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SnapMirroring a volume to local tape

Why use SnapMirror to local tape  Top

You might want to snapmirror a volume from a source filer to local tape for the following reasons:

SnapMirror source-to-tape-to-destination scenario  Top

In this scenario, you want to establish a SnapMirror relationship between a source filer and a destination filer over a low-bandwidth connection. Incremental snapshot mirroring from the source to the destination over the low-bandwidth connection is feasible, but the initial base snapshot mirroring is not. In such a case it might be faster to first transfer the initial base snapshot image from source to destination via tape, and then set up incremental SnapMirror updates to the destination filer via the low-bandwidth connection.

Prerequisites

This scenario assumes the following configuration:

Sequence of SnapMirror operations

You follow this sequence to set up this arrangement:

  1. On the source filer, use the snapmirror store command to copy all volume snapshots, including the base snapshot, to tape, and use the snapmirror use command to continue the copy if more than one backup tape is necessary.

    For more information, see Copying source-to-intermediate tape.

  2. Physically transport the backup tapes from the source filer to the destination filer.
  3. On the destination filer, use the vol create and vol restrict commands to set up a SnapMirror target volume.
  4. Use the snapmirror retrieve command to copy the initial SnapMirror tape to the destination filer and, if necessary, use the snapmirror use command to continue the copy if it is stored on more than one backup tape.

    Then, either use the snapmirror update command to manually mirror an incremental update from the source to the destination filer over the low-bandwidth connection, or edit the snapmirror.conf file to set up an incremental update schedule from the source to destination filer.

    For more information, see Initializing a SnapMirror destination via local tape.

  5. After completing manual or scheduled incremental update over a connection, you can use the snapmirror release command to eliminate the source-to-tape relationship and associated snapshot. For more information see Releasing a SnapMirror source-to-tape relationship.
Copying source-to-intermediate tape

To copy a source volume to an intermediate tape, complete the following steps.

Step

Action

1

If you do not know whether the disk geometries (that is, the size and number of disks) of the source volume and the ultimate destination volume match, use the snapmirror retrieve -g command to determine if this is so.

In the filer consoles of both the source and destination, enter the following command:

snapmirror retrieve -g vol_name

For both the source and the destination volume, the system displays the number and block size of the disks it includes.

For example, a return value of 7200000x10 7000x10 means that the specified volume consists of 10 disks of 720,000 blocks and 10 disks of 7,000 blocks.

  • The most desirable result is for the source and destination volume disk geometries to match.
  • If the geometries do not match, record the disk geometry of the destination volume for later use.
2

At the source filer, load the tape into a local attached tape device.

3

At the source filer, start the data transfer to tape by entering the following command:

snapmirror store [-g dest_disk_geom] source_volume 
dest_tapedevices

-g dest_disk_geom applies if the disk geometry of the destination volume, as determined in Step 1, is different from the disk geometry of the source volume. If they are different, use the -g parameter to specify the destination volume disk geometry, for example:

-g 140000x10,7000x10

source_volume is the volume you are copying.

dest_tapedevices is the tape device or a comma-separated list of tape devices to which you are copying the volume.

Result

SnapMirror starts transferring data to tape. This command creates a baseline transfer. If you have to use more than one tape, SnapMirror prompts you for another tape.

Example

 
snapmirror store -g 14000x10,7000X10 vol2 nrst0a,rst1a
4

If SnapMirror prompts you for another tape, add another tape to the drive, and continue transfer of data to tape by entering the following command:

snapmirror use dest_tapedevices tape_drive

dest_tapedevices is the tape device or a comma-separated list of tape devices to which you are copying the volume.

tape_drive is the drive holding the new tape you supplied.

Note
The snapmirror use command does not support copying qtrees from tape. If you specify a qtree path as the source or destination, SnapMirror returns an error message.

5

Repeat Step 4 until SnapMirror finishes copying the volume to tape.

