Monitoring Network Backup
The Serval GUI supports network backup between disk and tape. A backup is the act of dumping data on a disk onto a tape drive. Backup operations occur through an industry-standard protocol called Network Data Management Protocol, or NDMP.
Network Data Management Protocol, or NDMP, is a protocol that governs the scheduling and automatic completion of saving a backup copy of data to a tape device, or restoring a backup copy of data from a tape device. The tape device can be a standalone tape drive or a tape library, also known as a media changer. NDMP operates in a client-server model, where the client requests the NDMP backup process, and the server complies with the request. The Serval filer is always the NDMP server. It is important to understand that all aspects of the backup creation and scheduling are configured through the NDMP client, not on the SAN Filer (NDMP Server) itself. The parameters you set on the Serval are for supporting NDMP backup operations.
The Serval supports two industry standard types of backup: full and incremental.
· In full backup, the Serval enables the backup of 100 percent of the data on a per-file system basis.
· In incremental backup, the Serval enables a backup of only the data that has changed since the last full backup. Incremental backups can be given a level that ranks them and allows a backup to occur only when a higher ranking increment occurs. Whenever an incremental backup occurs, it is appended to the last full backup.
Monitoring NDMP Backup
The Serval tracks the status of client-initiated NDMP backups through the NDMP Active Sessions display.
Figure 74 shows the NDMP Active Sessions display.
Figure 74 NDMP Active Sessions display
This display contains two parts: the NDMP Configuration and the NDMP Active Session List.
Table 39 shows the NDMP Configuration and explains what each field in the display means.
Table 39: Contents of the NDMP Active Sessions display-NDMP Configuration
Field
|
Means
|
NDMP
|
Shows the state of NDMP on the Serval. Valid values are Enabled or Disabled.
|
Table 40 shows the NDMP Active Session List and explains what each field in the display means.
Table 40: Contents of the NDMP Active Sessions display-Active Sessions List
Field
|
Means
|
Session ID
|
Shows a numerical identifier for an active session. This field contains a link that leads to a dialog where you can view status information and detailed information about the NDMP session listed in this field.
|
Host Address
|
Indicates the IP address of the host that initiated the NDMP backup session.
|
Operation
|
Contains a link to a different dialog that enables you to remove the session.
|
On the Active Sessions display, you can perform a number of different functions through the buttons that are displayed:
· You can disable the Serval's NDMP software by clicking the
Disable Session button.
· You can disable all active sessions by clicking the
Delete All Sessions button.
· Even though the Serval intermittently refreshes the contents of the Active Sessions List you can refresh the list at any time by clicking the
Refresh button.
Disabling NDMP on the Serval
You can disable the NDMP server software on the Serval filer. When you do so, the Serval no longer responds to all client requests. You can disable the Serval through the Active Sessions display by clicking the
Disable NDMP button. By clicking this button, you invoke the Disable NDMP Confirmation dialog.
Figure 75 shows the Disable NDMP Confirmation dialog.
Figure 75 Disable NDMP Confirmation
To disable NDMP server software, follow this procedure:
Step 1: Click the
Apply button to disable the NDMP server software.
Step 2: Alternatively, click the
Cancel button to abort disabling the NDMP server software and return to the NDMP Active Sessions list.
Deleting All NDMP Sessions
You can delete all active NDMP sessions through the Active Session display by clicking the
Delete All Session button. When you do so, you invoke the Delete All NDMP Session Confirmation dialog. This dialog allows you to deleted every active session in the Active Sessions display is removed, and any backup sessions that are in progress are halted.
Figure 76 shows the Delete All NDMP Session Confirmation dialog.
Figure 76 Delete All NDMP Session Confirmation
To delete all NDMP sessions, follow this procedure:
Step 1: Click the
Apply button to delete all NDMP sessions.
Step 2: Alternatively, click the
Cancel button to abort the deletion of all NDMP sessions and return to the Active Session display.
Viewing Active Session Status
You can view status information about the active NDMP sessions through the NDMP Active Sessions display. On this display, the
Session ID field contains a link that is the actual session ID. By clicking this link, you invoke the Active Sessions Status display where you can view status information about the Active NDMP sessions.
Table 77 shows the Active Session Status display.
Figure 77 Active Session Status display
Table 41 shows the contents of the Active Session Status display and explains what each field means.
Table 41: Contents of the Active Sessions Status display
Field
|
Means
|
Session ID
|
Indicates a numerical identifier of the NDMP session.
|
Authorized
|
Indicates whether the NDMP session was authorized before it began. Authorization takes the form of an MD5 hash or a clear text password, and can be initiated by either party, the NDMP client or the NDMP server in the 2-way authorization.
|
Version
|
Indicates the version of NDMP protocol that is in use for this session on the Serval.
|
Tape State
|
Indicates the current state of the tape to which the disk contents is being backed up. Valid tape states are Open, the tape is writing disk contents. or Closed, the tape is not writing disk contents.
|
Media Changer State
|
Indicates the current state of the media (tape) changer. Valid media changer states are Open, the changer is active and can change tapes in the tape library, or Closed, the changer is not actively manipulating tapes.
|
Mover State
|
Indicates the state of the data mover. Valid states are Active, when data is moving from disk to tape, or Idle, when data is not moving from disk to tape.
|
Data State
|
Indicates the activity or inactivity of the data when it is being encapsulated into and NDMP data stream.
|
Data Operation
|
Indicates the presence or absence of a data operation between disk and tape.
|
Viewing Active Session Details
On the NDMP Active Session Status display, you can view detailed information about each NDMP session through the
Show Details button. By clicking this button, you invoke the Active Session Status Details display which shows detailed information about active sessions, mover transactions, and data flow.
