Protecting your Compliant SnapVault backups with SnapMirror

Protection of different SnapLock volumes

If you want to protect backups on SnapLock Enterprise volumes with SnapMirror, you can use the same procedures that you use for non-SnapLock volumes. See Protecting your SnapVault backups through SnapMirror.

This section describes protecting backups on SnapLock Compliance volumes. If you are protecting backups on SnapLock Compliance volume with SnapMirror, some operations described in Protecting your SnapVault backups through SnapMirror do not work. Specifically, the snapmirror resync command cannot be used on SnapLock Compliance volumes.

Note
The snapmirror resync command is not supported for SnapLock Compliance volumes because a resynchronization operation might alter data and, by definition, Compliance data must not be altered. Qtree SnapMirror (using the snapmirror resync command) and SnapVault resynchronization (using the snapvault start -r command) to SnapLock Compliance volumes are allowed because Data ONTAP provides a mechanism to store the data altered by a resynchronization for subsequent retrieval. No such mechanism exists for the snapmirror resync command.

Providing backup and standby protection

By setting up a SnapMirror relationship between the SnapVault secondary storage system and a SnapMirror destination or NearStore system, you can provide backup and standby protection for the SnapVault secondary storage system data. Backup and standby protection involves the following process:

Step	Action
1	Use the SnapMirror destination device as a standby device to be activated as an alternate SnapVault secondary storage if the original secondary storage device goes down. For details see Using backup and standby protection for SnapVault. Note The SnapMirror destination systems cannot take advantage of the disk-space-saving benefits of volume cloning. If you used volume cloning on the original SnapVault secondary volume to store more than 255 Snapshot copies, the limit imposed on volumes by Data ONTAP, the SnapMirror destination volumes might need to be larger than the SnapVault secondary volumes if they are going to store the same amount of data.
2	Reestablishing backup and standby protection using this procedure, you have your original SnapMirror destination volumes as your SnapVault secondary volumes, and new volumes as your SnapMirror destination volumes. For details see Reestablishing backup and standby protection for SnapVault. Note You could use the original SnapVault secondary volumes when they become available after the retention periods of Snapshot copies and files on the volumes expire, but retention periods are usually long enough such that the volumes are not likely to be available.
3	An optional step, but one we do not recommend, is to return to the original backup and standby configuration. After reestablishing the backup and standby configuration your SnapVault secondary volumes are protected with a SnapMirror replication, but the two backup systems are reversed (the system that was your standby is now your secondary and the system that was your secondary is now your standby). Instead of returning to the original configuration, we recommend that the storage systems you use for your SnapVault secondaries and their associated SnapMirror standbys have the same configuration such that their roles can be reversed, if necessary. If you must return to the original backup and standby configuration, see Returning to the original backup and standby configuration for details.

Step

Action

Use the SnapMirror destination device as a standby device to be activated as an alternate SnapVault secondary storage if the original secondary storage device goes down. For details see Using backup and standby protection for SnapVault.

Note
The SnapMirror destination systems cannot take advantage of the disk-space-saving benefits of volume cloning. If you used volume cloning on the original SnapVault secondary volume to store more than 255 Snapshot copies, the limit imposed on volumes by Data ONTAP, the SnapMirror destination volumes might need to be larger than the SnapVault secondary volumes if they are going to store the same amount of data.

Reestablishing backup and standby protection using this procedure, you have your original SnapMirror destination volumes as your SnapVault secondary volumes, and new volumes as your SnapMirror destination volumes. For details see Reestablishing backup and standby protection for SnapVault.

Note
You could use the original SnapVault secondary volumes when they become available after the retention periods of Snapshot copies and files on the volumes expire, but retention periods are usually long enough such that the volumes are not likely to be available.

An optional step, but one we do not recommend, is to return to the original backup and standby configuration. After reestablishing the backup and standby configuration your SnapVault secondary volumes are protected with a SnapMirror replication, but the two backup systems are reversed (the system that was your standby is now your secondary and the system that was your secondary is now your standby).

Instead of returning to the original configuration, we recommend that the storage systems you use for your SnapVault secondaries and their associated SnapMirror standbys have the same configuration such that their roles can be reversed, if necessary.

If you must return to the original backup and standby configuration, see Returning to the original backup and standby configuration for details.

Using backup and standby protection for SnapVault

To set up SnapMirror backup and standby protection for the SnapVault secondary storage system and fail over to the standby system, if needed, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Use the `license` command to confirm that the SnapVault secondary storage device has both SnapVault secondary storage and SnapMirror features licensed.
2	Use the `license` command to confirm that the SnapMirror destination device has both the SnapVault secondary storage and SnapMirror features licensed.
3	Set up SnapMirror replication from the active SnapVault secondary storage system to a disk-based destination device (another storage or NearStore system). For a quick description of setting up a SnapMirror relationship with a disk-based destination device, see Setting up a basic SnapMirror operation.
4	If the active SnapVault secondary storage system is damaged or destroyed, convert the SnapMirror destination device to an alternate SnapVault secondary system to carry on the task of backing up data from the primary storage systems. For details on converting a SnapMirror destination to a writable volume, see Converting a destination to a writable volume or qtree.
5	Activate the SnapVault license on the new SnapVault systems, and use the `snapvault start` and `snapvault snap sched` commands to complete configuration of the new SnapVault secondary storage system.

