Archive:FDSVA Dedup Appliance EN

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As of SEP sesam version 4.4.3, this module is no longer being developed or supported by SEP sesam. Please contact SEP AG for any questions.


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SEP FDS-VA

Prerequisites

  • SEP sesam server version >= 4.2.1.x


Attention

The SEP FDSVA is only for backup environments where the data size of one active backup task or multiple active backups in summary is less than 910 GB at the same time. This is the maximum size of the SEP FDS repository before the deduplication process starts and moves the files to the long term repository! The long term repository can be expanded to max. 5 TB of physical disk space.


Minimum System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements


  • VMware vSphere 4, which means either VMware ESX 4.x, VMware ESXi 4.x, vSphere5 (ESXi5)
  • One 2.0 GHz 64-bit quad core processor
  • 10.74 GB main memory
  • 2.115 TB free storage space
  • Administrative computer (physical or virtual machine) running any version of the Microsoft Windows operating system that supports Java 1.6 Runtime Environment and above. For details on the required Java version, see Java Compatibility Matrix. The administrative computer does not need to be dedicated for use with FDSVA and can run any number of additional applications besides the FalconStor Management Console.

Download

Instructions


1. Click on the link below to download the files to your computer. It is recommended that you use Internet Explorer 7+ or Firefox 3+ to download the software.
download by link: http://download.sep.de/extensions/sep-fds-va/FalconStor-FDSVA-7.00-7082-1T.zip

The FDSVA directory contains the installation package for the FDS Virtual Appliance software and the management console.


Licensing

Trial key

  • A 30-day trial key with max. 5 TB storage support will be provided from SEP's sales team.

To enter license keys:

  1. Right-click your FDS server appliance and select License.
  2. Click the Add button and enter the keycodes shown on your Product Keycode certificates, one at a time.

SEP-FDSVA license

  • To run the SEP FDSVA you have to order the Basic license 'SEP-FDS00B' (which includes 1 TB of deduplication storage) + 1 SEP-SP110. For each additional 1 TB deduplication space you have to order SEP-FDS001 + SEP-SP110.
  • The SEP FDSVA license comes without support from FalconStor. It must be ordered separately from SEP's sales Team.

To enter license keys:

  1. Right-click your FDS server appliance and select License.

Fds-va26.jpg

  1. Click the Add button and enter the keycodes shown on your Product Keycode certificates, one at a time.

Fds-va27.jpg

Hardware/software requirements

  • FDSVA supports the following VMware ESX Server platforms:
    • VMware ESX 4.x (vSphere 4)
    • VMware ESXi 4.x (vSphere 4)
    • VMware ESXi 5.0 (vSphere 5)


All necessary critical patches for VMware ESX server platforms are available on the VMware download patches web site: http://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/download.portal

  • FalconStor Management Console runs only on Windows systems that support Java Runtime Environment (JRE). For details on the required Java version, see Java Compatibility Matrix.

