A client is a logical grouping of the agents installed on a computer. A client level is created in the CommCell Browser the first time an agent is installed on a computer.
You can perform client operations as long as the client is available and has agents installed on that computer. Operations performed on clients are applicable to all the agents that are installed on that client.
DB2 DPF Pseudo-Client
For the DB2 DPF iDataAgent, the DB2 DPF pseudo-client and its corresponding instance serve as a logical grouping of DB2 DPF database partitions that are housed on various clients. See Overview - DB2 DPF iDataAgent for more information. The pseudo-client is not automatically created in the CommCell Browser by the software; you must create and configure it using the Getting Started with the DB2 Agent procedure.
RAC Pseudo-Client
For the Oracle RAC iDataAgent, the RAC pseudo-client serves as a logical grouping of one or more Oracle iDataAgent instances within a RAC pseudo-client instance. See Overview - Oracle RAC iDataAgent for more information. The pseudo-client is not automatically created in the CommCell Browser by the software; you must create and configure it using the Create a RAC Client procedure.
NAS Clients
The software for the NDMP Agent is installed automatically as part of the MediaAgent installation in the NDMP Agent deployment. However, the client is not automatically created in the CommCell Browser. To add the NAS client to the CommCell, see Adding a NAS Client.
Clustered Environments
Information on whether the client is a physical or virtual client is displayed in the Client Properties.
Decoupled Installs
Agent and MediaAgent software can be installed on a computer that is not part of a CommCell environment by creating a decoupled custom package. For more information, see Custom Package.
A client or MediaAgent can be pre-configured on the CommServe, and it can be subsequently connected to a computer with client and MediaAgent software already installed. A Product License is consumed when you perform this procedure.
The two parts involved in a Decoupled Install can be performed in any order, but must both be performed before the client and MediaAgent are functional in the CommCell environment.
Configurable Properties
Once installed, the client computer is configured and is therefore able to manage the data or volumes. You can change the following aspects of the configuration:
Activity Control
You can enable or disable all operations for this CommCell object and all objects below it. For more information, see Activity Control.
Associate or Disassociate Clients
You can associate or disassociate clients to or from a client computer group.
CDR Log File Location
ContinuousDataReplicator (CDR) performs replication by logging all activities in the source computer and replaying the log in the destination. On the source computer CDR logs all file write activities - new files and changes to existing files - both in the directories and volumes specified in the source paths of all the Replication Pair(s). These replication logs are transferred to the destination computer and replayed, ensuring that the destination remains a nearly real-time replica of the source.
You can specify the location of these log files and how often the logs must be replayed. For more information, see Replication Logs.
Content Indexing
You can enable/disable offline content indexing for the client from the Content Indexing tab in the Advanced Client Properties dialog. To navigate to the Content Indexing tab, right-click the client name, select Properties, and click the Advanced button.
Data Interface Pairs
You can add, delete, and view data interface pairs between the client and other CommCell computers. The Advanced tab of the client's Properties dialog box contains options to configure new data interface pairs and view and delete any existing data interface pairs. For more information on data interface pairs, see Data Interface Pairs.
Deduplication Options
You can configure client-side deduplication options for the client. The Client Side Deduplication tab of the client's Properties dialog box consists of the following configuration options for client-side deduplication.
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Enable deduplication at the client side.
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Enable signature cache at the client side.
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Enable intelligent block alignment for deduplication operations.
See Modifying Client Deduplication Settings for instructions.
Job Configuration
You can set the following job configuration options:
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The Job Priority of a client.
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The time period and disk capacity after which job results are pruned.
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The directory path of the client where the job results files are located. For more information, see Job Results Directory Overview.
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The amount of time the job results for a client should be retained.
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The low-space threshold of the job results directory, which is used to configure an alert. See Alerts and Monitoring for more information.
Name Management
You can change the name of clients and the MediaAgent. For information about changing the names of clients, see Name Management.
