4 4 3 Grolar:S3 Cloud Storage Replication

From SEPsesam

Template:Copyright SEP AG en

This is not the latest version of SEP sesam documentation and, as such, does not provide information on features introduced in the latest release. For more information on SEP sesam releases, see SEP sesam Release Versions. For the latest documentation, check Configuring Si3 NG Deduplication Store.


Deduplication store types

SEP sesam v. 5.0.0 Jaglion has introduced a new generation Si3 deduplication store: Si3 NG. It offers significantly higher performance for backup, restore and migration, as well as backup to S3. With Si3 NG, you can back up your data directly to S3 cloud storage and restore the items you want directly from there. However, it does not support S3 cloud replication. For details, see Backup to S3 Cloud Storage.

Deprecated Si3 data store

The old generation Si3 deduplication store is deprecated. This means that the old generation Si3 is no longer being enhanced, but is still supported until further notice. SEP strongly recommends using the new Si3 NG data store instead, especially if the data is to be stored to S3 Cloud.

  • If you are using an old generation Si3 deduplication store with S3, you will not be able to restore from S3 via the GUI.
  • You can configure a new Si3 NG and an old Si3 in parallel on the same host and replicate from the old Si3 to the Si3 NG store. For details, see Configuring Si3 NG Deduplication Store.

Note that the procedures introduced in this article only apply to the first generation Si3 deduplication store (and not to the new Si3 NG).

Overview

You can use S3 (simple storage solution) cloud storage to safely store and retrieve your business data. Use SEP sesam S3 cloud replication to generate a second or third copy of your backup data in the cloud (e.g., S3 Cloud storage). SEP sesam treats the cloud storage like any other device. It creates the snapshots and synchronizes data with the cloud.

Configuring replication to the cloud

SEP sesam enables you to replicate your data to the S3 cloud storage by using the Si3 deduplication store. The procedure consists of the following steps:

  1. Creating a bucket
  2. Creating a new backup user
  3. Configuring the Si3 deduplication store for replicating to S3
  4. Configuring two dedicated media pools of different types
  5. Configuring the backup

Creating a bucket

Sign-up for S3 and create a bucket (container) where every object in S3 is stored. For details, see Creating a Bucket.

Creating a new backup user

  1. On S3, configure an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user <user_name> with administrative user rights. For details, see Creating an Administrator IAM User and Group.
  2. Create the same user <user_name> with the same password on the backup server.
  3. Add the newly created user to the Administrators group. For details, see Configuring Database-Based Authentication.
Note
Starting with SP1 of Beefalo V2 (4.4.3.84 SP1), the S3 credentials are stored encrypted (not in plain text) in the ini file.

Configuring the Si3 deduplication store for replication to S3

Configure an Si3 deduplication store for replication to S3. For details on configuring an Si3 deduplication store and its prerequisites, see Configuring an Si3 Deduplication Store.

  1. In the Main selection -> Components, click Data Stores to display the data store contents frame.
  2. From the Data Stores menu, select New Data Store. A New Data Store dialog is displayed.
  3. In the Name field, enter a meaningful name for the Si3 deduplication store, for example, si3-store-2.
  4. From the Store type drop-down list, select SEP Si3 Deduplication Store.
  5. Make sure that the option Create drive is checked under the Drive parameter properties. The predefined value for the drive is automatically inserted in the Drive number field.
  6. In the Path field, enter the location for your Si3 store, for example, H:, or use the Browse button to select the relevant folder and click OK.
  7. Under the Drive group properties, select Create new drive group if you want to create a new drive group, for example, si3-store-2, or select Use existing drive group to add a drive to one of the configured groups, available in the drop-down list.
  8. The predefined number of channels is already displayed in the Max. channels drop-down list. The number of available channels depends on your SEP sesam Server package. For details on SEP sesam licenses, see Licensing.

  9. Switch to the S3 Credentials tab and specify your previously configured credentials, see the above section Creating a new backup user.

  10. If you want to create a media pool for your Si3 deduplication store immediately, click Create Media Pool. Otherwise, click OK to configure your Si3 deduplication store.

Configuring two dedicated media pools of different types

After configuring an Si3 deduplication store, you have to configure at least two media pools in the Si3 deduplication store properties. One pool is required for backup, while the other is used as a clone for S3 sync pools. If you have not configured a media pool before saving your Si3 deduplication store, configure a media pool from Main Selection -> Data Stores -> double-click Si3 deduplication store -> Properties window -> Create Media Pool.

Creating a media pool for backup

  1. Double-click the Si3 deduplication store and in the Properties window click Create Media Pool.
  2. Enter a name for the media pool, for example, MP_S3-Store_dly.
  3. Set the Retention time, for which the media in the pool are protected from writing (see Managing EOL).

Creating a clone media pool

A specific media pool is required for S3 sync to receive the clone data.

Note
Only one clone type media pool can be created per Si3 store.
  1. Double-click the Si3 deduplication store and in the Properties window click Create Media Pool.
  2. In the New Media Pool window, enter a media pool name, for example, S3-Store.
  3. From the Type drop-down list, select a clone type media pool.
  4. Set the Retention time, for which the media in the pool are protected from writing (see Managing EOL).


Note
  • In the case of a clone media pool, the option Set media pool inactive controls not only whether a media pool is available for use, but also whether the upload – synchronization with the S3 cloud is performed. If you deactivate a clone media pool by selecting the option Set media pool inactive, the data is no longer synchronized with the S3 cloud. The deactivated clone media pool is marked with the OFF icon in the GUI and all uploads to S3 are stopped.
  • The clone media pool cannot be used for backup, restore, migration or replication.

Configuring backup

After configuring an Si3 deduplication store and media pool, create a backup task to back up and replicate data to S3. Then configure a schedule and a new backup event for it. For details, see Standard Backup Procedure.

During the backup, SEP sesam creates the snapshots and synchronizes the data with the S3 cloud. The S3 snapshots are listed under the Media tab (previously the Areas tab) of the data store properties, as shown in the following screenshot.