Creating a Storage Policy

Storage policies act as a channel for backup and restore operations. The chief function of a storage policy is to map data from its original location to physical storage. When you create a storage policy, you can create the storage policy for a disk library, a cloud library, or a tape library.

Prerequisites

A library must be configured on the CommServe before creating a storage policy.

Creating a Storage Policy for a Disk Library or a Cloud Library

1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Policies.

2. Right-click Storage Policies, and then click New Storage Policy.

   The Create Storage Policy Wizard page appears.

3. In the What will this storage policy be used for page, select the appropriate storage policy type, and click Next.

   • Data Protection and Archiving - Select this option to protect standard iDataAgents data (that is to protect production data within an environment).

   • CommServe Disaster Recovery Backup - Select this option to protect CommServe metadata database.

4. In the Enter the storage policy name page, specify the appropriate information, and click Next.

   1. In the Storage Policy Name box, type a name for the storage policy.

   2. (Optional) Select the Incremental Storage Policy check box, and then select a appropriate storage policy from the list.

      The selected storage policy will be used to run an incremental backups.

   3. (Optional) Select the Provide the OnCommand Unified Manager Server Information check box, to access the OnCommand Unified Manager Server information.

      OnCommand Unified Manager is NetApp database management software required for NetApp Snap Vault or Snap Mirror operations. See OnCommand Unified Manager for more information.

5. In the Do you want to use global policy? page, select Use Existing Storage Pool if you want, and then click Next.

   This page appears only when you have a global deduplication policy configured in the CommCell Browser. See Global Deduplication Policy for more information.

   If you selected Use Existing Storage Pool, then complete the following:

   • To use a storage pool for global deduplication, select Deduplication, and then select a storage pool from the list.

   • To use a storage pool without global deduplication support, select Non Deduplication, and then select a storage pool from the list.

   If you selected Use Existing Storage Pool, then skip steps 6 and 7.

6. In the Select the library page, select a library from the Library for Primary Copy list, and then click Next.

7. In the Select a MediaAgent page, select the a MediaAgent from the MediaAgent list, and then click Next.

   This allows you to specify which MediaAgent will be used to write to the library.

8. In the Enter the streams and retention criteria page, specify appropriate settings, and then click Next.

   1. In the Number of Device Streams box, specify the number of streams to perform backup or restore operations for all the subclients that will use this storage policy.

   2. Under iDataAgent Backup data area, specify the amount of time and number of full backup cycles that you want to retain the data that is backed up (for file system agents) through this storage policy.

      Note: Archiving agents keep at least 1 cycle when 0 is selected.

   If you selected Use Existing Storage Pool in step 5, then proceed to the last step.

9. In the Enable deduplication on Storage policy page, specify appropriate settings, and then click Next.

   To enable deduplication, select the Enable deduplication check box.

   1. From the Number of Partitions list, type or select number of partitions for the deduplication database (DDB).

      You can specify a maximum of four partitions for the DDB. In this example, we have specified two partitions for the DDB.

   2. Under MediaAgent And Partition Path column, click Choose Path.

      The Partition Path dialog box appears.

   3. From the MediaAgent list, select the name of the MediaAgent that is used to host the DDB.

   4. In the Partition Path box, enter the file path where you want to locate the DDB.

      Note

      When you host the DDB on different MediaAgents, make sure all of the MediaAgents are online and are on 64-bit computers. See Deduplication System Requirements for more information on Partitioned DDB software requirements.

      The DDB must be located in a folder and not directly under the root of a disk volume.

      Do not host the DDB under the software installation directory (that is <Software_Installation_Path>\Base folder).

      For Linux, make sure to host the DDB on LVM volumes. This helps with the DDB Backups using LVM software snapshots.

      For better performance, host each deduplication database on different physical drives.

   5. In the Partition Path dialog box, click OK.

      The added MediaAgent and partition path will appear under the MediaAgent And Partition Path column.

   6. Repeat the above steps for each partition.

10. In the Advanced settings for the primary copy page, select the Software Encryption option to encrypt data in the primary copy.

