Integrating DocAve with Tivoli Storage Manager Part 2

Here we are with a follow up article on how to integrate the DocAve Platform with storage directly managed by a Tivoli Server Manager. This article focuses on the following steps:

• Creating a TSM Client Node

• How to setup TSM storage in DocAve

• A quick Backup test of SharePoint content

For those of you who want to create a TSM server for testing in their lab can take a look at my previous article. If you already have one available the proceed with this article 🙂

So here we go!

Creating a TSM Client Node

Creating a TSM Node it is a very simple process. To do this using a GUI we can simply run the \%ProgramFiles%\Tivoli\TSM\console\tsmnet64.msc (a link to the desktop can come handy!). Then from instance name drill down to Wizard and right click to start the one to create a Client Node configuration

This will start the wizard

Enter the userID with TSM admin privileges

With the BACKUPPOOL selected click on Add..

Choose a Node name and a password for the node configuration. In my case is SharePoint. Next click on Edit to change the Standard Policy domain settings

In my case I do not want TSM to operate any retention policy so I have set everything to No Limit And then click apply to save changes

Now we have our node configured and a Policy domain applied

On this one click No

If we query the nodes we now see the one for SharePoint.

Note: after the first synchronization when creating the physical device  the Platform Name will show the value  DocAve

When configuring the DocAve Physical Device we’ll need the Node Name, IP address of TSM Server, Port and Node password. Management Class is optional

How to setup TSM Storage in DocAve

The DocAve Platform provides the ability to connect and leverage not just a large list of storage technologies and vendors but also the ability to create different tiers thus allowing scenarios where longer retention for backup or archive purposes are required. It applies also to TSM tiers of storage configured in DocAve. For example we might need a Tier1 (DISK type) where we store the data for 1 year. Then move this data to Tier2 (TAPE) for 4 years. In this way we can maintain the data for 5 years in total and at the same time make sure we target the latest data to the fastest storage tier available. Without deleting anything (at least for 5 year as per example above!). This article is focusing on the creation and usage of storage (primarily DISK type)  attached to a TSM Server.

 The storage is configured in the DocAve Platform in the following way:

• Create a Physical Device

It is the actual location where the data will be saved or read from. It is possible to create multiple physical devices and associated them to logical devices

• Create a Logical Device

It consists in a grouping of one or multiple physical devices and depending on chosen physical device  type DocAve allows different configurations for availability and redundancy

• Create a Storage Policy

Once a Logical Device has been created the Storage Policy is the association of a Logical Device with a DocAve Media Service. The latter is the one that does the heavy lifting by reading, carrying, compressing and encrypting the data to the chosen physical devices. The creation of a Storage Policy also allows the definition of the rules with regards to retention policies for Backups and Archives

So let’s start with the creation of a Physical Device for TSM. From the DocAve Control Panel, Storage Configuration let’s start with the creation of a Physical Device

In this case let’s use the actual name for this “volume” to make it easier to recognise. Then let’s select TSM from Storage Type Drop Down

At this point let’s provide the parameters required to connect to TSM Server. Management Class is not a mandatory field

Our Physical Device has been created. From the same view let’s move to the Logical Device and create one

Let’s use a descriptive name which identifies and groups the Physical Devices which will be grouped into the same Logical Device. In my example I’m using a naming convention close to TSM one in order to be more consistent

The Standard Storage Device is a good option. Again we select the storage type and associate the available physical devices to the same Logical Device group

The result is shown a s per picture below

At this point we are ready to create a Storage Policy. This is the one which will appear in the DocAve GUI modules (like a node name in TSM!) so choose a descriptive name 🙂

For each Storage Policy configuration it is possible to add multiple Docave Media Services which will provide High Availability to the DocAve Services accessing the same storage location

The screen shot below now shows a Storage Policy for TSM

A quick Backup test of SharePoint content

At this point we are ready to test a Granular Backup for example from Data Protection Suite in DocAve. For this purpose I have created a Site Collection called TSM Portal. We choose a bunch of documents in the standard Shared Document library as per picture below

Let’s give a name to the plan

Let’s select the DocAve Storage Policy previously created

We might enable compression and encryption but will add extra time to complete the job. For this test we’ll leave these empty. Both data Compression and Encryption will happen on the fly before sending data to TSM Server

Based on previous Backup scope selection only Item level Restore is available

No schedule for now as we’ll run the job manually. DocAve offers a combination of Full, Differentials and Incremental Backups through schedules

We can accept the default values as proposed in the GUI

Finally an overview of the job settings and the ability to review and change them if needed

Since this is the first job let’s go for a Full Backup

The job completed successfully

When viewing the job details it is possible to filter elements by Successful, Failed, Skipped and Filtered out by policies

Another way to check where the sharepoint data is actually written is to use a tool provided with DocAve Manager installation called DocAveTSMClient that can be usually found in \%ProgramFiles%\AvePoint\DocAve6\Manager\Shared\Tools folder

By providing the nodes information is possible to “browse” and eventually delete the unneeded content from TSM volumes. Be careful as the delete operation should be done only when Data has been deleted by DocAve Manager first or when running out of space old data can be removed. Interestingly enough the SharePoint content goes into proprietary .dat files. In the next article I will share more information about these along with best practices

References:

DocAve Granualr Backup and Restore

DocAve Control Panel