Receive NAS

The Snapshots List displays all available snapshots that have been received from configured replication sources. Snapshots are grouped by NAS Share. To see all available snapshots for a partition, click the plus icon [+] next to the share name.

The Snapshots List displays the following information about each snapshot:

Note: Click a column heading to sort the rows in the table by that column. Click the column heading again to reverse the sort order.

Recover a NAS share if the source system is unavailable and you need to access the share (for example, to continue performing backups). When you recover a share, you select a received snapshot. The DXi6900 uses the snapshot to recreate the share on the target system just as it was at the point in time when the snapshot was saved.

Note: Before recovering a share, you must enable CIFS/SMB on the DXi (see Windows Domain). Also, if the DXi is not using Active Directory, you must configure at least one workgroup user to own recovered CIFS/SMB shares (see Share Access).

To recover a share:

1. On the target system, select a snapshot in the Snapshots List and click Recover.

   The Recovered Share Name page displays (see Figure 2).

   Figure 2: Recovered Share Name Page

   

2. (Optional) In the Recovered Share Name box, type a new name for the recovered share. (The default name is the original share name.)

3. Click Apply.

   The share is recovered on the target system. All data stored on the share at the time the snapshot was saved is available. The original export protocol of the share (NFS or CIFS/SMB) is retained in the recovery process.

Note: After you recover a share, if you want to continue backing up data to the share, you must remap your backup application to point to the target system instead of the source system.

Perform a failback of a NAS share if a source system that was previously unavailable becomes available again. When you failback a share, you select a received snapshot. The DXi6900 copies the snapshot from the target system back to the source system. You can then perform a recover operation to recreate the share on the source system just as it was at the point in time when the snapshot was saved.

Note: Before you can failback a share, on the original source system, you must add the original target system to the list of allowed replication sources (see Adding a Replication Source). This is because, during failback, the original target is acting as a source when it sends a snapshot to the original source.

1. To perform a share failback:

   On the target system, select a snapshot in the Snapshots List and click Failback.

   The Failback Target page displays (see Figure 3).

   Figure 3: Failback Target Page

   

2. (Optional) In the Failback Destination DXi box, type the hostname or IP address of a new destination system to failback the partition to. (The default destination is the original source system.)

   Note: To use hostname format, you must specify at least one DNS IP address on the Network page (see Network).

3. (Optional) Leave the Use Encryption check box selected to enable encryption when sending the snapshot to the destination. Or clear the Use Encryption check box to disable encryption when sending the snapshot to the destination.

   Caution: Select 128-bit encryption if you are sending data to a DXi running a system software version prior to DXi 2.1 Software.

   Note: AES encryption options are available only if the Data-in-Flight license is installed (see License Keys).

4. Click Apply.

   The snapshot is sent to the source system.

5. On the source system, in the Snapshots List, select the snapshot that was sent during the failback operation and click Recover.

   The Recovered Partition Name page displays.

6. (Optional) In the Recovered Partition Name box, type a new name for the recovered share. (The default name is the original share name.)

7. Click Apply.

   The share is recovered on the source system. All data stored on the share at the time the snapshot was saved is available.The original export protocol of the share (NFS or CIFS/SMB) is retained in the recovery process.

Note: If you previously remapped your backup application to a recovered share on the target system, after you failback the share, you must remap your backup application again to point to the source system.

Delete a snapshot if it is no longer needed. After you delete a snapshot, it can no longer be used to recover or failback a NAS share.

Note: You cannot delete a snapshot if a failback operation is in progress for the snapshot. Wait for the failback operation to complete, or abort the operation (see ).

To delete a snapshot:

1. Do one of the following actions:

   • On the source system, disable replication for the share associated with the snapshot (see Enabling Replication For a Share or Partition).
   • On the target system, delete the source system associated with the snapshot from the list of allowed replication sources (see Deleting a Replication Source8).

2. On the target system, select a snapshot in the Snapshots List and click Delete.

   Note: If you delete the last snapshot for a partition while replication for the partition (to this target) is still enabled, any replicated data not yet protected by a replicated share is not deleted. To delete this data, on the source system, disable replication for the partition before deleting the last snapshot.

3. Click Yes to confirm the action.

The Shares Eligible to Receive Directory/File Based Data section displays information for all NAS shares on the DXi6900 that are eligible to receive Directory/File Based Replication data from a source share. To be eligible to receive Directory/File Based Replication data, a share must have data deduplication enabled at the time it is created.

The Shares Eligible for Replication section displays the following information:

Note: Click the Information button [i] next to a partition to display detailed information about the share and recent replication activity.

Configuring a NAS share for Directory/File Based Replication enables the automatic replication of files and directories on the source partition to the target share. Before you configure a share on the source system for Directory/File Based Replication, you must configure a share on the target system to receive the replicated data from the source share.

Note: For information about configuring Directory/File Based Replication on the source system, see Configuring Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication.

To configure a target share for Directory/File Based Replication:

1. Select the share and click Edit.

   The Edit Share Settings page displays (see Figure 7).

   Figure 7: Edit Share Settings Page

   

2. Select the Enable to receive Directory/File Based replication data check box to enable Directory/File Based Replication for the share.

   Or clear the Enable to receive Directory/File Based replication data check box to disable Directory/File Based Replication for the share.

3. Enter a Sync ID in the box.

   The Sync ID is used to identify the source share that will send replicated data to the target partition. The Sync ID must be identical to the Sync ID of the source share on the source system.

4. Select an Access option:

   • Locked - The share is not allowed to receive new Directory/File Based Replication data.
   • Unlocked - The share is allowed to receive new Directory/File Replication data.

   Note: If a share configured for Directory/File Based Replication is locked on the target system, synchronization jobs may fail on the source system.

5. Click Apply.

Use the Unpack Queue to view Directory/File Replication statistics for data received from the source system.

To view the Unpack Queue, select a share and click View Unpack Queue (see Figure 8).

The Unpack Queue displays the following information:

Click Refresh to update the statistics in the Unpack Queue. Click OK to return to the Directory/File Based page.