Reestablishing backup and standby protection for SnapVault

To reestablish SnapMirror backup and standby protection for the new SnapVault secondary storage system, complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	Perform an initial SnapMirror transfer from the new SnapVault secondary volume to the new volume using the `snapmirror initialize` command. See Setting up a basic SnapMirror operation for details. Caution Using the `snapmirror initialize` command will destroy all existing data on the new volumes. Note If you are able to use your original SnapVault secondary volumes as the new SnapMirror destinations and you used volume cloning to go beyond 255 Snapshot copies, which is the limit imposed on a volume by Data ONTAP, the original SnapVault secondary volumes might not be large enough to accommodate the replication. If this is the case, you can add disk space to the original SnapVault secondary volumes.

Step

Action

Perform an initial SnapMirror transfer from the new SnapVault secondary volume to the new volume using the snapmirror initialize command. See Setting up a basic SnapMirror operation for details.

Caution
Using the snapmirror initialize command will destroy all existing data on the new volumes.

Note
If you are able to use your original SnapVault secondary volumes as the new SnapMirror destinations and you used volume cloning to go beyond 255 Snapshot copies, which is the limit imposed on a volume by Data ONTAP, the original SnapVault secondary volumes might not be large enough to accommodate the replication. If this is the case, you can add disk space to the original SnapVault secondary volumes.

Returning to the original backup and standby configuration

To return to the original configuration, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Break the SnapMirror relationship.
2	Follow Steps 4 and 5 of the procedure described in Using backup and standby protection for SnapVault to fail over to the original SnapVault secondary.
3	Follow the procedure described in Reestablishing backup and standby protection for SnapVault. Note Another set of disks must be used for the standby SnapMirror destinations when you reestablish the SnapMirror relationships, unless the retention periods have expired on the disks.

Step

Action

Break the SnapMirror relationship.

Follow Steps 4 and 5 of the procedure described in Using backup and standby protection for SnapVault to fail over to the original SnapVault secondary.

Follow the procedure described in Reestablishing backup and standby protection for SnapVault.

Note
Another set of disks must be used for the standby SnapMirror destinations when you reestablish the SnapMirror relationships, unless the retention periods have expired on the disks.

Limitations to Compliance backup and standby service

The following are limitations to the backup and standby service:

Once you have failed over to the standby device and have begun to take backups, you cannot reuse the original SnapVault secondary storage disks for protecting the new SnapVault secondary volumes until the retention periods for all Snapshot copies and data on the original SnapVault secondary storage disks have expired.
For all practical purposes, the original SnapVault secondary storage disks cannot be used to protect the new SnapVault secondary volumes and cannot be used to resume their original role as SnapVault secondaries because typical retention periods are on the order of months to years.
You cannot restore backup data to SnapVault secondary storage if the secondary storage uses SnapLock Compliance volumes, because of the constraints put on SnapLock Compliance volumes to eliminate the possibility of losing Compliance data.
Note
Failing over to a standby device is complex, has the aforementioned limitations, and is costly in terms of time and disk space. Failing over should only be done in the event of a permanent loss of the original SnapVault secondary storage in when the quick resumption of backups is critical enough to warrant the cost of reestablishing the original configuration.

Backup protection of LockVault log volumes

Along with backing up Compliance SnapLock secondary storage volumes, you might want to provide additional protection for LockVault log volumes.

Protecting a LockVault log volume

The LockVault log volume can be protected by creating a SnapMirror backup with the same update schedule that you have for other SnapMirror relationships between the SnapVault secondary storage system and the SnapMirror destination. To protect a LockVault log volume, complete the following step:

Step	Action
1	Create a SnapMirror relationship between the LockVault log volume and a new LockVault log volume on the new standby system. See Setting up a basic SnapMirror operation for details.

Failing over to the standby system

If you convert the standby system to a Snapvault secondary system, you need to configure the LockVault log volume to continue to collect log information. To configure the LockVault log volume, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Quiesce the SnapMirror relationship to the LockVault log volume on the converted standby system using the `snapmirror quiesce` command. snapmirror quiesce volume_name
2	Break the SnapMirror relationship to the LockVault log volume on the converted standby system using the `snapmirror break` command. snapmirror break volume_name
3	Configure the LockVault log volume on the converted standby system using the `options` command. options snapvault.lockvault_log_volume volume_name

Step

Action

Quiesce the SnapMirror relationship to the LockVault log volume on the converted standby system using the snapmirror quiesce command.

snapmirror quiesce volume_name

Break the SnapMirror relationship to the LockVault log volume on the converted standby system using the snapmirror break command.

snapmirror break volume_name

Configure the LockVault log volume on the converted standby system using the options command.

options snapvault.lockvault_log_volume volume_name

Reestablishing standby protection

If you reestablish standby protection for new SnapVault secondary volumes, you should also reestablish new standby protection for the LockVault log volume. As is the case with reestablishing standby protection for SnapVault secondary volumes, you need a new or scratch volume for the new standby LockVault log volume. To reestablish standby protection, complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	Create a SnapMirror relationship between the LockVault log volume and a new LockVault log volume on the new standby system. See Setting up a basic SnapMirror operation for details.