Data protection options

About data protection

Data protection means backing up data and being able to recover it. You protect the data by making copies of it so that it is available for restoration even if the original is no longer available.

Why data needs protection

Reasons that businesses need data backup and protection systems include the following:

To protect data from accidentally deleted files, application crashes, data corruption, and viruses
To archive data for future use
To recover from a disaster

Methods of protecting data

Depending on your data protection and backup needs, Data ONTAP offers a variety of features and methods to ensure against accidental, malicious, or disaster-induced loss of filer data.

Data Protection Feature	Description
SnapShot^TM	Backup within a volume. This feature allows you to manually or automatically create, schedule, and maintain multiple backups (also called snapshots) of data on a volume. Snapshots use only a minimal amount of additional volume space on your filer and do not have a performance cost. If a user accidentally modifies or deletes crucial data on a volume with SnapShot enabled, that data can be easily and quickly restored from one of the last several snapshots taken. See Chapter 2, Snapshot Management.
SnapRestore^TM (license required)	Fast, space efficient restoration of large volumes of data backed up to snapshots. The SnapRestore feature performs on request snapshot recovery from snapshots on an entire volume. See Chapter 3, Data Reversion Using SnapRestore.
SnapMirror® (license required)	Volume-to-volume and qtree-to-qtree replication. This feature enables you to periodically make snapshots of data on one volume or qtree, replicate that data to a partner volume or qtree, usually on another filer, and archive one or more iterations of that data as snapshots. Replication on the partner volume or qtree ensures quick availability and restoration of data, from the point of the last snapshot, should the filer of the original volume or qtree be disabled. If you conduct tape backup and archival operations, you can carry them out on the data already backed to the SnapMirror partner filer, thus freeing the original filer of this time-consuming, performance-degrading chore. See Chapter 4, Data Protection Using SnapMirror.
SnapVault^TM (license required)	Centralized backup of multiple qtrees on multiple filers using snapshot technology. This feature enables you to back up qtrees on multiple volumes and filers to a single Network Appliance SnapVault secondary storage system specialized for quick backup and restore of its filer sources. You can also install the SnapVault Open Systems agent on non-filer Windows NT, Windows 2000, Solaris, or HP-UX systems. This agent allows SnapVault to back up and restore data to these systems also. If you conduct tape backup and archival operations, you can carry them out on the data already backed up to the SnapVault secondary storage system, thus freeing your filers of this time-consuming, performance-degrading chore. See Chapter 5, Data Protection Using SnapVault.
Tape backup `dump` and `restore` commands	Tape backup and restore. The `dump` and `restore` commands allow you to back up filer snapshots to tape. The `dump` command takes a snapshot of the volume and then copies that data to tape. Because the snapshot, not the active file system, is backed up to tape, the filer can continue its normal functions while the tape backup takes place. See Chapter 8, Tape Drive Management. Chapter 9, Data Backup to Tape. and Chapter 10, Data Restoration from Tape.
vol copy	Fast block-copy of data from one volume to another. The `vol copy` command enables you to quickly block-copy stored filer data from one volume to another. See Chapter 6, Volume Copy.
SyncMirror^TM (cluster configuration required)	Continuous mirroring of data to two separate filer volumes. This feature allows you to mirror filer data real-time to matching volumes physically connected to the same filer head. In case of unrecoverable disk error on one volume, the filer automatically switches access to the mirrored volume. Filer cluster configuration is required for this feature. See Chapter 7, Mirrored Volume Management Using SyncMirror.
NDMP support	Support for tape backup management of the filer by third-party applications that use the Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP). Data ONTAP also provides an NDMP copy command that you can use to carry out NDMP-compliant backups and restores. Security login restricts access to NDMP operations. See Chapter 11, Using NDMP Services.
nvfail option	Protection against data corruption by failures of non-volatile RAM (NVRAM). See Chapter 13, Database Protection Using NVFAIL.
virus scan support	Support for third-party virus-scanning software for files accessed by CIFS clients. See Chapter 14, Virus Protection for CIFS.
MetroCluster	SyncMirror functionality enhanced to provide continuous volume mirroring over 500-meter to 10-kilometer distances. See Appendix A, Disaster Protection Using MetroCluster.

