Correct.  It uses the existing snapmirror snapshot when the NDMP backup kicks off.  A NDMP backup for the following started at 1:00 AM.  It’s using the existing snapmirror snapshot, which will, of course, exist until the NDMP backup completes or fails:

 

xp10b> snap list HQ1_XP10R_HQ1_Shared_02_sm

Volume HQ1_XP10R_HQ1_Shared_02_sm

working...

 

  %/used       %/total  date          name

----------  ----------  ------------  --------

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 23 14:20  xp10b(0118061712)_HQ1_XP10R_HQ1_Shared_02_sm.15897

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 23 13:20  xp10b(0118061712)_HQ1_XP10R_HQ1_Shared_02_sm.15896

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 23 12:02  hourly.0

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 23 10:03  hourly.1

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 23 06:01  hourly.2

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 23 00:20  xp10b(0118061712)_HQ1_XP10R_HQ1_Shared_02_sm.15883 (busy,backup[3],dump)

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 23 00:02  nightly.0

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 22 16:02  hourly.3

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 22 00:02  nightly.1

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 21 00:02  nightly.2

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 20 00:02  nightly.3

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 19 00:02  nightly.4

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 18 00:03  nightly.5

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 17 00:02  nightly.6

  0% ( 0%)    0% ( 0%)  Nov 16 00:03  nightly.7

 

============
Ed Alexander
Senior Infrastructure Engineer
Genworth Financial
6601 Six Forks Rd
Raleigh, NC  27615
Phone: 919-870-2147


From: owner-toasters@mathworks.com [mailto:owner-toasters@mathworks.com] On Behalf Of Kennedy, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 2:54 PM
To: Fred Grieco; Jeremy Webber
Cc: toasters@mathworks.com
Subject: RE: NDMP backup of snapmirror target

 

If I’m understanding you and Ed correctly though, the backup software in both cases used an existing snapshot, it did not make a snapshot itself?

 

At some point in the past Netbackup, Bodtool, Commvault, etc., would all create their own backup_stuff.0 snapshot what was specifically for NDMP backups and was (supposedly) deleted when the backup completed.

 

It sounds to me like the backup software may have gotten smarter and will automatically use the most recent snapshot if it can’t create one itself.

 

Jeff Kennedy

Qualcomm, Incorporated

QCT Engineering Compute

858-651-6592

 

From: Fred Grieco [mailto:fredgrieco@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 11:35 AM
To: Kennedy, Jeffrey; Jeremy Webber
Cc: toasters@mathworks.com
Subject: Re: NDMP backup of snapmirror target

 

I was doing the my most recent testing on Ontap 7.3.3, using Backup exec 12.5.  The NDMP backup worked.  I selected the volume for backup, as Backup Exec will not let me specify a particular snapshot.  I monitored the snapshots in System Manager-- it looked like the NDMP process used the most recent snapshot, as it put it in Busy/Dump status.

Fred

 

 


From: "Kennedy, Jeffrey" <jkennedy@qualcomm.com>
To: Jeremy Webber <Jeremy.Webber@al.com.au>
Cc: Fred Grieco <fredgrieco@yahoo.com>; "toasters@mathworks.com" <toasters@mathworks.com>
Sent: Tue, November 23, 2010 2:14:33 PM
Subject: RE: NDMP backup of snapmirror target

I would be very interested to hear from Netapp contributors if NDMP backups of volume snapmirror’s has changed.  My education at the time was that volume level snapmirror’s are RO for all blocks, which means inode pointers could not change since that meant a change to blocks *in* the volume.

 

QSM/Snapvault has never suffered from this issue.

 

Jeff Kennedy

Qualcomm, Incorporated

QCT Engineering Compute

858-651-6592

 

From: Jeremy Webber [mailto:Jeremy.Webber@al.com.au]
Sent: Sunday, November 21, 2010 6:22 PM
To: Kennedy, Jeffrey
Cc: Jeremy Webber; Fred Grieco; toasters@mathworks.com
Subject: Re: NDMP backup of snapmirror target

 

Maybe there were limitations in earlier versions of OnTAP but I can confirm that we do tape backups, via tape, from a snapmirror destination without having to break the snapmirror relationship.

 

A snapshot is automatically created in the snapmirror destination for the duration of the NDMP job.

 

I can't recall if subsequent snapmirror updates fail during the backup and am not able to test this right now.

 

OnTAP 7.3.2.

 

          -jeremy

 

On 17/11/2010, at 6:11 AM, Kennedy, Jeffrey wrote:

 

Things may have changed in OT since I last was concerned with tape backups but as I recall a snapmirrored *volume* can’t take the backup snapshot because it’s RO.  So you point the backup software at the newest snapshot in the RO volume and back up that view.

 

The only reason the NDMP backup makes a snapshot is to guarantee consistency.  An existing snapshot already has that.

 

Jeff Kennedy

Qualcomm, Incorporated

QCT Engineering Compute

858-651-6592

 

From: owner-toasters@mathworks.com [mailto:owner-toasters@mathworks.com] On Behalf Of Fred Grieco
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2010 6:26 AM
To: toasters@mathworks.com
Subject: NDMP backup of snapmirror target

 

I am snapmirroring several volumes to a DR site, and I would like to do tape backups at that site.  How should I do them?  Can I use NDMP?

It seems like I can't do straight NDMP because the replicated target is read-only.  I am currently creating flexclones from snapshots existing in the volume (nightly.0...) but flexclone then locks this snapshot and snapmirror will fail to update  ( I'm not sure if this happens at the next update or when the source system attempts to remove that snapshot and copy it over... I wasn't watching).

What do you generally do to get snapmirrored volume data to tape?

TIA,

Fred

 

--

Jeremy Webber

Senior Systems Engineer

Animal Logic Pty Ltd

T: +61 2 9383 4837

F: +61 2 9383 4801