication (MFR) feature of
DD Boost.
• DD VTL licenses, if you want to back up to a VTL or an NDMP tape server.
• Cloud Tier license, if you want to move from Active Tier to low-cost object store in
cloud.
• Commvault licenses, as required.
Configuration This checklist summarizes the detailed procedures later in this document:
checklist 1. Prepare and configure the DD series appliance backup target subdirectories and
shares for CIFS access under /backup. Create a folder under /backup to store
Commvault backup data, such as /backup/cvbackupdata. Alternatively, create
an MTree and a share for CIFS access.
2. Create the Commvault shared magnetic libraries, which are connected by CIFS or
NFS to the appropriate Commvault MediaAgent.
3. Install DD BoostFS plug-in and set the lockbox password for the storage unit for
backup.
4. Create a storage policy for client systems to use under Policies. When using the
Create Storage Policy Wizard, be sure to select <proper name> as the policy type.
5. Install the Commvault Backup iDataAgent. Check the Commvault licensing
requirements.
6. Add and configure the Commvault backup subclients. For most backup agents,
there is default subclient.
7. Define the backup job rules.
8. Perform a test backup, verify that the job finishes successfully, and verify that data
can be restored.
Introduction to The Commvault DD Boost Storage Library feature is a simplified native API-based
Commvault DD integration between the Commvault data protection software and Dell DD series
Boost Storage appliances. With Commvault FR 11.30.44 and later and DDOS 7.8 and later, this
Library feature integration allows you to use Commvault software to back up, archive, and recover data to
and from DD series appliances without the BoostFS plug-in (file system interface). With
this feature, you can take advantage of the high-performance, scalable, and secure
deduplication capabilities of DD series appliances to reduce complexity and significantly
cut down the time required to begin protecting data.

Prerequisites for The prerequisites for configuring Commvault DD Boost Storage Library are as follows:
configuring 1. Configure a DD Boost storage unit on the DD console, as described in Preparing
Commvault DD DD series appliances for DD BoostFS.
Boost Storage
Library 2. Configure the Commvault Media agent with latest Commvault software that has the
DD Boost SDK API integrated in it. For details, see the Commvault documentation.
a. Enable DD Boost Storage Library creation from the CommCell Console by
enabling the ActivateDDBoost setting: From CommCell Browser, right-click
the CommServe computer and select Properties.
b. Select Additional Settings and click Add.
c. Add the following details and click OK.
Property Value
Name ActivateDDBoost
Category CommServDB.GxGlobalParam
Type Boolean
Value True
When the value is set to True, the option to add the DD Boost Storage Library is
displayed under Storage Resources | Libraries.
Creating a DD After taking care of all prerequisites for configuring Commvault DD Boost Storage Library,
Boost Access create a DD Boost Access Library:
Library 1. From CommCell Browser, expand Storage Resources.
2. Right-click Libraries, and then click Add > Disk Library > DD Boost Library.

The Add DD Boost Storage dialog box is displayed.

3. In the Name box, type a name for the library.
4. From the MediaAgent list, select the appropriate MediaAgent.
5. In the DD series appliance host box, type the IP address associated with the Data
Domain library.
6. From the Credentials list, choose a predefined credential or click Create New to
create a credential to access the DD series appliance library.
7. In the Storage unit box, type the name of the storage unit provided in the DD
series appliance console.
8. Click OK.
The new DD Boost Storage Library is shown in CommCell Browser under Storage
Resources | Libraries.

Configuring CIFS on DD series appliances and Commvault
Note: For more information about the Commvault DD Boost Storage Library feature, including
configuring a DD Boost Storage Library, see Commvault Data Domain Boost Storage Library in
the Commvault documentation.
Enabling basic Enable basic CIFS access on DD series appliances as follows.

CIFS access on
DD series Note: For more information about PowerProtect DD series CIFS options, see the DDOS
appliances Administration Guide.
1. Connect to the DD series appliance as sysadmin or as a user with sysadmin

privilege.
2. Determine whether CIFS is enabled:
sysadmin@datadomain# cifs status
CIFS is enabled.
3. Determine the CIFS access level defined by running the DDOS command cifs
share show.
The output in the following example shows that the access for the DD share backup
is open to all hosts.
sysadmin@datadomain# cifs share show
Shares information for: all shares
--------------- share cvbackupdata ---------------
path: /data/col1/cvbackup
maxconn: 0
clients: *
enabled: yes
Shares displayed: 1
sysadmin@datadomain#
4. If the /data/col1/cvbackup path is not included, or the client list does not
include the proper server, add the appropriate server access.
Use the following DDOS command to allow access to MediaAgent host. In the
example, access to /data/col1/cvbackup is open to all servers including
MediaAgent host appeng25:

sysadmin@datadomain# cifs share modify backup clients

myclient
Share "cvbackup" is modified for new connections.
5. Verify the results:

sysadmin@datadomain# cifs share show
Shares information for: all shares
--------------- share cvbackup ---------------
path: /data/col1/backup
maxconn: 0
clients: myclient
enabled: yes
Shares displayed: 1
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for all MediaAgent servers to open access to the
appropriate DD shares.
Alternatively, at DD System Manager Protocols > CIFS, you can perform major
CIFS operations such as enabling and disabling CIFS, setting authentication,
managing shares, and viewing configuration and share information.

