PowerProtect Data Manager 19.13 Storage Direct User Guide

Add a centralized protection policy for Storage Direct

Select the centralized protection policy for Storage Direct if you want PowerProtect Data Manager to centrally manage all stages of the protection policy. You can use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a centralized protection policy for Storage Direct data protection.

1. From the left navigation pane, select Protection > Protection Policies.
   The Protection Policies window appears.
2. In the Protection Policies window, click Add.
   The Add Policy wizard appears.
3. On the Type page, specify the following fields, and then click Next:
   • Name—Type a descriptive name for the protection policy.
   • Description—Type a description for the policy.
   • Type—Select Storage Group.
4. In the Purpose page:
   1. Select Centralized Protection.
   2. Select one of the following options:
      • If this is a new Storage Direct environment, select PowerProtect Data Manager will automatically provision and manage all storage required to meet this objective.

        When selected, PowerProtect Data Manager will perform the provisioning of the Storage Direct environment and create the required configuration on both the VMAX storage and the DD system. For example, a backup device group and restore device group are created on the DD system, and a backup storage group that is linked with the source storage group, and a restore storage group, are created on the VMAX.

      • If this is an existing Storage Direct environment, select PowerProtect Data Manager will not provision and manage my storage.

        When selected, no additional configuration is performed since this configuration was already completed during setup of the stand-alone Storage Direct environment. The configuration will be read from the configuration file and stored in the PowerProtect Data Manager database.

   3. Click Next.
      The Assets page appears.
5. Select the unprotected storage groups that you want to add to the backup of this protection policy group. Within this page, you can filter by host or asset name to locate the required assets. Ensure that any assets you add to the policy have a hostname entry in the Host column.
   The Assets page displays the storage groups that are attached to the host that are unprotected (storage groups that have not been assigned to a protection policy).
6. Click Next.
   The Objectives page appears.
7. On the Objectives page, select a policy-level Service Level Agreement (SLA) from the Set Policy Level SLA list, or select Add to open the Add Service Level Agreement wizard and create a policy-level SLA.
   The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides instructions.
8. Click Add under Primary Backup.
   The Add Primary Backup dialog appears.
9. On the Schedules pane of the Add Primary Backup dialog box, specify the following fields to schedule the synthetic full backup of this protection policy:
   1. Create a Synthetic Full...—Specify how often to create a synthetic full backup. A synthetic full backs up only the changed blocks since the last backup to create a new full backup.
   2. Retain for—Specify the retention period for the backup.
   3. Start and End —The activity window. Specify a time of day to start the synthetic full backup, and a time of day after which backups cannot be started. .
      NOTE: Any backups started before End occurs continue until completion.
10. Specify the fields on the Target pane of the Add Primary Backup dialog.
    If you are a new Storage Direct user, the Storage Name and Network interface lists are enabled for selection, and the Retention Lock slider can be moved to On. If you are an existing Storage Direct user, the protection storage destination is selected automatically and you cannot modify the selection. Also, the Retention Lock slider cannot be moved.
    1. Storage Name—For the primary backup, select a destination from the list of protection storage, or select Add to add a protection storage system and complete the details in the Storage Target window.
       NOTE: The Space field indicates the total amount of space, and the percentage of available space, on the storage system.
    2. Network Interface—Select a network interface from the list, if applicable.
    3. Retention Lock—Move the Retention Lock slider to the right to enable retention locking for these backups.

       The retention lock mode setting comes from the configuration of the selected storage unit. When you enable retention locking, the Retention Lock Mode field displays the corresponding storage unit setting.

       Setting a retention lock applies to the current backup copy only, and does not impact the retention lock setting for existing backup copies.

    4. SLA—Select an existing service level agreement that you want to apply to this schedule from the list, or select Add to create an SLA within the Add Service Level Agreement wizard.
       The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides instructions.
11. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.
    The Objectives page updates to display the name and location of the target storage system under Primary Backup.

    NOTE: The Extend Retention objective was removed in PowerProtect Data Manager 19.12. If updating to the latest version from an earlier version, the Extend Retention objective continues to be supported for policies that are already configured with this objective. However, you are unable to view the existing configuration or delete the objective. The Extend Retention objective cannot be modified.

