Dell NetWorker 19.9 Administration Guide

Configuring the Linux host as a storage node

Configure a storage node host to manage the data protection activities on a host that is not the NetWorker server.

1. Ensure that the storage node software and required enabler codes have been installed on the host.
2. In the NetWorker server Administration interface, click the Devices view.
3. From the navigation tree, right-click Storage Nodes, and select New.

   The Create Storage Node window appears, with the General tab displayed.

4. Set the Identity attributes:
   1. In Name, specify the hostname or the FQDN of the NetWorker Storage Node. The FQDN of a NetWorker Storage Node can contain up to 255 characters. For more information, see NetWorker Client FQDN compliant with RFC 1123.
   2. In Type of Storage Node, select SCSI.
5. In the Status attributes, review or set the storage node status:
   1. Storage node is configured indicates whether a device has already been configured on this storage node.
   2. Enabled indicates whether the storage node is available for use:
      • Yes indicates available state.
      • No indicates service or disabled state. New device operations cannot begin and existing device operations may be canceled.
   3. Ready indicates whether the storage node is ready to accept device operations.
6. Set the Device Management attributes:
   1. In Max active devices, set the maximum number of devices that NetWorker may use from this storage node in a DDS environment.
   2. In AFTD allowed directories, for AFTD devices, type the pathnames of directories on the storage host where AFTDs are allowed to be created.
   3. In mmds for disabled devices, select the nsrmmd (data mover) option:
      • To start nsrmmd processes for disabled devices, select Yes.
      • To not start nsrmmd processes for disabled devices, select No.
   4. In Dynamic nsrmmds, for AFTD or DD Boost devices, select whether nsrmmd processes on the storage node devices are started dynamically.
      • Selected (Dynamic mode): NetWorker starts one nsrmmd process per device and adds more only on demand, for example, when a device's Target sessions is reached.
      • Unselected (Static mode): NetWorker runs all available nsrmmd processes.

        In environments where unattended firewall ports must be restricted for security reasons, the storage node settings for mmds for disabled devices and Dynamic nsrmmds unselected (static mode) offer more control. These storage node settings cause all available nsrmmd firewall ports to be attended by running nsrmmd processes.

7. Select the Configuration tab.
8. In Scanning, set the attributes for SCSI library target devices on this storage node:
   1. In Device Sharing Mode, select an option:
      • Server Default uses the NetWorker server setting for device sharing.
      • Maximal Sharing allows sharing of all devices.
      • No Sharing disables device sharing.
   2. In Search all LUNs, select an option:
      • For NetWorker to detect all LUNs (Iogical unit numbers), select Yes. Detection can be time consuming.
      • For NetWorker to stop searching at the first available LUN, select No, the default setting.
   3. In Use persistent names, choose whether NetWorker uses persistent device names specific to the storage host operating system when performing device discovery and autoconfiguration operations.
   4. In Skip SCSI targets field:
      • If the storage node type is set to SCSI, list any SCSI targets to exclude from backup operations, one per line.
      • The format is bus.target.lun where the target and LUN fields are optional.
      • You can exclude a maximum of 63 targets.
9. For AFTD or DD Boost devices, configure the following settings in Advanced Devices:
   • In Server network interface, type the unique network interface hostname of the NetWorker server to be used by the storage nodes.
   • In Clone storage nodes, list by priority the hostnames of the storage nodes to be used for the save or “write source” side of clone operations originating from this storage node as the “read source.” The clone operation selects the first storage node in this list that has an enabled device and a functional nsrmmd process.
     • If the Clone storage nodes attribute does not contain a value, then the device operations use the value that is defined in the Clone storage nodes attribute for the Storage Node resource that was created for the NetWorker server.
     • If the Clone storage nodes attribute for the storage node resource is empty, then device operations use the values that are defined in Storage nodes attribute for the client resource that was created for the NetWorker server.

     In backup-to-disk environments, it is possible for a single backup volume to be shared by multiple storage devices on different storage nodes. This can result in an ambiguous clone write source.

10. Click OK.