Creating CIFS You can use a DD series appliance as a CIFS backup target by creating a Shared Disk
device in Device Library with storage used from the DD series appliance over the CIFS connection,
Commvault as follows.
Note: For more information about Commvault CIFS, see the Commvault documentation and
DDOS Administration Guide.
1. In the CommCell Console, select Storage > Expert Storage Configuration. When
prompted, add the Windows MediaAgent in the Select MediaAgents dialog box.
The Expert Storage Configuration dialog box is displayed.

2. Right-click Libraries, and select Add > Disk Library.

The Add Disk Library dialog box is displayed.

3. Type the alias for the library name, select Automatically create storage policy for
new data paths box, and click OK.
4. In the Shared Mount Path (CIFS_Library) dialog box:

a. Type the base folder name.
b. In the Connect As box, enter the username of the user who has access to
the CIFS share on the DD series appliance.
c. Enter the password.
d. Enter the path to the CIFS share on the DD series appliance.
e. Click OK.
The new library is added.

Configuring NFS on DD series appliances and Commvault
5. Close the Library and Drive Configuration window.
NFS options For more information about DD series appliance NFS options, see the DDOS
Administration Guide.
Enabling basic Enable basic NFS access on DD series appliances as follows:

NFS access on 1. Connect to the DD series appliance as sysadmin or as a user with sysadmin
DD series privilege.
appliances
2. Determine whether NFS is enabled.
sysadmin@datadomain# nfs status
The NFS system is currently active and running.
Total number of NFS requests handled = 112.
NFS server version(s) 3:4 enabled.
3. Determine the NFS access level currently defined by running the DDOS command
nfs show clients.
The output in the following example shows that the access for the DD series
appliance share /backup is open to all hosts (as shown with *):
sysadmin@datadomain# nfs show clients
Path Client Options
-------------- ------ --------------------------------------------
/data/col1/backup * sec=sys, rw, no_root_squash, no_all_
squash, secure, version=3)
----------------- ------ ------------------------------------------
4. If the /data/col1/backup path is not included, or the client list does not include
the proper server, add the appropriate server access. Use the following DDOS
command to allow access to MediaAgent host.
sysadmin@datadomain# nfs add /data/col1/backup dh3-sit-79-43
NFS export for "/data/col1/backup" added.

Note: A * as a client name allows all servers access to the specified path on the DD series
appliance.
Alternatively, at the DD System Manager (DDSM) Protocols > NFS page, you can
perform major NFS operations such as enabling and disabling CIFS, setting
authentication, managing shares, and viewing configuration and share information.

Creating NFS To use a DD series appliance as an NFS backup target, create a Shared Disk Device
device in Library with storage used from the DD series appliance over the NFS connection as
Commvault follows.
A MediaAgent must be running on the UNIX or Linux system.
Note: For more information about options, and details about Commvault NFS options, see the
Commvault documentation.
1. On the Linux MediaAgent, create a mount point and mount the /backup share from
the DD series appliance
# mkdir /backup
# mount -t nfs -o vers=3,proto=tcp,nolock datadomain:/backup
/backup
# mkdir /backup/nfs
2. In the CommCell command console, select Storage > Expert Storage

Configuration. When prompted, add the UNIX or Linux MediaAgent in the Select
MediaAgents dialog box and click OK.
The Expert Storage Configuration dialog box is displayed.

3. Click Start > Add > Choose Disk Library.
new data paths, and click OK.
The Shared Mount Path (nfs_library) dialog box is displayed.

5. Type the base folder name that you want, select Local Path, and click the ellipsis
(…) to browse for the Linux MediaAgent.
6. Choose backup and click OK.

The browser window closes and /backup paths are shown in the Folder box. Here
we choose nfs for the backup path.

