Backing up vFiler units

Considerations

You can back up vFiler unit data from the hosting storage system or from a vFiler unit's client. Keep the following points in mind when planning vFiler unit backups:

From the hosting storage system, you can back up the storage units owned by vFiler units just as you would if the vFiler units did not exist---using the dump command, for example.
You can back up all vFiler units at once. This method does not separate the data by vFiler unit, so it is not suitable if each vFiler unit's data must be archived separately.
From a client of a vFiler unit, you can back up all of that vFiler unit's data, but no other vFiler unit's data.
- A CIFS client can mount "/" from a vFiler unit and see a virtual tree comprising all of that vFiler unit's storage units. (See Accessing a vFiler unit's file system with CIFS and NFS for more information.)
- A CIFS client can capture all of a vFiler unit's data, both CIFs and NFS.
- An NFS client cannot see a virtual tree for the vFiler unit.
- An NFS client can back up all of the vFiler unit's NFS data, but not its CIFS data.
If you want to back up an individual vFiler unit's data separately, a good way is to back up from a client (particularly a CIFS client). This backup method does not allow you to back up all vFiler units at once.