SnapDrive 6.3 for Windows - Available on NOW

[watan]

DOWNLOAD NOW Features of This Release

SnapDrive 6.3 for Windows          includes the following major new and enhanced features: Support for performing Snapshot copy operations on virtual  machine disks (VMDKs) in an NFS or VMFS datastore, which requires  Virtual Storage Console 2.0.1 or later. Please check the availability   of Virtual Storage Console 2.0.1 and install it before using this  feature. Support for space reclamation when using VMDKs in an NFS datastore Support for DataFabric Manager caching with RBAC Automatic download of the storage system access control  (storacl.exe)  tool as part of your SnapDrive 6.3 for Windows  installation Bug fixes For more information, see the SnapDrive 6.3 for Windows Release Notes.

Limitations

SnapDrive 6.3 currently has the following limitations: iSCSI RDM LUNs are not supported across two physical Microsoft cluster machines. Customers using SnapDrive 5.0 and earlier on Windows Server 2003            IA64 systems must upgrade to Windows Server 2008 on IA64 systems before            they can use SnapDrive 6.3. A LUN managed by SnapDrive cannot be configured as a "dynamic" disk            (a storage device that is divided into volumes rather than partitions);            it can serve only as a "basic" disk (a storage device for host-side            application data). A LUN cannot be configured as an extended partition; SnapDrive supports            only a single, primary partition on a LUN. A LUN created with FilerView® or at the storage system command            line can be managed only if certain steps (documented in the Installation            and Administration Guide) are taken to prepare these LUNs for SnapDrive. Conversion of a LUN with an MBR partition to a GPT partition is not            supported. Permanent clones are not supported. Snapshot™ copies that are created from the storage system console            are not supported; because this can lead to inconsistencies within the            NTFS file system, only SnapDrive should be used to create Snapshot copies            of LUNs. Volume-level SnapVault® configurations are not supported (however,            qtree SnapVault configurations are supported). Space reclamation on VMDKs in VMFS datastores is not supported. Considerations when using Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator include          the following: In an MSCS configuration that uses volume mountpoints, install Microsoft            hotfix 925677 on all cluster nodes if you encounter the issue described            in Knowledge Base article KB925677. In a noncluster configuration, configure the Exchange® service and the SQL service  with a dependency on            the iSCSI Software Initiator service.

[radek_kubka]

Hi,

Many thanks for posting this.

There is another discussion re SDW 6.3 over here:

http://communities.netapp.com/message/37298#37298

One bit listed below proves to be confusing:

"Support for performing Snapshot copy operations on virtual  machine  disks (VMDKs) in an NFS or VMFS datastore, which requires  Virtual  Storage Console 2.0.1 or later."

It worked for me nicely with VSC 2.0, so the question is - is it really the case that 2.0.1 is a must &, if that's the case, when roughly it will be available?

Regards,

Radek

[watan]

Hi Radek,

VSC 2.0.1 is the official release with supported features for the SDW 6.3 , SMSQL 5.1, VSC 2.0.1 integration.  There may have been a few bits in 2.0 but supported version is 2.0.1.

New release includes:

All features of VSC 2.0 +

VMDK integration with SDW 6.3 and SMSQL 5.1. SnapDrive for Windows 6.3  provides support for backup/restore operation on VMDK disks in   VMware  Windows GuestOS created on VMware ESX hosts. SnapManager products should    be able to host the application data on VMDK disk backed by NetApp  storage( NFS   and VMFS) and do their backup and restore operation on  these disks as they do on   normal NetApp LUN. In this release, a wizard  has been added in the installation   screen to provide VSC 2.0.1 (SMVI)  configuration details.SDW uses https protocol 8043 to   communicate to  the VSC (SMVI) server. The availability of VMDK disks will be dependent  on   the VSC (SMVI) server. If VSC (SMVI)server is not available due to  some reason, the   RDMs(FC,ESX iSCSI,HW iSCSI) and MS iSCSI LUNs must be  available for all SDW   operations. Users can create VMDK files in NFS  and / or VMFS datastores and attach these   VMDK files as virtual disks  to the virtual machines. SDW 6.3 uses the APIs   provided by VSC (SMV)I  to discover these virtual disks and present them to the   host. SMSQL  5.1 will treat the VMDK disks as any other normal luns and let the user    perform Configuration / Backup / Restore / Clone.

&

VMware View 4.5   support (backwards compatible with View 4.0 also)

[radek_kubka]

Hi Allan,

Many thanks for clearing this up!

Regards,
Radek

[watan]

Also to add further.

Main features and enhancements in this release.

1. Enable VMware VMDK NFS and VMFS support

- Ensures SMSQL can protect SQL databases when databases are stored on VMware VMDK backed by NFS or VMFS datastore.

-- SME will NOT be supported because of VMDK VSS limitations.

2. VMDK NFS Space Reclamation

- Increases the efficiency of snapshot copies on the NFS volume, reducing the amount of space.

Note: Support for VMDKs in an NFS or VMFS datastore requires Virtual Storage Console 2.0.1 or later.  Please check the availability of Virtual Storage Console 2.0.1 and install it before using this feature.

3. LUN scalability and performance improvements

- Improved backup and restores operations.

4. RBAC credential caching

- Continued SnapDrive operations during transient Operations Manager outage.

5. SDW and VMware SRM interoperability

- Enables automated disaster recovery failover of Microsoft Applications

[mitchells]

Allan,

Is there a release date planned for VSC 2.0.1?

Thanks,

Mitchell

[watan]

I'm not absolutely sure but looks like it is scheduled to release within the next 2 weeks.

[mitchells]

Allan,

Thanks for the update!

Thanks,

Mitchell