Commvault software provides you the capability to make optimal use of all the nodes in a Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale cluster to back up CIFS shares. Configure appropriate number of data readers (streams) at the subclient level of the Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale storage array in the CommCell Console.
Do the following before you perform subclient level configuration:
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You must configure the Isilon SmartConnect for round-robin-type connection allocation so that the IP address in DNS changes each second.
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All the subclient content paths must have the same DNS hostname of the Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale cluster.
Number of Data Readers Required for Optimal Backups of CIFS Shares
The number of data readers (streams) on the subclient for Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale CIFS share depends on the number of access nodes and Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale nodes you want to use. When creating a subclient the Automatically use optimal number of data readers option is selected.
Note
By default, Commvault software uses four data readers and four Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale nodes for CIFS backup if you use one access node.
Use the following formula to calculate the required number of readers:
Number_of_data_readers = multiple of (number_of_access_nodes x number_of_Isilon_nodes).
Example 1
Consider an environment with the following conditions:
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Number of access nodes: 1
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Number of Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale nodes: 4
Number_of_data_readers: multiple of (1 x 4) = multiples of 4 like (4, 8, 12, ... etc)
If number of data readers is set to 4, then an access node will run four streams i.e., one stream for each of the four Isilon/PowerScale nodes. Each stream is assigned an IP address. If the number of data readers is set to 8, then an access node will run eight streams i.e., two streams for each of the four Isilon/PowerScale nodes. For information on how to set number of data readers, see Creating a User-Defined Subclient for Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale CIFS Shares.
Example 2
Consider an environment with the following conditions:
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Number of access nodes: 4
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Number of Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale nodes: 6
Number_of_data_readers: multiple of (4 x 6) = multiples of 24 like (24, 48, 72, ... etc)
If number of data readers is set to 24, then an access node will run six streams i.e., one stream for each of the six Isilon/PowerScale nodes. Each stream is assigned an IP address. If the number of data readers is set to 48, then an access node will run twelve streams i.e., two streams for each of the six Isilon/PowerScale nodes.
Running a Backup Copy from Secondary Copy for CIFS Backup
If you have configured replication and want to run backup copy from secondary copy (replica copy), Commvault recommends that you create an entry in the Array Management for replication target array with fully qualified domain name (FQDN) in the Name box. For information on how to add an array entry, see Configuring the Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale Storage Array Using Array Management.