Migrate/Move Library to NAS

The technical support forum for Firestreamer (the virtual tape library).
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RichG13
Posts: 3
Joined: 08 Feb 2013, 17:55

Post by RichG13 »

I am using Firestreamer in conjunction with DPM 2010 and Dropbox for Teams. I have had such great success backing up and restoring data with this solution that I've increased my retention length and frequency. Well, as a result I've outgrown the internal RAID volume on the server dedicated to storing my VTL and syncing with Dropbox. As I didn't budget anything in 2013 for a SAN I'll have to make do with a Active Directory compatible NAS and a mapped drive.

I searched the forums here but couldn't find any steps for migrating or moving my production VTL.

As I am dealing with over 4TB of data I didn't want to go the hunt and peck route and was hoping for a definitive guide of sorts.

Can anyone provide step by step instructions on a VTL migration with DPM and Firestreamer?

Thanks if advance.

Rich
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

Option A. Update the media layout to remove all old tapes and to include new NAS tapes, and perform a full backup. Once you decide that the old RAID tapes are not needed, you can delete them.

Option B. Move all your tapes from RAID to NAS, and update the media layout respectively.

Option C. Add NAS tapes to your media layout, so that you have RAID and NAS tapes.

Other options are possible, depending on your requirements and imagination.
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
RichG13
Posts: 3
Joined: 08 Feb 2013, 17:55

Post by RichG13 »

Option B: Move/Migrate and update the layout.

Let me try and you tell me where I'm wrong.

1. Copy all FSRM files to NAS
2. Open Firestreamer and right-click Media and select Edit
3. From the Media Layout Editor click the Edit drop down and then Select All
4. Click the Edit drop down and select Delete
5. Click the Media drop down and select "Add Existing Media"
6. Select the files that I copied to the NAS
7. Click the Load Media button
8. Save and close
9. Delete FSRM files off internal disks (or leave them if they aren't hurting anything)

Nothing to do in DPM as Firestreamer will control the library.

Does that sound right?

Rich
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

Yes, it sounds right, but we recommend two more steps to make sure DPM is aware of newly loaded tapes:

0. Unlock the library door in DPM.
1...9
10. Lock the library door.
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
RichG13
Posts: 3
Joined: 08 Feb 2013, 17:55

Post by RichG13 »

Ok, So I was able to get this done (Just in time for the 1st of the Month). However, I did not purchased a NAS as getting Dropbox to run via a network drive requires either registry hacks or the MKLINK /D command which caused issue in testing where I had to restart Dropbox to get it to see and sync any new files. I decided to purchase a Seagate External HDD for like $150 and will budget in 2014 for a permanent solution. Probably a low end SAN or a TeraStation HDD (Something with redundancy).

So here are my official steps.

1. Unlock Library Door in the DPM Libraries console (It only stayed unlocked for 10 minutes but I did this step repeatedly throughout the process just to be sure)
2. Use the built in move utility in the Dropbox client to move my data to the external HDD. (Preferences, Advanced, Move)
3. Once the move completed (22 hours for just < 3TB) I unlocked the Library doors in DPM once again.
4. Open FIrestreamer and right-click Media and select Edit
5. From the Media Layout Editor click the Edit drop down and then Select All
6. Click the Edit drop down and select Delete
7. Click the Media drop down and select "Add Existing Media"
8. Browse and Select all the files that I copied to the External HDD
9. Click the Load Media button, OK the prompt and exit Firestreamer
8. Close Library Doors, rescanned and verified my tapes were there.

I have a DPM Protection Group setup on a couple small SQL tables. I right clicked one and "Created a Protection Point>Long Term (To Tape)" backup and everything worked flawlessly.

Thank you for your help. I can't tell you how great this product is and how easy my backups have become. The only downside it that I want to backup EVERYTHING hence the need to purchase more in-house storage.

Rich
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

Thank you for your feedback.
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
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