Configuring DD BoostFS plug-in in Commvault
7. Click OK.
The Expert Storage Configuration window is displayed, showing the new library.
DD BoostFS Introduced in DDOS 6.0, the DD Boost File System Plug-In (BoostFS) resides on the
overview application system, presenting a standard file system mount point to the application. With
direct access to a BoostFS mount point, the application can leverage the storage and
network efficiencies of the DD Boost protocol for backup and recovery. Only simple
qualification is needed for the application to support BoostFS, shortening the time-to-
market. Also, the file system interface makes BoostFS easy to deploy, allowing it to be up
and running in minutes.
By leveraging the DD Boost technology, BoostFS helps reduce bandwidth usage, can
improve backup-times, offers load-balancing, in-flight encryption, and supports the DD
multitenancy feature set. As a file server system implementation, the BoostFS workflow is
like NFS but also leverages the DD Boost protocol. In addition, BoostFS improves the
backup times compared to NFS and various copy-based solutions. Redirecting NFS
workloads to BoostFS is easy and nondisruptive to the environment in addition to being
transparent to users.
BoostFS is now available for customers with active licenses for the DD Boost Software
Option or DD Virtual Edition (DDVE). For more information, see the DD BoostFS for
Windows Configuration Guide and DD BoostFS for Linux Configuration Guide.
Preparing DD Prepare DD series appliances for DD BoostFS as follows:

series
appliances for 1. On the DD series appliance, log in as an administrative user.
DD BoostFS 2. Verify that the file system is enabled and running by running the following
command:
$ filesys status
The file system is enabled and running.

3. Verify that DD Boost is already enabled:

$ ddboost status
DD Boost status: enabled
If the DD Boost status is reported as disabled, enable it by
entering:
$ ddboost enable
DD Boost enabled
4. Verify that distributed segment processing is enabled:

ddboost option show
You should see the following output:
Option Value
----------------------------------- --------
Distributed-segment-processing enabled
virtual-synthetics enabled
fc disabled
global-authentication-mode none
global-encryption-mode medium
----------------------------------- ---------
If distributed segment processing is shown as disabled, enable it by entering:

ddboost option set distributed-segment-processing enabled
5. Create a DD Boost User and set permission:

sysadmin@datadomain# user add cvbackup role admin
Enter new password:
Re-enter new password:
Passwords matched.
User "cvbackup" added.
sysadmin@datadomain# ddboost user assign cvbackup
User "cvbackup" assigned to DD Boost.
6. Create a storage unit for DD BoostFS using DD Boost User:

sysadmin@datadomain# ddboost storage-unit create cv-backup
user cvbackup
Created storage-unit "cv-backup" for "cvbackup".
DD BoostFS Environments that use BoostFS 7.3.0.5 must meet the following specifications. For details
plug-in settings about another version, see the DD BoostFS for Windows Configuration Guide.
for Windows
client in BoostFS for Windows requires:
Commvault • DDOS version 6.1.2 or later
• Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2016
Configure the DD BoostFS plug-in for Windows client in Commvault:

1. Install or upgrade BoostFS for Windows by using the provided MSI installer. Do not
change the default settings.

The MSI installer includes several binary files and a device driver from EldoS
Corporation.
Note: When installing or upgrading BoostFS for Windows:

— If you are prompted to restart after installing, failure to do so can cause features such as
Explorer integration to not work correctly. If you are not prompted to restart, restarting is
not necessary.
— Use an account with administrator rights to run the installer.
— Ensure that there is enough free space to complete the installation, which requires
approximately 7 MB of disk space.
— Deactivate all BoostFS mount points. If any mount points are active, the upgrade and
removal processes fail.
A directory is created at C:\BoostFS. This directory is the default location for

BoostFS logs and Lockbox containers, and it is the sole location of the
configuration file C:\BoostFS\boostfs.conf.
2. Use the Windows command prompt or PowerShell to issue BoostFS commands.

The BoostFS installation includes a shortcut on the Start menu to open the
command prompt in the directory containing the executable.
3. Run the following command to configure lockbox:

boostfs lockbox set -u sysadmin -d <DD Boost-IP> -s <Storage-
unit> -l <lock-box-location>

4. Run the following command to mount the DD series appliance Storage Unit.
boostfs mount -d <DD Boost-IP> -s <Storage-unit> -l <lock-
box-location> <mapped-drive-letter>
5. Add the BoostFS drive for backup in Commvault server. In the CommCell command
console, select Storage > Expert Storage Configuration.
6. When prompted, add the Windows MediaAgents. Click Start > Add > Choose Disk
Library. The Add Disk Library dialog box is displayed. Type the alias for the
library name, select Automatically create storage policy for new data paths box,
and click OK. The Shared Mount Path (ddboostfs_library) dialog box is
displayed.
7. Type the base folder name that you want, select Local Path, and enter the drive
letter for dd boostfs mount and click OK. The ddboostfs_library should show
configured now.

