Using PM to monitor snapshots - help!

[marklomas]

Hi.

We're looking to see if there is a way to use Protection Manager (OC5) to monitor SnapShots that have been created externally to PM.  So, for example if we're using SnapManager for Exchange to crreate SnapShots (but lets ignore SnapMirror and SnapVault for the time being), can we do this?

Supposedly this is something that you do by configuring SnapManager for Exchange ... let the Application Dataset be created, and then change the protection policy in PM to one that is a copy of the 'Local Backups Only' policy, but with no schedule attached, no retentions set, and just lag times specified.

Problem is, when we've tried this, the Protection status never budges beyond 'Uninitialized'

We've also tried doing it with just a regular volume (not managed by a snapmanager).  If you let Protection Manager create a snapshot, it goes to a status of 'Protected' but once the lag time hits, it then shows up as a lag warning.. and then a lag error.  Creating a snapshot independently on the filer doesn't change this fact.  PM seems to be ONLY interested in monitoring the Lag times of snapshots IT has created! Rather frustrating!!

Any advice you can give to either a) Fudge Protection Manager so that it WILL monitor the lag times of SnapShots created on the filer, or in a SnapManager or b) Figure out how to get SnapManagers like SM for Exchange to initialize it's dataset properley if it ISN'T one being used for SnapVault!

Many thanks!!

--

Mark Lomas

Icomm Technologies.

[crocker]

or  is this something your team handles or is this question support related and needs to be addressed in the NetApp Support Community?

[adaikkap]

Hi Mark,

            By default for any SnapVault/Qtree SnapMirror/Volume SnapMirror/OSSV relationship OC/DFM monitors and reports lag. The default values are 1.5days for lag warning threshold and 2.0days for lag error threshold.

a) Fudge Protection Manager so that it WILL monitor the lag times of SnapShots created on the filer, or in a SnapManager

If I understand correctly you want to monitor the lag time for relationship in that case use the thresholds that I specified.

 b) Figure out how to get SnapManagers like SM for Exchange to initialize it's dataset properley if it ISN'T one being used for SnapVault!

AFAIK, only snapvault integration is supported with SME and PM.

If you are looking for just snapshot monitoring then OC itself can report on the list of snapshots created on each volume.

Regards

adai

[marklomas]

Hi Adai;

No, we're not looking to monitor SnapMirror or SnapVault relationships.  We are looking to monitor only SnapShots.

However, as originally noted in my first post, PM does not seem to monitor snapshots that were created 'externally'.  PM does see the SnapShots, but it describes them as 'Normal' as opposed to snapshots that it has created itself, which are described as 'Backup'

What I'm looking for is a way to get PM to monitor externally created snapshots aswell, because it does not seem to do this by default.

Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

--

Mark Lomas

[balbeer]

OK, try this:

- don't create an application dataset

- create an empty dataset

- apply a prot. policy that is only for local snapshots, but do not apply any schedules, and then apply *lag* as per your needs

- now, edit the dataset, and add members, here you select the volumes that belong to your Exchange server(s)

- click finish

now, monitor the above!

[adaikkap]

Hi Balbeer,

     I doubt if this will solve, AFAIK the lag monitor in  a local backup policy is based on success or failure of the the local backup job and not on creation of snapshots. Since in this case the schedule is set to none jobs wont be triggered by PM so lag time will not drop based on snapshot creation. As its only based on jobs success or failure.

A Dataset lag can in a protection policy can define 2 things:

• The lag time between the current and the previous local backup
• The lag between the primary and the secondary

Regards

adai

[marklomas]

Yes, this is the behaviour we see...

A PM Dataset will only drop the lag time if it has created the SnapShot ... SnapShots created externally (by a SnapManager) do not seem to count!

PM can see the externally created SnapShot is there though, as it perioudlcally evaluates the Netapp to refresh its list of SnapShots.  It seems a bit of an oversight that one cannot simply configure the dataset to count ALL SnapShots when checking the lag time.

So, is the answer then that it can't be done using PM?  Are there any other Netapp products that would give me some central visibility on the status of all my SnapManager deployments accross my server estate?

I'd really hoped that a product like OnCommand Protection Manager would be a bit more flexible given it's version 5!

--

Mark Lomas

[wim_van_der_heijden]

Hello Mark,

did you find a solution for this. We're facing the same problem, and still not found a solution. Also we want to monitor our snapmirror relations, which are executed in vfiler context. They also not show up in external relations within PM. No, OC PM is not that flexible as aspected.

Wim van der Heijden

[adaikkap]

Hi Win,

     Protection Manager can only discover vFiler relatioship that are created in the context of physical filer/vfiler0 and not in vFiler context. Pls refer to this KB for more details.

https://kb.netapp.com/support/index?page=content&id=3013156

Regards

adai

[adaikkap]

Hi Mark,

     Did you get to try SnapCreator ? They allow you to centrally manage schedule for all applications.

Regards

adai