Network Configuration
You can define the connection details required to operate this client or client group across the network. Details of the connection passage for incoming and outgoing connections between this and other clients must be defined. For complete configuration details, see Configuring Network Routes.
Proxy for Exchange
When 32-bit Exchange agents are installed in non-standard configurations, such as off-host proxy or 32-bit on 64-bit, this property must be configured on the client hosting the Exchange Server to establish communications between the 32-bit Exchange agents and the Exchange Server in order to support Outlook Add-In and/or OWA functionality. The proper setting for this property depends on the type of installation configuration, as discussed below:
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When Exchange 2007 agents are installed in a 32-bit on 64-bit configuration, set this value to the client name of the 32-bit instance.
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When Exchange 2007 agents are installed in an off-host proxy configuration, set this value to the client name of the off-host proxy computer.
This field should be configured after installing the Exchange agents and the OWA Proxy Enabler; it can be configured either before or after the installation of the Outlook Add-In (if applicable), but it must be configured before using Outlook Add-In and/or OWA in the configurations mentioned above. For instructions, see Configure the Proxy for Exchange.
Search Server URLs
When the client is configured as a Web Search Client to support content index and search capabilities from the Search Console, options are provided that allow you to view or change the URLs used to access the Search Console and User Administration page.
You can also view the name and URL of the Web Search Server associated with the Web Search Client. Note that, the Web Search Server association cannot be changed without re-installing the Web Search Client. Also note that, the Web Search Server URL specified in the Client Properties (Search Server URLs) tab is not directly accessible by the user from any Web browsers.
When the client is an Exchange Server, an option is provided that allows you to associate a Web Server to the client for searching.
For instructions, see Configure the Search Server URLs.
Security
You can perform the following functions:
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Identify the users, user groups, and roles associated with this entity.
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Associate this entity with users, user groups, and roles.
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Disassociate this entity from users, user groups, and roles.
For more information, see User Administration and Security - Overview.
Version
The Version tab displays the software version and post-release service packs and updates installed for the component. See Version for an overview.
Client Connectivity
You can check whether or not a client is accessible in the CommCell environment by using the Check Readiness option in the CommCell Console. When selected, this option displays a message that indicates whether or not the client is accessible. If the client is not accessible, you can check the Process Manager to ensure the clients services are running.
For instructions, see Checking Client Connectivity.
Client Configuration Considerations
Consider the following when configuring your clients:
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The volume containing the job results directory must have sufficient free space for the collect file. Bear this in mind when backing up large file systems, such as those residing on a SAN. Each subclient in each backup set will consume disk space for the collect file. If there is insufficient room for collect file growth during large backups, change the path of the job results directory.
The Collect File records the path and name of each scanned file that is to be backed up; therefore, the collect file size is determined by the number of files to be backed up and the length of the file path and file name. If you are working with very deep directory structures, the file paths will be longer, and this impacts the collect file size. When performing full backups of large file systems with a mix of short and long file paths, plan on collect file growth of approximately 50MB for every 1 Million files. Plan on 100MB-200MB per one million files if most of the files in your backup operation have very long file paths (200 + characters in length). Incremental and Differential backups tend to back up fewer files than full backups, and so create smaller collect files.
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If you change the path of the URLs in the Client Properties (Search Server URLs) tab, which are used for accessing the end-user or compliance user Search Console and/or the User Administration page, then you must manually update the corresponding virtual directory path in the IIS Server. Likewise, if you change the path of the URLs in the IIS Server that are used for accessing the end-user or compliance user Search Console and/or the User Administration page, then you must manually update the corresponding paths in the Client Properties (Search Server URLs) tab.
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When you configure a new client in the CommCell, note the following:
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The client name must not match the hostname of another client.
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The client hostname must not match the name of another client.
If you do not take the above items into consideration, backup and restore operations may fail.
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Audit Trail
Operations performed with this feature are recorded in the Audit Trail. See Audit Trail for more information.