DD BoostFS Environments that use BoostFS 7.3.0.5 must meet the following specifications. For details
plug-in settings about another version, see the DD BoostFS for Linux Configuration Guide.
for Linux client
in Commvault BoostFS for Linux requires:
• DDOS version 6.0 or later
• FUSE 2.8 or later
The following Linux distributions are supported:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 6 and 7
• CentOS 7
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server versions 11 and 12
• Ubuntu 14.04 and 15
• Oracle Linux version 7
Configure DD BoostFS plug-in for Linux client in Commvault:
1. Install the FUSE File system and its dependencies on the MediaAgent.
2. Install or upgrade BoostFS for Linux using RPM Installation package.
It is available in both RPM and .deb formats. The RPM package includes the
boostfs executable.
3. Verify the installation as follows:

#/opt/emc/boostfs
4. Set the lock box between the DD series appliance and MediaAgent using the
following command:
# cd /opt/emc/boostfs/bin
#./boostfs lockbox set -s <Storage-unit> -d <data-domain-
system> -u <storage-unit-username>
5. Mount this storage unit on the MediaAgent by running the following command:
# mkdir <mount-point>

#./boostfs mount -d <data-domain-system> -s <Storage-unit> -l

<location of the lockbox> <mount-point>
6. Add the boostfs drive for backup in Commvault server. In the CommCell command
console, select Storage > Expert Storage Configuration.
7. When prompted, add the Windows MediaAgents. Click Start > Add > Choose Disk
Library.
new data paths, and click OK.
The Shared Mount Path (ddboostfs_library) dialog box is displayed.
9. Type the base folder name that you want, select Local Path, and click the ellipsis
(…) to browse for the Linux MediaAgent.
The Browse for Folder dialog box is displayed.

Configuring DD VTL and adding it to Commvault
DD VTL licenses DD Virtual Tape Library (VTL) is a licensed feature that must have licenses registered on
both the DD series appliances and one or more defined MediaAgent servers on the
CommServe. Valid MediaAgent servers appear under Storage Resources >
MediaAgents on the CommCell Console.
Configure and To configure a DD series appliance as a VTL target device for data protection operations,
set up DD series see the following procedures.
appliances as
VTL target Establish the FC connection, install drivers, and verify the connection on
the Commvault MediaAgent server
Establish the FC connection, install drivers, and verify the connection as follows:
1. Physically connect and configure a Fibre Channel (FC) connection between the DD
series appliance and the Commvault MediaAgent server.
2. Verify that the correct changer driver and tape device driver are installed and
loaded on the Commvault MediaAgent server.
Note: For the required changer and tape device drivers, see the DD series appliances
Compatibility Guide. Also see the Commvault compatibility documentation for information
about supported driver versions.
3. Log in to the command-line interface (CLI) on the DD series appliance as sysadmin

and run following command:
# scsitarget initiator show detailed
If the Storage Area Network (SAN) connection is configured correctly, the initiator
on the Commvault MediaAgent server is displayed with the status of Online.
Create a VTL group on the DD series appliances

You can create a VTL group at the DDOS command line or with the web interface.
Note: For more information about the VTL feature, including the creation of virtual tape drives,
virtual tape media, and virtual changers, see the DDOS Administration Guide.
Create a VTL group as follows:

1. On the DD series appliance, create an access group.
2. Add the VTL and the initiator to the access group.
3. Confirm the VTL configuration with the following command:
#vtl group show groupname
sysadmin@datadomain# vtl group show test_CV
Group: test_CV
Initiators:
Initiator Alias Initiator WWPN

--------------- -----------------------
initiator-1 21:00:00:24:ff:22:07:66
--------------- -----------------------
Devices:
Device Name LUN Primary Ports Secondary Ports In-use Ports
--------------- --- ------------- --------------- ------------
VTL1 changer 0 all all all
VTL1 drive 1 1 all all all
--------------- --- ------------- --------------- ------------
4. Verify that the marker type is set to auto:

sysadmin@datadomain# filesys option show
Option Value
------------------------------- --------
Local compression type lz
Marker-type auto
app-optimized-compression none
randomio enabled
anchoring-algorithm variable
Report-replica-as-writable disabled
warning-space-usage 80
critical-space-usage 90
Current global compression type 9
Staging reserve disabled
------------------------------- --------
Verify the Fibre Channel configuration for the VTL

Before discovering the new VTL device within the Commvault MediaAgent server, ensure
that the operating system and HBA driver discover the VTL devices:
1. On the Fibre Channel switch, ensure that the target DD series appliance Fibre
Channel port and the initiator (Commvault MediaAgent server Fibre Channel HBA
port) are both zoned properly.
2. If the zoning is correct but you still cannot see the VTL target devices, ensure that
both the DD VTL HBA and the Commvault MediaAgent HBA are online in the
switch name server.
3. Use the FC HBA management tool to ensure that the LUNs for both the changer
and the tape drives are discovered and mapped properly.
We recommend that you configure the HBA driver for target persistent binding.
4. At the operating system level, ensure that the changer and tape drives are
discovered properly. For example, use Device Manager on a Windows system.

