Snapmirror of vFiler with Protection Policy

[CJSCOLTRINITY]

Hi,

I already have a number of vFilers in place and replicated using the vFiler DR command.  I had these updating using /etc/snapmirror.conf.

I now want to manage the replication process using the Protection Manager functionality of OnCommand Core (DFM).

The vFiler volumes on the source controllers are already in a dataset with a "Backup Only" protection policy applied to it so that local snapshots are taken every two hours.

From the testing I have done it appears that if I change the protection policy to a policy that does a backup then mirror then it creates a new volume on the "mirror" resources and establishes a new snapmirror relationship that it updates and the original snapmirror relationships are not updated (assuming I have removed them from /etc/snapmirror.conf).

Anyone know a way that I can change the protection policy on the dataset and get it to utilise the existing snapmirror relationships?  I want to do this so that I can be alerted if there is a lag on the snapmirror is greater than I time I configure in the protection policy.

[amirm]

Hi Calvin,

Few things about the vFiler DR mirror relationship in Protection Manager(PM):

1. PM does not support the vFiler DR mirror relationship management.

2. There is vFiler DR plugin that can help you View, Create, Edit, Start, Stop, Protect, Activate, Resync and Delete VFilers.

3. If the vFiler SnapMirror relationships are created using physical controller interface than PM can discover the relationships as external relationships and you can still monitor the lag status. This lag status falls under External relationship lag status & global threshold(default 1.5 days but configurable) will be used for alerting purpose. However such relationship cannot be added to the datasets(existing and new).

4. If the vFiler SnapMirror relationships are created using vFiler interface than PM cannot discover the relationships and hence no way to manage it.

Therefor if I understand situation here correctly than it seems that you won't be able to manager the vFiler SM relationship in a dataset that you already have(for Backup).

Regards,

-Amir

[CJSCOLTRINITY]

Sorry for dragging this old thread up again Amir but where do I configure the alerting on the external relationship lag status and the global threshold?  Can I set different thresholds for each of the discovered external relationships?  I am currently working on another environment where all of the existing SnapMirror relationships being controller by SnapManager for VI and SnapManager for SQL have been discovered as external relationships but I cannot see how to configure alerts so that I know when the lag is greater than a threshold.

[kryan]

Hi Calvin,

In order to alert on lag for external relationships, you will need to follow this plan:

Monitoring Existing SnapMirror/SnapVault Relationships with Protection Manager

I am frequently asked "How do I monitor existing Data Protection relationships without importing them fully into Protection Manager ?"

https://communities.netapp.com/people/fenton/blog/2010/04/14/monitoring-existing-snapmirrorsnapvault-relationships-with-protection-manager

And to confirm, DFM/UM does not manage SMSQL VSM relationships nor any SMVI protection relationships.  OnCommand Unified Manager 5.x uses the OnCommand Host Package for ESX backup management.

Thanks,

Kevin