Data Protection Feature

Description

SnapShot^TM

Backup within a volume.

This feature allows you to manually or automatically create, schedule, and maintain multiple backups (also called snapshots) of data on a volume. Snapshots use only a minimal amount of additional volume space on your filer and do not have a performance cost.

If a user accidentally modifies or deletes crucial data on a volume with SnapShot enabled, that data can be easily and quickly restored from one of the last several snapshots taken.

See Chapter 2, Snapshot Management.

SnapRestore^TM

(license required)

Fast, space efficient restoration of large volumes of data backed up to snapshots.

The SnapRestore feature performs on request snapshot recovery from snapshots on an entire volume.

See Chapter 3, Data Reversion Using SnapRestore.

SnapMirror®

(license required)

Volume-to-volume and qtree-to-qtree replication.

This feature enables you to periodically make snapshots of data on one volume or qtree, replicate that data to a partner volume or qtree, usually on another filer, and archive one or more iterations of that data as snapshots. Replication on the partner volume or qtree ensures quick availability and restoration of data, from the point of the last snapshot, should the filer of the original volume or qtree be disabled.

If you conduct tape backup and archival operations, you can carry them out on the data already backed to the SnapMirror partner filer, thus freeing the original filer of this time-consuming, performance-degrading chore.

See Chapter 4, Data Protection Using SnapMirror.

SnapVault^TM

(license required)

Centralized backup of multiple qtrees on multiple filers using snapshot technology.

This feature enables you to back up qtrees on multiple volumes and filers to a single Network Appliance SnapVault secondary storage system specialized for quick backup and restore of its filer sources.

You can also install the SnapVault Open Systems agent on non-filer Windows NT, Windows 2000, Solaris, or HP-UX systems. This agent allows SnapVault to back up and restore data to these systems also.

If you conduct tape backup and archival operations, you can carry them out on the data already backed up to the SnapVault secondary storage system, thus freeing your filers of this time-consuming, performance-degrading chore.

See Chapter 5, Data Protection Using SnapVault.

Tape backup dump and restore commands

Tape backup and restore.

The dump and restore commands allow you to back up filer snapshots to tape. The dump command takes a snapshot of the volume and then copies that data to tape. Because the snapshot, not the active file system, is backed up to tape, the filer can continue its normal functions while the tape backup takes place.

See Chapter 8, Tape Drive Management. Chapter 9, Data Backup to Tape. and Chapter 10, Data Restoration from Tape.

vol copy

Fast block-copy of data from one volume to another.

The vol copy command enables you to quickly block-copy stored filer data from one volume to another.

See Chapter 6, Volume Copy.

SyncMirror^TM

(cluster configuration required)

Continuous mirroring of data to two separate filer volumes.

This feature allows you to mirror filer data real-time to matching volumes physically connected to the same filer head. In case of unrecoverable disk error on one volume, the filer automatically switches access to the mirrored volume.

Filer cluster configuration is required for this feature.

See Chapter 7, Mirrored Volume Management Using SyncMirror.

NDMP support

Support for tape backup management of the filer by third-party applications that use the Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP).

Data ONTAP also provides an NDMP copy command that you can use to carry out NDMP-compliant backups and restores. Security login restricts access to NDMP operations.

See Chapter 11, Using NDMP Services.

nvfail option

Protection against data corruption by failures of non-volatile RAM (NVRAM).

See Chapter 13, Database Protection Using NVFAIL.

virus scan support

Support for third-party virus-scanning software for files accessed by CIFS clients.

See Chapter 14, Virus Protection for CIFS.

MetroCluster

SyncMirror functionality enhanced to provide continuous volume mirroring over 500-meter to 10-kilometer distances.

See Appendix A, Disaster Protection Using MetroCluster.