Protecting Data

C H A P T E R 7

Protecting Data

In addition to the standard (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, RAID 50) and enhanced (RAID 1E, RAID 5EE, RAID 6, RAID 60) RAID levels, HBAs with the Sun Advanced Data Protection Suite include two additional methods of protecting the data on your storage space.

This chapter describes how to use snapshot to protect your stored data.

Creating a Snapshot

A snapshot is a frozen image of a logical drive at a particular point in time. You can copy the data on one logical drive to another logical drive by creating a snapshot. You may want to do this if you want to back up your data to tape, clone a drive, or copy the data to multiple servers.

There are two snapshot options:

Snapshot Backup--Copies all data on a logical drive so that it can be moved from one server to another. See To Create a Snapshot with Backup.

Snapshot Nobackup--Creates a temporary copy of a logical drive for tape backup and reference (uses less system resources than Snapshot Backup). See To Create a Snapshot Without Backup.

To delete an existing snapshot, see To Delete a Snapshot.

Snapshot Limitations

Windows and Linux compatible only.

You can create a snapshot of only one HBA at a time; you cannot create a snapshot that includes multiple HBAs.

The source logical drive (the logical drive that you are copying) and the target logical drive (the logical drive that you are copying to) must be on the same HBA.

The source and target logical drives may have the same or different RAID levels.

You can create up to four snapshots on each HBA.

The size of the target logical drive must be greater than or equal to the size of the source logical drive.

You cannot take a snapshot of a booted OS volume.

You cannot modify any information on a snapshot.

To Create a Snapshot with Backup

Caution - To avoid a corrupted snapshot, ensure that no files are open or in use on the source logical drive before you begin this task.

1. In the Logical Devices View, click the logical drive you want to copy.

2. In the menu bar, choose Actions > Create snapshot > with backup to > name-of-the-target-logical-drive.

Note - Only logical drives that can support the snapshot are listed.

FIGURE 7-1 Creating a Snapshot With Backup to a Device

Screen shot of the create snapshot with backup to drive menu option.

3. Click Yes to create the snapshot.

The snapshot is created on the target logical drive, which now appears in the Sun StorageTek RAID Manager software with a camera icon beside it.

FIGURE 7-2 Logical Drive Displayed With a Camera Icon Beside It

Screen shot of the camera icon.

In FIGURE 7-2, the source logical drive has the number five on it and the target logical drive with the snapshot has the number 50 on it.

To Create a Snapshot Without Backup

1. In the Logical Devices View, right-click the logical drive you want to copy.

2. In the menu bar, choose Actions > Create snapshot > without backup to > target-logical-drive-name.

3. Click Yes to create the snapshot.

The snapshot is created on the target logical drive, which now appears in the Sun StorageTek RAID Manager software with a camera icon beside it, as shown above.

4. Use an OS-level or third-party data backup tool to move the snapshot onto a tape drive or other server.

To Delete a Snapshot

When a snapshot is no longer needed, you can delete it from the Sun StorageTek RAID Manager software.

1. In the Logical Devices View, right-click the snapshot you want to delete.

A navigational menu appears.

2. Choose Remove snapshot.

FIGURE 7-3 Removing a Snapshot

Screen shot of the Remove snapshot menu item.

3. Click Yes to delete the snapshot.

The snapshot is deleted