The Commvault software supports FlexVol volumes by default. Read the following information about limitations of NetApp Infinite volumes and NetApp FlexGroup volumes.
For LUN-based volumes, you cannot create LUNs under a FlexGroup volume. LUN-based IntelliSnap operations are not supported.
NetApp Infinite Volumes
You can use the Network Share IntelliSnap Backup feature to back up and recover Vservers with Infinite Volume, even though Vservers with Infinite Volume do not support Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) backup operations.
Agents That Are Used for Backup Operations
For backup operations of Vservers with Infinite Volumes, you can configure the following agents with the Network Share IntelliSnap Backup feature:
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For CIFS (Common Internet File System) shares, use the Windows File System Agent.
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For NFS (Network File System) exports that are mounted on a proxy computer, use the UNIX File System Agent.
Note
Because Vservers with Infinite Volume do not support NDMP backup operations, do not use the NDMP agent to perform backup operations of Vservers with Infinite Volume.
NetApp FlexGroup Volumes
You can perform IntelliSnap operations on FlexGroup volumes.
Agents That Are Used for Backup Operations
You can configure the following:
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CIFS shares for IntelliSnap operations under the Windows File System agent on a NAS client.
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NFS exports for IntelliSnap operations under the Linux File System agent on a NAS client.
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IntelliSnap operations under the NDMP agent on a NAS client.
Considerations for CIFS and NFS
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You can use NetApp FlexGroup volumes with NetApp Open Replication with the primary-mirror or the primary-vault topologies. You cannot use NetApp FlexGroup volumes with NetApp Open Replication with fanout or with cascade topologies.
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The mount operation mounts a read-only copy of the snapshot.
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The following considerations apply for for ONTAP version 9.6 and older versions:
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The NetApp storage array does not support the creation of volume clone for FlexGroup volumes. As a result, the mount operation mounts a read-only copy of the snapshot.
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For FlexGroup volumes, the Commvault software traverses the entire file system during the scan phase to identify the differences between snapshot copies.
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When doing an out-of-place restore, to access a file or folder, manually change the security permissions.
Considerations for NDMP
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NetApp supports NDMP on FlexGroup volumes beginning with ONTAP version 9.7.
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NetApp does not support NDMP restores from a FlexGroup volume to another NetApp filer with ONTAP versions older than 9.7.
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Restores to Windows or UNIX clients are not supported with backups from FlexGroup volumes.
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Synthetic restores are not supported with backups from FlexGroup volumes.
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Subclients cannot contain a mix of FlexVol volumes and FlexGroup paths.
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NetApp does not support SMTape backups on FlexGroup volumes.
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Restartable backups (BRE extension) are supported for FlexGroup volumes with ONTAP version 9.8.
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NetApp NDMP multi-streaming is not supported on FlexGroup volumes.
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NetApp supports exclude filters as of ONTAP version 9.8.
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You can use NetApp FlexGroup volumes with NetApp Open Replication with the primary-mirror or the primary-vault topologies. You cannot use NetApp FlexGroup volumes with NetApp Open Replication with fanout or with cascade topologies.