VMware ESX server hardware compatibility

  • FalconStor virtual appliances for VMware are only supported on VMware certified server hardware.
  • To ensure system compatibility and stability, refer to the Full System Compatibility Guide or contact your system hardware vendor to verify support for your VMware virtual infrastructure platform. The Full System Compatibility Guide can be downloaded from: http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide/pdf/vi_systems_guide.pdf
  • 64-bit processor: SEP FDSVA uses a 64-bit system architecture. To run the 64-bit virtual machine on VMware ESX server hardware, the processor must be 64-bit and must be compatible with the VMware ESX system. To verify 64-bit virtual machine support and vMotion compatibility, download the CPU Identification utility from: http://www.vmware.com/download/shared_utilities.html
    If the utility check result is "Supports 64-bit VMware: Yes", your ESX server hardware can run SEP FDSVA.
  • BIOS VT Support: The VMware ESX server must be able to support hardware virtualization for the 64-bit virtual machine. Use the CPU Identification Utility to verify that the system BIOS can support Intel Virtualization Technology (VT). If the utility check result is "Supports 64-bit Longmode: Yes", your ESX server is able to run FDSVA. If the utility check is "Your CPU does not support long mode. Use a 32-bit distribution", your BIOS does not support Intel Virtualization Technology.
  • 2000 MHz CPU resource reservation: SEP FDSVA reserves 2000 MHz for storage virtualization, CIFS/NFS services, file system management, deduplication, and replication processes, ensuring sufficient resources for the VMware ESX server and multiple virtual machines. This requires two quad-core 2.0 GHz 64-bit processors.
  • Memory resource reservation: SEP FDSVA reserves a minimum of memory resources for storage virtualization, file system management, and replication processes, ensuring sufficient resources for the VMware ESX server and multiple virtual machines. The specifications are:
    • 500 MB for the VMware ESX server system
    • Additional memory for the other FDSVAs running on the same ESX server: 10740 MB of memory
  • Storage: FDSVA supports up to 5 TB of storage. Storage is allocated from the standard VMware virtual disk on the local storage or the raw device disk on SAN storage.
  • Network Adapter: 2 vmxnet NICs.
    For the best network performance, the ESX server needs two physical network adapters for one-to-one mapping to the independent virtual switches and the virtual network adapters of FDSVA. In addition, the ESX server may need extra physical network adapters for Virtual infrastructure management, VMware vMotion, or physical network redundancy.
    • Two physical network adapters for a one-to-one virtual network mapping to FalconStor FDSVA.
    • Optional physical network adapters links to one virtual switch for physical network adapters redundancy.
    • Optional physical network adapters for virtual center management though the independent network.
    • Optional physical network adapters for vMotion process though the independent network.

FDSVA specifications and requirements summary

Specification VM Configuration Reservation !
CPU Four virtual CPUs 2000 MHz
Memory* 10740 MB 10740 MB
Disk FDS-VA System: 25 GB

FDS File Systems: 1 TB

FDS Index: 80 GB

FDS Repository: 1 TB*

FDS Database: 10 GB

Network Two virtual network adapters

SEP FDSVA includes 1 TB of repository capacity (requires one repository capacity license), but is expandable up to 5 TB. An expansion kit is available to help you expand the repository capacity in 1 TB increments. A license key is required for each single TB of capacity.

Specification VM Configuration
CPU One Quad-core 2.0 GHz 64-bit processor
Memory 11 GB
Disk 2.115 TB free storage space
Network Two physical network adapters

FDSVA includes 1 TB of repository capacity (requires one repository capacity license), but is expandable to 5 TB. An expansion kit is available to help you expand the repository capacity in 1 TB increments. A license key is required for the additional capacity.

ESX server deployment planning

The SEP FDSVA is a pre-configured and ready-to-run solution that can be installed on a dedicated ESX server in order to function as a SEP sesam Data Store. FDSVA can also be installed on an ESX server that runs other virtual machines but with less performance and it maybe affects the performance of other virtual guest.

  • Dedicated SEP FDSVA - When SEP FDSVA is installed on a dedicated ESX server, no other virtual machine runs on the system.
  • Shared SEP FDSVA - When SEP FDSVA is installed on an ESX server on which other virtual machines are installed or will be installed, SEP FDSVA will share the CPU and memory resources with other virtual machines and still offer storage services for the other virtual machines on the same or the other ESX servers.


Knowledge requirements

Individuals deploying FDSVA should have administrator level experience with VMware ESX and will need to know how to perform the following tasks:

  • Create a new virtual machine from an existing disk
  • Add new disks to an existing virtual machine as Virtual Disks or Mapped Raw Disks
  • Troubleshoot virtual machine networks and adapters

Although not required, it is also needed to have knowledge about the technologies listed below:

  • SEP sesam
  • Linux
  • TCP/IP
  • VMware vSphere


Install VMware virtual infrastructure

The FalconStor FDS Virtual Appliance supports generic VMware ESX server 4 and ESXi hypervisor server 4.x.

Virtual Appliance Import for VMware ESX server 4.x and ESXi 4.x

VMware ESX server 4.x and ESXi hypervisor support virtual appliance import execution from a VMware vSphere Client. If the VMware ESXi server does not support a local and remote console, you will only be able to use the virtual appliance import method to install the FDSVA into the system.

Install FDSVA via virtual appliance import from OVF packages

Before performing an import of the SEP FDSVA on VMware ESXi, you must ensure that the CPU and BIOS of the ESXi Server supports 64-bit operating systems. Run the VMware CPU identification utility to verify the processor capabilities, VT support, and BIOS settings before proceeding.