6

Follow the procedure described in Initializing a SnapMirror destination via local tape.

Initializing a SnapMirror destination via local tape

To initialize a SnapMirror destination volume via local tape, complete the following steps.

Step

Action

1

Create a volume on the SnapMirror destination filer. See the System Administrator's Guide for information about how to create a volume.

2

Put the volume in the restricted state. See the System Administrator's Guide for information about how to restrict a volume.

3

Load the tape (made with snapmirror store) into the destination filer's local tape device.

4

Start the initialization by entering the following command on the destination filer:

snapmirror retrieve dest_volume tape_drive

dest_volume is the volume that you are initializing.

tape_drive is a tape device or a comma-separated list of devices from which you are restoring the volume.

Result

SnapMirror starts transferring data from the tape. If data is stored on more than one tape, SnapMirror prompts you for the next tape.

5

If Data ONTAP prompts you for another tape, add the next tape to the drive and restart the initialization by entering the following command:

snapmirror use volume tape_list

volume is the volume to which you are restoring.

tape_list is the tape device from which you are restoring the volume.

6

Repeat Step 5 until SnapMirror finishes initializing the volume from the tape.

7

If you need to, you can update the data online manually with the following command:

snapmirror update [-k n] -S source_filer:source_volume 
[dest_filer:]dest_volume

-k n sets the maximum transfer speed to n kilobytes per second. This option has the same effect as the kbs argument in the /etc/snapmirror.conf file.

-S source_filer:source_volume specifies the source filer and volume for the migration. source_volume is the volume you want to copy.

dest_filer is the name of the destination filer.

dest_volume is the destination volume. For more information about the snapmirror update command, see Updating a destination manually.

Note
Alternatively, you can update the baseline transfer automatically with the schedule you set in the /etc/snapmirror.conf. file. See Creating and editing the snapmirror.conf file.

Releasing a SnapMirror source-to-tape relationship

After a successful update of the destination filer over a connection, you no longer require the source-to-tape SnapMirror relationship and its associated snapshot that you established with the snapmirror store command. To end the source-to-tape backup and delete the snapshot off the source filer, complete the following steps.

Step

Action

1

In the source filer console, enter the following command:

snapmirror status

Your system will display at least two SnapMirror relationships:

  • the source-to-tape relationship, established when you used the snapmirror store command
  • the source-to-destination relationship, established when you used the snapmirror update command
Example

>snapmirror status
....
source         destination     state     .... 
s_filer:vol1   snapmirror_tape_01_15_03_20:05:32  ...
s_filer:vol1   d_filer:vol1   snapmirrored  ...
2

Release the source-to-tape SnapMirror relationship. For this particular operation, the snapmirror release syntax is unique:

snapmirror release source_vol tape_snapshot_name
Example

snapmirror release vol1 snapmiror_tape_01_15_03_20:05:32

Note
Do not release any other SnapMirror relationship. Those relationships are necessary to continue your incremental updates over the low-bandwidth connection.

SnapVault-to-tape backup scenario  Top

In this scenario, you snapmirror snapshots from a SnapVault secondary storage system to an attached local tape drive for the purposes of backup. In case of data loss on the SnapVault secondary system, you can restore a specified snapshot back to the SnapVault secondary system.

Note
This scenario applies only to backup of SnapVault secondary storage. Do not apply this configuration for any other purpose.

Prerequisites

You need a SnapVault secondary system with an attached local tape drive. The volume on which the secondary storage qtrees reside must also be configured as a SnapMirror source volume.

Sequence of SnapMirror operations

You follow this set of steps to set up this arrangement.

  1. On the SnapVault secondary/SnapMirror source filer, use the snapmirror store command to copy the base snapshot of the volume to tape and use the snapmirror use command to continue the copy if more than one backup tape is necessary.

    For more information, see Copying from a SnapVault volume to local tape.