    • From the Cipher list, select a cipher.

    • From the Key Length list, select 128 or 256.

11. In the Select/Add the OnCommand Unified Manager page, specify the OnCommand Unified Manager Server information, and then click Next.

    This page appears only when you select the Provide the OnCommand Unified Manager Server Information check box in step 4.

    • If a OnCommand Unified Manager server exists, select server name from the Select list.

    • If you want to add a new OnCommand Unified Manager Server, click Add and provide the OnCommand Unified Manager server information.

12. In the Review your selections page, click Finish.

Creating a Storage Policy for a Tape Library

1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Policies.

2. Right-click Storage Policies, and then click New Storage Policy.

   The Create Storage Policy Wizard page appears.

3. In the What will this storage policy be used for page, select the appropriate storage policy type, and click Next.

   • Data Protection and Archiving - Select this option to protect standard iDataAgents data (that is to protect production data within an environment).

   • CommServe Disaster Recovery Backup - Select this option to protect CommServe metadata database.

4. In the Enter the storage policy name page, specify the appropriate information, and click Next.

   1. In the Storage Policy Name box, type a name for the storage policy.

   2. (Optional) Select the Incremental Storage Policy check box, and then select a appropriate storage policy from the list.

      The selected storage policy will be used to run an incremental backups.

   3. (Optional) Select the Provide the OnCommand Unified Manager Server Information check box, to access the OnCommand Unified Manager Server information.

      OnCommand Unified Manager is NetApp database management software required for NetApp Snap Vault or Snap Mirror operations. See OnCommand Unified Manager for more information.

5. In the Do you want to use global policy? page, select Use Existing Storage Pool if you want, and then click Next.

   This page appears only when you have a global deduplication policy configured in the CommCell Browser. See Global Deduplication Policy for more information.

   If you selected Use Existing Storage Pool, then complete the following:

   • To use a storage pool for global deduplication, select Deduplication, and then select a storage pool from the list.

   • To use a storage pool without global deduplication support, select Non Deduplication, and then select a storage pool from the list.

   If you selected Use Existing Storage Pool, then skip steps 6 and 7.

6. In the Select a Global Deduplication policy to this storage policy page, select global deduplication policy from the Use Existing Global Deduplication Policy list, and then click Next to skip to step 12.

   This page appears when you select Yes in the Do you want to Use Global Deduplication Policy page.

7. In the Select the library page, select a tape library from the Library for Primary Copy list, and then click Next.

8. In the Select the default MediaAgent and drive pool page, select the appropriate settings, and then click Next.

   1. From the MediaAgent list, select a MediaAgent.

   2. From the Drive Pool list, select a drive pool.

9. In the Select the scratch pool page, select the scratch pool from the Scratch Pool list.

10. In the Enter the streams and retention criteria page, specify appropriate settings, and then click Next.

    1. In the Number of Device Streams box, specify the number of streams to perform backup or restore operations for all the subclients that will use this storage policy.

    2. Under iDataAgent Backup data area, specify the amount of time and number of full backup cycles that you want to retain the data that is backed up (for file system agents) through this storage policy.

       Note: Archiving agents keep at least 1 cycle when 0 is selected.

    If you selected Use Existing Storage Pool in step 5, then proceed to the last step.

11. In the Advanced settings for the primary copy page, select the Hardware Compression option, and the appropriate Encryption Settings for the primary copy and then click Next.

    Note

    If necessary, you can modify the encryption settings from the Copy Properties - Advanced tab after the storage policy is created.

12. In the Select/Add the OnCommand Unified Manager page, specify the OnCommand Unified Manager Server information, and then click Next.

    This page appears only when you select the Provide the OnCommand Unified Manager Server Information check box in step 4.

    • If a OnCommand Unified Manager server exists, select server name from the Select list.

    • If you want to add a new OnCommand Unified Manager Server, click Add and provide the OnCommand Unified Manager server information.

13. In the Review your selections page, click Finish.

    The storage policy appears in the CommCell Browser.