    After completing the objective, you can change any details by clicking Edit next to the objective.

12. Optionally, replicate the backups:
    NOTE: To enable replication, ensure that you add remote protection storage as the replication location. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides detailed instructions about adding remote protection storage. When creating multiple replicas for the same protection policy, it is recommended to select a different storage system for each copy. If you select a storage unit that is the target of another objective for the same policy, the UI issues a warning. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides information about replicating to shared protection storage to support PowerProtect Cyber Recovery. Verify the storage targets and the use case before you continue.
    1. Click Replicate next to Primary Backup. An entry for Replicate is created to the right of the primary backup objective.
    2. Under Replicate, click Add.
       The Add Replication dialog appears, indicating that replication will be added for replication of the backup to a secondary protection storage system. When you select the destination storage, the Space field updates with the available capacity on the system.
    3. Select when to replicate the backups:
       • To replicate after the backup finishes, move the Replicate immediately upon backup completion slider to on.

       • For scheduled replication, move the Replicate immediately upon backup completion slider to off, and then complete the schedule details in the Add Replication dialog.

         For replication of the primary backup, the schedule frequency can be every day, week, month, or x hours.

         For daily, weekly, and monthly schedules, the numeric value cannot be modified. For hourly, however, you can edit the numeric value. For example, if you set Create a Full backup every 4 hours, you can set a value of anywhere from 1 to 12 hours.

       By default, all replicas of the primary backup objective inherit the retention period from the Retain For value of the synthetic full and full backup schedules.

    4. Retention Lock and Retain for are inherited from the primary backup, and cannot be configured in the Add Replication dialog.
    5. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.
13. Click Next.
    The Options page appears.
14. Use the following options if required for the policy:
    1. If you want to create an application-consistent policy, specify a Pre Snapshot Script and a Post Snapshot Script. For example, specify preSnap.sh and postSnap.sh, which are the names of the provided files. The preSnap.sh script is run before the snapshot is taken, and the postSnap.sh script is run after the snapshot completes.
       Application consistency ensures that before the snapshot is taken on the VMAX and the data is moved to protection storage, the database is quiesced and there is no current activity on the database that would result in the snapshot being in an inconsistent state.

       If the pre-snapshot script fails, then the backup fails immediately. If the pre-snapshot script runs successfully but the post-snapshot script fails, the backup continues unless you have specified a return code of -1 which forces the backup to fail if the post-snapshot script fails.

       NOTE: The provided pre-snapshot and post-snapshot script files should be located under scripts folder of the Storage Direct stand-alone agent installer on the host. If the files are not currently in the scripts folder, ensure that you manually copy the files to this folder, otherwise the backup will fail.
    2. For Troubleshooting, enter true or false to enable or disable a higher debug level.
15. Click Next.
    The Summary page appears.
16. Review the protection policy configuration details. You can click Edit next to any details to make changes. When completed, click Finish.
    An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved the protection policy.

    When the new protection policy is created and assets are added to the protection policy, PowerProtect Data Manager performs backups according to the backup schedule.

17. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the configuration of the new protection policy group.
    NOTE: The backup job details are not visible to the users who are in the user, backup administrator and restore administrator roles. Only the users who are in Admin and Administrator roles can view the backup job details.

    When configuration is in progress, the job entry indicates Configuring Storage Groups - storage group name. Any job that specifies Auto Full, for example, Protecting Storage Groups - storage group name - Auto Full, indicates that a scheduled centralized Storage Direct policy backup has been started.

    The Jobs window breaks down the Storage Group protection by VMAX storage group. Click the link next to the storage group to open the Details pane, where you can view more specific information about the job tasks, such as:

    • Creation of vDisks in the DD system and creation of backup and recovery storage groups.
    • Encapsulation, which involves creating backup and restore FTS devices on the VMAX and linking the DD vDisk with FTS.
    • Creation of the initial snapshot backup, and linking of the snapshot to the protection storage group.
    • Notification that a new configuration file has been pushed to the host.
    • If replication was selected, notification that a job for MTree replication was also initiated.

    Job tasks vary depending on whether you are a new user or an existing Storage Direct user.