Configure the Configure a new DD series appliance VTL within a Commvault MediaAgent as follows:
new VTL on the 1. On MediaAgents, install the tape device drivers that the Commvault compatibility
Commvault documentation recommends.
MediaAgent
server 2. In the Commvault console, select Storage > Library and Drive Configuration.
3. From the Select MediaAgents window, select the MediaAgent that connects to the
DD VTL library and click OK.
4. Right-click Libraries and select Detect/Config Devices.
The Detect Library dialog box is displayed.
5. Clear Automatically Create DDS Drive pools and click OK.

Auto detection starts. The Log window displays all the drives that the Commvault
software recognizes.

6. Right-click the device and select Configure.

7. Select Library and all drives and click OK.
8. After you create the library, right-click the newly added library and select
Properties.
The Library Properties dialog box is displayed.
Note: If you close the Library and Drive Configuration window without configuring a
library, the unconfigured library is removed from the Libraries tab list. Configure all the
libraries before closing the window.


In the CommCell Console, the new library is displayed in CommCell Browser under
MediaAgent and Libraries. Also, a storage policy for this library is shown under
Storage Policies.

Backups
Backups
Prerequisites Before performing a backup, ensure that:

• The backup source and destination are correctly defined in the subclient. The
backup source is defined as content in subclient property and backup destination is
defined as storage policy in the Subclient Properties dialog box.
• Enough media is available in the scratch group under the target tape library or
enough free space is available under the target disk library.
• The library and drive are in the Ready state.
Performing a The procedures for performing backups in Windows and Linux or UNIX are similar. This
Windows or example uses Windows:
Linux server 1. In the CommCell Console, expand the Windows client in CommCell Browser, right-click
backup defaultBackupSet, and select All Tasks > New Subclient to create a subclient.
2. In the Subclient Properties dialog box, on the General tab, enter the subclient
name.

Backups
3. On the Content tab, click Browse, select the folders to be backed up (for example,
C:\can_data\blah), and click Add. Repeat this step for each folder, and then click
Close.
4. Select the Storage Device tab, and then on the Data Storage Policy tab, choose
the policy where backup data is to be written, such as CIFS, NFS, DDBoostFS, or
DD Boost SDK.

Backups
5. On the Storage Device tab, select the Data Transfer Option tab, and set
Software Compression to Off.
6. On the Storage Device tab, select the Deduplication tab, and clear Enable
Deduplication.
7. Click OK to close the Subclient Properties window.

The Backup Schedule dialog box opens.
8. Choose a schedule option and click OK.
 To use an existing backup schedule for this subclient, select Associate to
schedule policy and choose a policy from the list.
 To create a schedule, select Schedule.
 If you do not want to schedule this backup, select Do Not Schedule.

Backups
The windows subclient is displayed in the defaultBackupSet tab of CommCell

Browser.
9. To run a backup, right-click a subclient name and select Backup.
The Backup Options for Subclient window is displayed.

Backups
10. Choose options under Select Backup Type and Job Initiation, and then click OK.
The backup job starts, as shown in the Job Controller. Job progress is shown in the
Job Controller window and job events can be monitored in the Event Viewer
window. To see detailed job status, right-click the job entry and select Detail.
Results
If the job finishes successfully, the status changes to Completed. For other status results,
look at the Errors field and logs in the Event Viewer window. To view the detailed job log,
right-click the job entry and select View Logs.
For more details about each backup option, see the Commvault documentation.

Restores
Performing NAS Perform NAS client backup as follows:

client backup 1. In the CommCell Console, expand the NAS client in CommCell Browser, right-click
defaultBackupSet, and select All Tasks > New Subclient to create a subclient.
2. On the General tab of the Subclient Properties window, enter the subclient name.
3. In the Content tab, under Backup Content Path, select the file system, enter the
path of the folder to be backed up in that file system (/fs1/dir in the example), and
click Add. Repeat this step for each folder.
4. Continue the backup by completing the procedure, beginning with step 4, in
Performing a Windows or Linux server backup.
Restores
The procedures for performing restores with Windows, Linux, UNIX, and NAS clients are
similar. This example uses Windows:
1. In the CommCell Console, expand the Windows client in CommCell Browser, right-
click defaultBackupSet, and select All Tasks > Browse and Restore.

Restores
The Browse Options dialog box is displayed.

