Source:How to use CIFS share (NAS) as data store and how to back up data from CIFS share

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Docs latest icon.png Welcome to the latest SEP sesam documentation version 4.4.3 to 4.4.3 Tigon V2. For previous documentation version(s), check Documentation archive.


Overview

Quick Start 3.png
Quick setup
  1. Create on the storage/target side a backup user with read/write access on the volumes you want to back up.
  2. Create the same user with the same password at the backup server.
  3. Put this user to the group administrators.
  4. Go to Services.msc, edit the SEP sesam service and set start as <user_name> you created before.
  5. Restart the sesam service.
  6. Create local backup tasks. Example: //QNAP/media/* and turn off VSS.


SEP Warning.png Warning
Do not use CIFS share for deduplication!

SEP sesam provides efficient backup from as well as to Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, such as QNap and Synology, which support data transmission through the CIFS protocol. You can use SEP sesam to save your data to CIFS shares (by creating a data store) or to back up your files on CIFS shares to another storage. Note that an Si3 deduplication data store is not supported for backing up to CIFS shares.

Using a CIFS share as a backup repository

If you want to use a CIFS share as a data store, configure it as described in the following procedure.

Prerequisites

  • Make sure that the volume, which is going to be used as a data store, is dedicated to the SEP sesam data store exclusively and not shared by other users or applications!
  • Ensure maximum network connection stability between the SEP sesam Server and your CIFS share.

Setting SEP sesam service permission

In order to be able to back up to CIFS or from CIFS shares the SEP sesam service has to run as a local Administrator account. By default, SEP sesam is started as a local system account, which does not have access to network drives.

The user which SEP sesam uses can be changed in the services settings like shown here:

SEP sesam properties.png
After changing the account please restart the service.

  • It may be necessary to use the Domain Admin account (WINDOWS_DOMAIN/Administrator), if the target is a domain member.

Check access to the CIFS share

Log-on with the user name which you have just configured in the service settings and try accessing the share using the explorer via UNC path like shown in this screen shot:

Backup cifs2.jpg

In this example, the storage we want to back up to is represented as \\sepnap.sep.de\winfix.

During access with the Explorer no username or password request for authentication should appear, otherwise, sesam will have problems accessing the network share. Please note that when sharing a folder for CIFS backup on a newer Windows system, you will need to have a user with the same credentials as the SEP sesam service user on the machine that serves the share.

The CIFS share should not be mapped as a network drive at the same time!

The $ symbols are recommended but not required.

Configuration

Configure a data store to backup to CIFS share

In order to create a data store which can be able to back up to a CIFS share, the drive, which gets configured for a data store, has to point to the network share like shown in this screenshot:

File:Backup cifs3.jpg

In this example, the data store should back up to \\sepnap.sep.de\winfix$. The capacity cannot be set during creation. Upon the first backup to this data store, the free space on the CIFS share will be added to the data stores information!

Configure a regular media pool for backup to CIFS shares

Just like the data store, a media pool location simply points to a certain UNC Path, in this example, the location we want to back up to is \\sepnap.sep.de\winfix$: File:Backup cifs4.jpg

Start Backup

Starting a backup to the create data store will result in folders and files to be created. If the backup fails with a WIN32 API Error: Access denied, the sesam server still has issues accessing the UNC Path correctly.

Troubleshooting

If a backup fails, check the following topics:

  • Does the service really run as local Administrator account?
  • Can you create files in the directory via the systems explorer?
  • Enough free space on the CIFS share to store enough data?
  • Is the same share you want to back up to mapped to some kind drive name?

See also

Configuring a Data StoreConfiguring a Media PoolStandard Backup ProcedureNetApp-CIFS-Backup