Figure 78 shows the Active Sessions Status Details display.
Figure 78 Active Sessions Status Details display
This display contains three distinct sections: Session Details, Mover Details, and Data Details.
Table 43 shows the contents of the Session Details display and explains what each field in the display means.
Table 42: Contents of the Active Sessions Status Details display-Session Details
Field
|
Means
|
Session ID
|
Indicates a numerical identifier of the NDMP session.
|
Authorized
|
Indicates whether the current NDMP session has been authorized. Valid values are Yes, the session has been validated, or No, the session has not been validated.
|
Version
|
Indicates the version of NDMP that the session is using.
|
Authentication Type
|
Indicates the type of authenticating used prior to establishing the session. Valid values are MD5 for an MDS hash, or Text for clear text password authentication. Authentication can be one-party, performed by either the NDMP client or server, or two-party, where both client and server authenticate each other.
|
Client Address
|
Indicates the IP address of the NDMP client that initiated the currently active session.
|
Tape State
|
Indicates the current state of the tape to which the disk contents is being backed up. Valid tape states are Open, the tape is writing disk contents. or Closed, the tape is not writing disk contents.
|
Tape Alias
|
Indicates an alphanumeric character string that can be assigned to the tape drive or library for easy identification.
|
Tape Physical Name
|
Indicates a digit string that represents the MAC-layer hardware device address of the tape drive or library.
|
Tape Mode
|
Indicates the mode that the tape drive is in. Valid values are read or read write. For network backup this field should say, read-write.
|
Media Changer State
|
Indicates the current state of the media (tape) changer. Valid media changer states are Open, the changer is active and can change tapes in the tape library, or Closed, the changer is not actively manipulating tapes.
|
Media Changer Alias
|
Indicates an alphanumeric character string that can be assigned to the media changer for easy identification.
|
Media Changer Physical Name
|
Indicates a digit string that represents the MAC-layer hardware device address of the media changer.
|
Table 43 shows the contents of the Mover Details and explains what each field in the display means.
Table 43: Contents of the Active Sessions Status Details display-Mover Details
Field
|
Means
|
Session ID
|
Indicates a numerical identifier of the NDMP session.
|
Mover State
|
Indicates the state of the data mover. Valid states are Active, when data is moving from disk to tape, or Idle, when data is not moving from disk to tape.
|
Mover Mode
|
Indicates the current mode for the media mover drive. For backup the mover mode can be in write.
|
Mover Pause Reason
|
Indicates a cause if the data mover has momentarily paused.
|
Mover Halt Reason
|
Indicates a cause if the data mover has halted and not restarted.
|
Mover Record Size
|
Indicates the size of the current data mover's data transaction.
|
Mover Record Number
|
Indicates the numerical identifier of the data mover's current data transaction.
|
Mover Data Written
|
Indicates the amount of data written in the mover's current data transaction.
|
Mover Seek Position
|
Indicates the position on disk where the data mover must seek data.
|
Mover Bytes Left to Read
|
Indicates the amount of data that remains to be written in the mover's current data transaction.
|
Mover Window Offset
|
Indicates the offset of the data mover's window.
|
Mover Window Length
|
Indicates the size of the data mover's window.
|
Mover Address Type
|
Indicates the type of backup that is occurring. Valid values are remote or local.
|
Table 44 shows the contents of the Data Details and explains what each field in the display means.
Table 44: Contents of the Active Sessions Status Details display-Data Details
Field
|
Means
|
Session ID
|
Indicates a numerical identifier of the NDMP session.
|
Data State
|
Indicates the activity or inactivity of the data when it is being encapsulated into and NDMP data stream.
|
Data Operation
|
Indicates the presence or absence of a data operation between disk and tape.
|
Data Halt Reason
|
Indicates the cause of a halted NDMP data stream.
|
Data Byte Processed
|
Indicates the number of data bytes processed in the active session.
|
Data Read Offset
|
Indicates the offset at which data is read into the NDMP data stream.
|
Data Read Length
|
Indicates how far after the offset that data should be read into an NDMP data stream.
|
Data Address Type
|
Indicates the location of data for the backup. Valid values are local or remote.
|
· Even though the Serval intermittently refreshes the contents of the Active Sessions List you can refresh the list at any time by clicking the
Refresh button.
Deleting an NDMP Session
On the NDMP Active Session display, you can delete a specific NDMP session. On this display, the Operation column contains the "Delete" link. By clicking this link, you invoke the Delete NDMP Session Confirmation display which allows yo to delete a selected NDMP session and leave all others alone.
Figure 79 shows the Delete MDP Session Confirmation display.
Figure 79 Delete NDMP Session Confirmation display
To delete a single NDMP session, follow this procedure:
Step 1: Click the
Apply button to delete the NDMP session in
Session ID from the device in
Host Address.
Step 2: Alternatively, click the
Cancel button to abort the deletion of the listed NDMP session and return to the Active Session display.