2. View the latest data (consolidation of all backups) by choosing Browse the Latest
Data, or browse backup data up to a specific time by choosing Specify Browse
Time.
You can also exclude backup data from before a specified time by clicking
Advanced and setting the advanced options.
3. Click View Content.

The backup data browser window opens for this client. This example shows the
latest backup data for this client.

Restores
4. Explore the data, choose folders and files to be restored, and click Recover All
Selected.
The Restore Options for All Selected Items dialog box is displayed.
5. Choose the required options, and click OK.
You can restore data to a different client by choosing a Destination client. You can
restore data to a new location by clearing Restore to same folder and specifying a
destination path.
The restore job starts.

6. Monitor the job in the Job Controller and Event Viewer windows.
When the restore job finishes, the restored data becomes available in the
destination folder.

PowerProtect DD replication and restore from replication
DD Replicator DD Replicator provides automated, policy-based, network-efficient, and encrypted

overview and replication for DR (disaster recovery) and multisite backup and archive consolidation. DD
requirements Replicator asynchronously replicates only compressed, deduplicated data over a WAN
(wide area network). DD Replicator performs two levels of deduplication to significantly
reduce bandwidth requirements: local and cross-site deduplication. Local deduplication
determines the unique segments to be replicated over a WAN. Cross-site deduplication
further reduces bandwidth requirements when multiple sites are replicating to the same
destination system.
With cross-site deduplication, any redundant segment that was previously transferred by
any other site, or that resulted from a local backup or archive, will not be replicated again.
This function improves network efficiency across all sites and reduces daily network
bandwidth requirements up to 99 percent, making network-based replication fast, reliable,
and cost-effective. To meet a broad set of DR requirements, DD Replicator provides
flexible replication topologies, such as full system mirroring, bi-directional, many-to-one,
one-to-many, and cascaded. In addition, you can choose to replicate either all or a subset
of the data on your DD system. For the highest level of security, DD Replicator can
encrypt data being replicated between DD systems using the standard Secure Socket
Layer (SSL) protocol.
Before getting started with DD Replicator, note the following general requirements:
• DD Replicator is a licensed product. To purchase licenses, contact your Dell sales
representative.
• You can usually replicate between machines that are within five releases of each
other, for example, from 6.0 to 7.2. However, there may be exceptions, so review
the replication version compatibility tables in the DDOS Administration Guide or
contact your Dell representative.
• If you are unable to manage and monitor DD Replicator from the current version of
the DD System Manager, use the replication commands described in the DDOS
Command Reference Guide.
Creating a Create a replication pair as follows:

replication pair 1. Log in to DD System Manager as sysadmin or any administrator user.
2. Go to Replication > Automatic > Select Create Pair.

The Create Replication Pair window opens.

3. Enter the information for Replication Direction, Replication Type, and the
replication Source Path. Enter the CIFS, NFS, or DD Boost storage unit, set the
Destination PowerProtect DD details including the path, and then click OK.
When you complete the destination information, it is saved.

4. Click OK.
Validation and pre-checks are run.
You can now see the replication pair in the Summary tab.
Note: For more information about compatibility, options, limitations, and method of replication, see
the DDOS Administration Guide.
If there are issues with source backup copy, you can restore from replication copy of
backup by using one of the following processes:
• CIFS restore
• NFS restore
• DD BoostFS/ Boost SDK restore
Before using any of those processes, ensure that replication is fully synchronized.
CIFS restore To perform a CIFS restore:

1. On the client server, go to the Expert Storage configuration wizard.

Dell Cloud Tier
2. Choose media agent and, under the Shared Disk Device tab, right-click path,
choose Properties, and replace source DD series appliance share path with
destination DD series appliance share path. Also select Read only.
Subsequently, any restore will restore data from replication copy.
NFS restore To perform an NFS restore, on the UNIX or Linux media agent, unmount source DD
series appliance MTree and mount replication DD series appliance MTree as read-only at
same mount point.
Subsequently, any restore will restore data from replication copy.
DD BoostFS/ To perform a DD BoostFS restore:

Boost SDK 1. On the client server, go to the Expert Storage configuration wizard.
restore
2. Choose media agent and, under the Shared Disk Device tab, right-click path,
choose Properties, and replace source DD series appliance share path with
destination DD series appliance share path. Also select Read only.
• Now any restore will restore data from replication copy.
Note:
— There is no need to break the replication pair and make the target MTree read/write. Read only
is fine for restore.
— At this instance, backup cannot be run because device is read-only.
— Replicating DD VTL tape cartridges (or pools) means replicating MTrees or directories that
contain DD VTL tape cartridges. Media pools are replicated by MTree replication, as a default.
— DD Boost users should have the same user ID (UID) and primary group ID (GID) on both the
source and destination systems.
Dell Cloud Tier
Overview Cloud Tier is a native feature of DDOS 6.0 (or later) for moving data from the Active Tier
to low-cost, high-capacity object storage in the public, private, or hybrid cloud for long-
term retention. Cloud Tier is best suited for long-term storage of infrequently accessed
data that is being held for compliance, regulatory, and governance reasons. The ideal
data for Cloud Tier is data that is past its normal recovery window.
Cloud Tier is managed using a single protection system namespace. There is no separate
cloud gateway or virtual appliance required. Data movement is supported by the native
policy management framework. Conceptually, the cloud storage is treated as an additional
storage tier (Cloud Tier) attached to the system, and data is moved between tiers as
needed. File system metadata associated with the data stored in the cloud is maintained
in local storage and mirrored to the cloud. The metadata that resides in local storage
facilitates operations such as deduplication, cleaning, Fast Copy, and replication. This
local storage is divided into self-contained buckets, called cloud units, for ease of
manageability.

Dell Cloud Tier
Note:
— To configure Cloud Tier, add the license and enclosures, set a system passphrase, and create
a file system with support for data movement to the cloud. For Cloud Tier, the cloud capacity
license is required.
— To license Cloud Tier, see the applicable DDOS Release Notes for the most up-to-date
information about product features, software updates, software compatibility guides, and
information about protection products, licensing, and service.
— For information about Cloud Tier requirements, configuring Cloud Tier devices, and Cloud Tier
data movement schedules, see the DDOS Administration Guide.
The Commvault integration with the Cloud Tier provides a data protection administrator
with the ability to perform the following functions:
• Move data from the active tier device to the cloud tier device.
• Recover data to a client from the cloud, including FLR and GLR recoveries.
Commvault supports multiple cloud services. For information, see the Cloud Tier with
Commvault compatibility matrix.
Configuring Commvault allows users to move their backup datasets to the Active Tier location (that is
Commvault for MTree) and from there, files are moved to cloud using DD series data-movement
Cloud Tier commands.
devices
Cloud configuration on DD series appliances
Note: Commvault is supported with multiple cloud vendors. The following example is for ECS.
1. Create an ECS cloud profile. Here ECS is the profile name.

sysadmin@datadomain# cloud profile add ECS
Enter provider name (aws|azure|virtustream|ecs|s3_flexible):
ecs
Enter the access key:
Enter the secret key:
Enter the endpoint: http://load-vm1.chaos.local:9020
Do you want to enter proxy details? (yes |no) [no]: no
Cloud profile 'ECS' added successfully

Dell Cloud Tier
2. Create a cloud unit. Here ecs-unit1 is the cloud unit name.

sysadmin@ datadomain # cloud unit list
Name Profile Status
--------- ------- ------
ecs-unit1 ECS Active
--------- ------- ------
sysadmin@ datadomain #
3. Once the backup is done, run a file report.

# filesys report generate file-location path <MTree path>.
Ensure that the backup dataset is moved to the DD series appliance Active Tier.
Moving files from Active Tier to Cloud Tier

Move files from Active Tier to Clolud Tier as follows:
1. To see if any data-movement policy is set on DD series appliance, run this
command:
# data-movement policy show
2. Set data-movement policy age-threshold to number of days (14 in this example):

sysadmin@datadomain# data-movement policy set age-threshold
14 to-tier cloud cloud-unit ecs-unit1 mtrees /data/col1/ltr1
The data-movement age-threshold policy is set to "14" days

for the following MTree(s):
/data/col1/ltr1
3. Verify age-threshold is set successfully.

sysadmin@datadomain# data-movement policy show
MTree Target (Tier/Unit Name) Policy Value
--------------- ---------------------- ------------- ------
/data/col1/ltr1 Cloud/ecs-unit1 age-threshold 14 days
--------------- ---------------------- ------------- ------
4. Run data movement command in order to move from active tier to cloud tier.
# data-movement start mtrees <mtree path>
sysadmin@ datadomain # data-movement start mtrees

/data/col1/ltr1
Data-movement started.
Run "data-movement watch" to monitor progress.
sysadmin@datadomain #
5. Run the data-movement watch command to watch the status of data movement:
sysadmin@datadomain# data-movement watch