  1. Upload the FalconStor FDS virtual appliance zip package FalconStor-FDSVAv7.00-b70xx-1T.zip to the configuration computer.
  2. Launch the VMware vSphere Client and connect to the ESX server with root privileges.
  3. Unzip the FalconStor FDS virtual appliance zip packages onto the configuration computer.
    1. Navigate to the directory containing the zip file.
    2. Unzip the following file using a zip utility:
      FalconStor-FDSVA-v7.00-b7082-1T.zip
    3. The files will be extracted to the FalconStor-FDSVA-v7.00-b7082-1T.zip directory.
      Note: Make sure you have enough space to copy and decompress the package in the root folder (approximately 1,100 MB).
  4. Click File on the top menu and then click Deploy OVF Template.
  5. For the Deploy file Location, click the Browse button on the Deploy from file option, select the "FalconStor-FDSVA-v7.00-b7082-1T.zip" directory, expand the FalconStor-FDSVA folder, and select the appropriate file.
    1. Select FalconStor-FDSVA_OVF10.ovf (1.0) for virtual center 4.x.
    2. Select FalconStor-FDSVA_OVF09.ovf (0.9) when importing the virtual machine without the help of vCenter4 in a single VMware ESX server.
  6. Click Next to continue the import. The Name and Location displays the default appliance name: FalconStor-FDSVA. You can change the name of the virtual machine. This change will not be applied into the actual appliance name.
  7. On the Datastore list, click on the datastore containing at least 2.115 TB of space for the FDSVA system import.
  8. For Network Mapping, select the virtual machine network of the ESX server that the FDSVA virtual Ethernet adapter will link to.
  9. On the Ready to Complete screen, review all settings and click Finish to start the virtual appliance import task. The virtual appliance import status window displays the percent complete.


SEP FDSVA basic system environment configuration

Attention

You have to run this configuration procedure for 2 times!


The first time you log into the SEP FDSVA console, the FalconStor Virtual Appliance Setup utility pops up automatically and displays the basic environment configuration as shown in the picture below. If you want to configure the system after the initial setting, you can run the utility by executing the vaconfig command on the SEP FDSVA virtual appliance console.

  1. Launch the VMware vSphere Client and connect to the ESX server with an account that has root privileges.
  2. Right-click the installed FalconStor-FDSVA and then click Open Console. If the SEP FDSVA has not been powered on, click VM on the top menu and then click Power On.
  3. On the FDSVA console, log in as root user. The default password is IPStor101(case sensitive). The FalconStor Virtual Appliance Setup utility launches.
  4. Move the cursor to Configure and scroll to select the item you want to change.

    Fds-va8.jpg

  5. Highlight Host Name and click Enter to configure the host name of the virtual appliance.
  6. Highlight Time Zone and click Enter to configure the time zone. Select whether you want to set the system clock to UTC (the default is No). Scroll up and down to search for the correct time zone of your location.
  7. Highlight Root Password and click Enter to change the new root password of the virtual appliance. You will need to enter the new password again on the confirmation window.
  8. Highlight Network Configuration and click Enter to modify your network configuration. Select eth0 or eth1 to change the IP address setting. Answer "No" using DHCP and then set the IP address of the selected virtual network adapter. If you want to set the IP subnet mask, press down to move the cursor on the netmask setting. The default IP addresses are listed below:
    eth0: 10.0.0.2/255.255.255.0
    eth1: 10.0.0.3/255.255.255.0

    The second eth is case you want to split the data network from the admin network. No bonding is possible and needed.
  9. Answer Yes to repeat the network configuration to set the IP address of another virtual network adapter or answer No to skip it.
  10. After setting the IP address, enter the default gateway of the virtual appliance.
  11. Highlight Name Server and click Enter to modify the server name. You can add four DNS server records into the virtual appliance configuration.
  12. Highlight NTP Server configuration and click Enter to add four NTP server records into the virtual appliance configuration.
  13. After making all configuration changes, tab over to Finish and click Enter. The utility will list the configuration changes you made.
  14. Click yes to accept and apply the setting on the virtual appliance. The server may need to reboot to make the changes effective. Login again to effect the auto SEP FDSVA configuration

Auto SEP FDSVA configuration

The auto SEP FDSVA configuration process runs automatically after you finish the basic system environment configuration of your virtual appliance. This process:

  • Configures deduplication
  • Creates automatic server startup/shutdown links


Expand the SEP FDSVA landing ZONE

SEP FDSVA installation comes with 950 GB "landing ZONE" space (primary data space - before the savesets get deduped) but only 250 GB are prepared! This is expandable up to 4 TB. To expand the landing ZONE to the already prepared 950 GB, do the following:

1. Add the key code license for the capacity from the FDS console.

2. Right click the FileSystem-00001 and select expand

Fds-va28.jpg

3. Accept the following warning with "OK" -> Next


4. Now you see all available disks -> click "De-Select all" -> select the 3 disks with 249 GB -> Next -> Next -> wait for approximately 1 hour -> finish!

Expanding the SEP FDSVA SIR_DATA (long terme dedup space) system

SEP FDSVA installation includes 1 TB of repository capacity (requires one repository capacity license), but is expandable up to 5 TB. An expansion kit is available to help you expanding the repository capacity in 1 TB increments. To complete the expansion, do the following:

1. Add the key code license for the capacity from the FDS console.

2. Power off the FDS virtual appliance.

3. Launch the VMware vSphere Client and connect to the ESX server with root privileges.

4. Right-click the FDS virtual appliance and select Edit Settings.

5. Set the memory size of the virtual machine.

Note that each TB of repository requires 2 GB additional RAM

Type Defined Memory Setting
2TB Expansion 12 GB 12816 MB
3TB Expansion 14 GB 14892 MB
4TB Expansion 16 GB 16992 MB
5TB Expansion 18 GB 19068 MB

6. Click Add to launch the Add Hardware wizard and then select Hard Disk to add new disks.

7. Follow the hardware specifications below to expand the system with 244 GB disks.


Enter the capacity and select Virtual Device Node accordingly for each device.

Notes:
  • FDSVA with 1 TB repository capacity license still uses virtual device node up to ACSL 0:11.
  • FDSVA with 2 TB expansion uses virtual device node starting from 0:13. You always have to add 244 GB Disks pices to your VM
  • The virtual device node 0:12 will be reserved for future use. Therefore, you should not add a virtual disk as virtual device node 0:12.
  • In the diagram below, VMware Virtual Device Node is the SCSI device address shown in the VMware vSphere Console and ACSL from FDS Console is the SCSI device address shown in the FDS console.
  • An example of such a second TB (4 x 250 GB disks) SEP FDSVA can be added -> Turn of the SEP FDSVA VM


Fds-va18.jpg


Fds-va19.jpg


Fds-va11.jpg


Fds-va21.jpg


  • add the first 244 GB disk with the virtual device node 1:0:1:0
  • add the second 244 GB disk with the virtual device node 1:0:2:0
  • add the third 244 GB disk with the virtual device node 1:0:3:0
  • add the fourth 244 GB disk with the virtual device node 1:0:4:0

For the third, fourth and fifth TB, take a look in the diagram below


Fds-va14.jpg


8. Power on the FDS virtual appliance.

9. Run the VA expansion script on the VM shell --> vaexpkit. The script will detect if the new storage matches one of pre-defined expansion inside the VM.

Expansion issues

If you do not add a sufficient capacity key code license and you then execute the vaexpkit expansion script, the expansion script will detect the error and exit during the expansion process. However, because the new index/folder/data resources have already been created, you will need to do the following to complete the expansion process:

  1. Add a key code license for the appropriate additional capacity.
  2. Add new index/folder resources from the console (Deduplication --> Repository --> Add Index and Folder Disks). Select Virtual Device as the disk type.
  3. Add new data resources from the console (Deduplication --> Repository --> Add Data Disks). Select Virtual Device as the disk type, models and will automatically start the expansion process.


Make sure that the virtual machine has been provided with the required amount of memory; otherwise the expansion will not work even though all additional disks have been provided. The error message during vaexpkit will look like this:

Found available physical devices: "0:0:13:0 0:0:14:0 0:0:15:0 1:0:0:0 1:0:1:0 1:0:2:0 1:0:3:0 1:0:4:0 1:0:5:0"
[...]
ERROR! System has 7470 MB memory which does not fit predefined size, 12288 MB.
Model:[FDSVA-2T] does not match !

