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Hi!
I want to set up "Data Replication over WAN" for a 600 GB NAS volume, using a 4 MBit link.
How can I do the initial sync? Do I need to bring the destination machine physically to the source to make the initial sync via LAN?
Or is it possible to use an USB volume as Dynamic Volume and use the backup function? I thought about doing a backup on the source machine and then do a restore on the destination machine! Is this working?
Best Regards,
prahn
Good question with the Data Replication over WAN.
I think for cost reasons to ship the server back to be replicated would be costly unless you have this in the budget then good idea.
Or if you can take a USB drive or SATA (Windows formatted) and copy the data then ship to the destination server then use the "Add on's" tool from the Console screen go to CTRL ALT T then select "Add Ons" then seek the drive then select the share where you wish copy then you are good to go.
What about the Backup Funktion with a Dynamic Volume?
Is it possible to do a restore on another DSS?
I believe this can be done with the newer version, you might have to copy the backup database from the NAS share that was created with the Backup function then restore this on the other system then do the restore from dynamic unit.
Okay, my backup is done now, but how do I unmount the dynamic volume??
Ok catching up on this topic with the Backup/Dynamic Unit.
The way this will work is that you will need to create a iSCSI Target 5GB is all you need from the Remote site then have this connected outbound from the Firewall on port 3260.
Then use the built in iSCSI initiator from the DSS V6 that has the Dynamic unit then create a separate Volume Group (please make sure it will be the same VG01 to VG01 on both later when we reconnect it to the remote server internally) and make a small NAS volume then set the Backup Database to that iSCSI volume Group NAS logical volume that you created (this will be where you will keep the backup database safe).
Then make your backup to the Dynamic unit. Once the backup is done then disconnect the iSCSI initiator and the Dynamic Unit to be removed and shipped then place the Dynamic unit in the system that you want to restore the shares.
Then use the iSCSI initiator on the system that you are going to restore the files from the Dynamic Unit and use its IP Address to connect to itself. The Volume Group will show as the same and the NAS logical volumes will show up as well where the backup database is stored onto. Then run the Restore with the task name that you used to backup from the first system.
Your shares will be restored.
Ok, sounds like a good workflow, I will try it like this. Thank you!
But one question is still unandwered:
How do I unmount the dynamic volume?
Just restart the system or shutdown and reboot and it will not show up.
Well, this is really strange! For unmounting a volume, I need to restart?!
At the moment I have no problem with this, as we are still in testing state!
But when we will start production state, we will have some VMs running on iSCSI, so restarting will not be so easy... I thought about using a Dynamic Volume for offline backup to an external hard disk... :-(
My setup was more aggressive and I just pulled the USB cable from the system and did a rescan. I was not aware of this until now that you tell me so hard for me to know this without some background from you on your setup. If this is the case then test the immediate dismount live from the system and do a rescan as I did.
Hi Todd!
I already thought about the possibility "just pulling USB" of course, but I didn't dare... Couldn't you simply add an unmount button in the next release?
Regards,
prahn
We have over 150+ tasks to do and we dont have time for this one.
Hi!
I just created the 5 GB iSCSI volume and formatted it via WAN. Now I have 4 GB "reserved for system" and only 0,9 GB free. I started a backup to my dynamic volume but it failed with error 23: Not enough space for backup volume available.
How can I get rid of these 4 GB space "reserved for system" to use it for the backup database.
prahn
You cant as it is needed for other resources for the DSS V6, try taking from the SWAP, just delete then give 2GB back to the SWAP and the rest you can add to the LV.
Hi Todd!
Thank you again for the quick reply, but I have no idea, how I should delete 2 GB from SWAP?!? I even looked in the help: "Sorry, no string swap found in help files."
Maybe I just try again with a bigger iSCSI volume...
:-(
Go to the volume manager where you create a new logical volume for NAS or iSCSI or FC and pull down the Action button and there you should see Remove SWAP.
Am I too blind? Or just too stupid? I can not find this...
Please see attached screenshot... sorry in German, but no "Remove SWAP" visible at all...
?!
https://files.me.com/prahn/7m82tg
image: [ remove swap at 'X' ]
As you cann see in my screenshot, I do not have a space used for SWAP....?!
Ok now I see that you dont have SWAP thanks for this, you will need to add additional space to get more capacity or remove the logical volume and recreate it (please back up your data).
Hi Todd!
So, finally I created a 10 GB iSCSI volume and mounted it via WAN on the source dss. The backup db is saved on this iSCSI share and the backup to the Dynamic Volume has been through this night.
How Do I now savely remove the iSCSI volume, without deleting the backup DB?
Normally I would unselect the backup function, then remove the LogicalVolume and finally use the CLI Tools with Ctrl-Alt-X to remove the partition vg02 (and restart).
While doing the restart, I could also pull the USB cable of the DynamicVolume.
Will all the data be preserved with these steps?
Thanks again for the feedback!
Just go to the iSCSI Initiator and click to remove it then restart and pull the Dynamic unit then on the other DSS just use the built iSCSI Initiator with the Unit that you pulled. Dont delete anything as you dont need to.
Hi Todd!
Thank you for the reply, I wish it would be so easy....
When I go to the iSCSI initiator, on the portals page I read "Please disconnect from Target first". When I go to the target manager, I read "Volume Group exist, connection to target can not be interrupted". So there is no chance for me to remove the iSCSI connection without removing LV and VG?!?! Or am I wrong...
Sorry you are correct, I just tested it and what you need to do is un-mount the Target then you can remove the connection from the server at SETUP -> iSCSI Initiator -> Portals -> and click on the disconnect and remove the IP Address from the portal so it does not reconnect. Then re-enable the Target on the DSS then use the SETUP -> iSCSI Initiator on to connect to the Target via it's own IP Address (dont worry about the message as this is only temporary to get your data restored).
Sorry about the write doc on this as this is an explored idea on how to get your data restored and is unconventional from our practices but I tested it and works - let me know how it ends.
You write "unmount the volume". But how?
Remove the LV first and then remove the VG via CLI tools?
From the Target Manager go to the Target then select the "-" sign to unmount the Target then you will be able to go into the iSCSI Initiator to remove the Target and the IP.
So when doing the restore I failed to found the backup database. Maybe I used a wrong order... I first activated the backup function and the iSCSI volume on the destination system, without the Dynamic Volume connected. Anyway, I could not get the setup for restoring the data.
But after thinking about this topic the last days, I remembered my test machine for Open-E which was still sitting under my desk. Just a cheap office PC, some years old, call it "backup PC" for my office. I still had the USB stick with Open-E on it lying around, I put in a suitable hard drive and started a volume replication from my main DSS to this machine.
Next I shipped this machine to the destination place for WAN setup and there I simply converted the replication target to a source and finally did a Data Replication from the PC over the the destination DSS.
Now, both machine, source and destination have almost the same state. I only needed to setup the Data Replication over WAN and I am done.
Very easy, you just need a spare machine with a suitable hard drive. For Open-E I used a testing license of course.