  2. Use the snapmirror update command to manually mirror incremental updates to tape.
  3. In event of data loss on the SnapVault secondary storage system, convert the volume that holds the SnapVault data from its role as a SnapMirror source volume to a destination volume, mirror the tape contents back, and then convert the restored destination volume back to a regular volume again.

    For more information, see Restoring to SnapVault from a local tape.

Copying from a SnapVault volume to local tape

To back up a SnapVault volume to tape, complete the following steps.

Step

Action

1

At the SnapVault secondary storage system, load the tape into a local attached tape device.

2

At the SnapVault secondary storage system, start the data transfer to tape by entering the following command:

snapmirror store sv_volume dest_tapedevices

sv_volume is the volume you are copying.

dest_tapedevices is the tape device or a comma-separated list of tape devices to which you are copying the volume.

Result

SnapMirror starts transferring data to tape. This command creates a baseline transfer. If you have to use more than one tape, SnapMirror prompts you for another tape.

3

If SnapMirror prompts you for another tape, add another tape to the drive, and continue transfer of data to tape by entering the following command:

snapmirror use dest_tapedevices tape_drive

dest_tapedevices is the tape device or a comma-separated list of tape devices to which you are copying the volume.

tape_drive is the drive holding the new tape you supplied.

Note
The snapmirror use command does not support copying qtrees from tape. If you specify a qtree path as the source or destination, SnapMirror returns an error message.

4

Repeat Step 3 until SnapMirror finishes copying the volume to tape.

5

If the volume on the SnapVault secondary system that you backed up ever needs to be restored, follow the procedure described in Restoring to SnapVault from a local tape.

Restoring to SnapVault from a local tape

In event of data loss on a SnapVault secondary storage volume that is also configured as a SnapMirror source, data that has been SnapMirrored to tape can be restored to the SnapVault secondary storage volume with the snapmirror retrieve command.

Note
The snapmirror retrieve command restores only full volumes. If you specify a qtree path as the source or destination, SnapMirror returns an error message.

To restore a SnapMirrored volume on a SnapVault secondary storage system from tape, complete the following steps.

Step

Action

1

On the SnapVault secondary storage system, use the vol restrict command to put the volume that you want to restore from tape into restricted state. See the System Administrator's Guide, Chapter 2, for information about how to restrict a volume.

2

Load the tape (made with snapmirror store) into the local tape device.

3

Start the initialization by entering the following command on the SnapVault secondary storage system:

snapmirror retrieve [-h] rest_volume tape_drive

The -h option displays the headers of the source tapes but does not transfer data.

rest_volume is the volume that you are restoring.

tape_drive is a tape device or a comma-separated list of devices from which you are restoring the volume.

Result

SnapMirror starts transferring data from the tape. If data is stored on more than one tape, SnapMirror prompts you for the next tape.

4

If Data ONTAP prompts you for another tape, add the next tape to the drive and restart the initialization by entering the following command:

snapmirror use rest_volume tape_list

rest_volume is the volume to which you are restoring.

tape_list is the tape device from which you are restoring the volume.

5

Repeat Step 4 until SnapMirror finishes initializing the volume from the tape.

6

If incremental updates to the baseline snapshot data that you just restored exist on tape, insert that tape into the SnapVault secondary storage system's local tape drive and enter the following command:

snapmirror update [options] [sv_secondary:]sv_volume

options can be one or more of the following:

  • -k n sets the maximum transfer speed to n kilobytes per second. This option has the same effect as the kbs argument in the /etc/snapmirror.conf file.
  • -S [source_filer:]source_volume specifies the source filer and volume for the migration. source_volume is the volume you want to copy.

sv_secondary is the name of the SnapVault secondary system that you want to restore to.

sv_volume is the volume that you want to restore. For more information about the snapmirror update command, see Updating a destination manually.

7

After all tape-to-SnapVault retrieve and update operations are complete, use the snapmirror break command to turn the restored filer volume back to completely read-writable status.

snapmirror break /vol/volume_name/

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