Install the FalconStor Management console

The FalconStor Management Console is the central management tool to manage and configure the SEP FDSVA. You will use the console for repository and FDS file system creation, and replication configuration. The computer that runs the FDS Console needs connectivity to the network segment where FDS is running. This is because it communicates directly with the server. The console can be installed on any Windows system. We recommend that you install the FalconStor Management Console and VMware vSphere Client on the same computer.

Run FDS-Console-7.00-xxxx.exe to install the console.

On the FalconStor Management Console, you can manage several SEP FDSVA simultaneously. You can configure replication, but you will need to register and connect to both FDS virtual appliances to complete the settings between the FDS virtual appliances.

Upgrade the SEP FDSVA V 7x with service packs

1. Login with ssh

2. Stop all running FDS services

  fds stop all

3. Check if all services stopped

  fds status

4. Create a new directory in /tmp

  cd /tmp   
  mkdir fds7

5. Extract the service pack SEP_FDSVA_V700.zip file to the new fds7 directory (or extract it on a different system before copy it with winSCP to the /tmp/fds7 directory)

6. Start the Update

  cd /tmp/fds7/
  for i in update*;do bash $i;done

7. Start the FDS services

  fds start

8. Check all FDS services for online state

  fds status

9. Update the FDS-Console on the Windows Computer

  double click FDS-Console-7.00-7082-04.exe which is a part of the Patch_SEP_FDSVA_V700.zip

Launch the Console and connect to your SEP FDSVA RDS

  1. To launch the Console, select Start --> Programs --> FalconStor --> FDS 7.00 --> FDS Console.
  2. Right-click the FDS Servers object and select Add. You can also right-click the FDS Servers object and select Discover to detect FDS servers in a range of IP addresses. You should then specify the subnet range of your FDS server and wait for the FDS server hostname to appear in the navigation tree. When the hostname appears in the navigation tree, right-click it and select Connect.

    Fds-va12.jpg

    Fds-va13.jpg

  3. Enter the IP address of FDSVA eth0. Use the default administrator account "root" and enter the default administrator password "IPStor101" or the changed one. Both are case sensitive. Once you are connected to the server, the server icon will change to show that you are connected. If your system is not already configured, the configuration wizard launches.


Configure deduplication

The deduplication is set "automatically" as a default. Only in special cases you should change it to manually. To see the options or adjust -> Right-click the FDS server and select Deduplication --> Configure.


Fds-va15.jpg


The basic configuration for the FDS-VA is now ready

Control of the actual space used

  • To see the ratio of the already deduplicated stored data got to -> Status > Global Deduplication Statistics

Fds-va29.jpg

SEP sesam configuration

The SEP FDSVA has to work as SEP sesam Remote Device Server (RDS). Follow the steps for installation:

  • Download the latest version of sesam_rts for RHEL5 x86_64 "http://download.sep.de/linux/RedHat/x86_64/RHEL5/" and copy it to the /tmp directory of the SEP FDSVA
  • Install the .rpm file with rpm -Uvh sesam_rts-x.x.x.rpm
  • Add the permission for the SEP sesam Server with
    [root@sepfdsva1 ~]# /opt/sesam/bin/sesam/sm_setup set_client augenblix
    • The hostname of the SEP sesam server in this example is augenblix.


Hint:

Check the name resolution for the hostname on the SEP FDSVA and the SEP sesam Server before! For common tools doing this look here.

Configuration of the SEP sesam FDS data store

  • Open the SEP sesam GUI
  • Go to Components -> Topology and add the SEP FDSVA as a SEP sesam Client for Unix by using its hostname.


Fds-va22.jpg


  • Check the "Current Messages" windows in the SEP sesam GUI to check for a successful state.


Fds-va23.jpg


  • Go to Components -> Data Stores and add a new Sesam DataStore with the entries as shown in the next picture


Fds-va24.jpg


Important
  • Store Type: SEP FalconStor SEP FDS DeDupStore
  • Device Server has to be the SEP FDSVA, represented by its hostname
  • Adjust the watermarks like shown in the picture above
  • Max. channels depends on the SEP sesam Server edition
  • Path on the SEP FDSVA you have to use the path /nas/FileSystem-00001/fds/Data1


  • Add a new Mediapool


Fds-va25.jpg


  • The Mediapool can now be used as usual