Dell Cloud Tier
Data-movement:
97% complete; time: 0:02:20
Moved (post-comp): 168.77 MB, (pre-comp): 1.00 GB,
Files inspected: 8, Files eligible: 8, Files moved: 8, Files
failed: 0
Data-movement was started on Dec 12 2020 04:02 and completed
on Dec 12 2020 04:05
Moved (post-comp): 168.77 MB, (pre-comp): 1.00 GB,
failed: 0
6. Now, again run file report and ensure that the file is now available on cloud.
The location of the file is now ecs-unit1 instead of active.
# filesys report generate file-location path <mtree path>
7. To restore files from cloud (ECS) to Active Tier (DD series appliances), recall the
file and run a file report to ensure that the location is set to active:
# data-movement recall path <file location>
sysadmin@ datadomain # data-movement recall path
/data/col1/ltr1/Folder1/CV_MAGNETIC/V_46/CHUNK_188
Recall initiated for
"/data/col1/ltr1/Folder1/CV_MAGNETIC/V_46/CHUNK_188". Run the
status command to monitor its progress.
sysadmin@ datadomain #
8. Check data-movement status:

# data-movement status
sysadmin@dd7200-26# data-movement status

Data-movement to cloud tier:
----------------------------
Data-movement was started on Dec 12 2020 04:02 and completed
on Dec 12 2020 04:05
Moved (post-comp): 168.77 MiB, (pre-comp): 1.00 GiB,
failed: 0
Data-movement recall:
---------------------
No recall operations found.
9. Generate a report for file location and verify that all movements are completed:
# filesys report generate file-location path <mtree path>

Technical support and resources
Technical support and resources
Dell Dell.com/support is focused on meeting customer needs with proven services and
Technologies support.
resources
The Storage Info Hub provide expertise that helps to ensure customer success on Dell
Technologies storage platforms.
The following Dell Technologies resources provide other information related to this
document. Access to these documents depends on your login credentials. If you do not
have access to a document, contact your Dell representative.
• DDOS Administration Guide:
 Version 7.11
• DD Command-Line Reference Guide:

 Version 7.11
• DD BoostFS Linux Guide:

 Version 7.11
• DD BoostFS Windows Guide:

 Version 7.11
• Compatibility Guides:
 Commvault and Cloud Tier
 Commvault and DD BoostFS Compatibility Guide
• DD Boost Partner Integration Administration Guide
Commvault See the following Commvault documentation:

documentation • Commvault version 11 documentation
• Commvault Backup Agents Overview: All Backup Agents architecture and
information
• Commvault Tape Library: Complete Information on Physical and Virtual Tape
Libraries
• Commvault Cloud Connection Performance Tuning: Commvault recommendations
• Commvault Best Practices: Commvault recommendation and best practices
• Commvault NAS Client Backup: Commvault NDMP and NAS client settings for
backup

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Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and

2 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

Reference architecture ................................................................................................................... 8

Configuration overview .................................................................................................................. 9

Configuring Commvault DD Boost Storage Library .................................................................. 10

Configuring CIFS on DD series appliances and Commvault .................................................... 13

Configuring NFS on DD series appliances and Commvault ..................................................... 18

Configuring DD BoostFS plug-in in Commvault ........................................................................ 23

Configuring DD VTL and adding it to Commvault...................................................................... 29

PowerProtect DD replication and restore from replication ....................................................... 43

Dell Cloud Tier ............................................................................................................................... 46

Technical support and resources ................................................................................................ 50

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 3

Dell Technologies is the industry’s leading provider of purpose-built backup appliances

In addition, DD series appliances offer unprecedented levels of data integrity, verification,

Revisions Part number/

January 2021 H19639 Initial release

June 2023 H19639.1 • Added content for configuring Commvault DD Boost

Author: Chetan Padhy

4 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

DD series appliances can be deployed physically or virtually. The virtual appliance is

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 5

DDOS features include:

6 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

• System Administrator access—System administrators can access the system for

Commvault Commvault Complete Data Protection previously known as Simpana is an enterprise

The MediaAgent software is deployed on dedicated servers, maintains the deduplication

Some of the main components of Commvault backup solution are as follows:

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 7

8 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

Prerequisites System prerequisites are as follows:

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 9

The license prerequisites are:

Configuring Commvault DD Boost Storage Library

10 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 11

The Add DD Boost Storage dialog box is displayed.

12 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

Configuring CIFS on DD series appliances and Commvault

Enabling basic Enable basic CIFS access on DD series appliances as follows.

1. Connect to the DD series appliance as sysadmin or as a user with sysadmin

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 13

sysadmin@datadomain# cifs share modify backup clients

5. Verify the results:

14 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 15

2. Right-click Libraries, and select Add > Disk Library.

16 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

4. In the Shared Mount Path (CIFS_Library) dialog box:

The new library is added.

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 17

5. Close the Library and Drive Configuration window.

Configuring NFS on DD series appliances and Commvault

Enabling basic Enable basic NFS access on DD series appliances as follows:

18 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration

Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration 19

A MediaAgent must be running on the UNIX or Linux system.

2. In the CommCell command console, select Storage > Expert Storage

20 Dell PowerProtect DD Series Appliances and Commvault Integration