IBM ProtecTier Implementation and Best Practices Guide

4 IBM ProtecTIER Implementation and Best Practices Guide

1.1 Terminology

The following terms and definitions are used in this publication and are common for all

products from the ProtecTIER family:

ProtecTIER When used by itself, this expression points to the IBM

patented deduplication solution based on

HyperFactor. Depending on the context, it can mean

the family of products, a specific device, or just the

deduplication engine.

TS7600 When used alone, this term signifies the IBM family of

virtualization solutions that operate on the ProtecTIER

platform, including the ProtectTIER appliances and

gateways.

Factoring ratio The factoring ratio means the ratio of nominal capacity

as a sum of backup data streams to physical capacity

in the ProtecTIER repository. For example, if you have

100 TB of user data (nominal capacity) and it is stored

on 10 TB of physical capacity, your factoring ratio

is 10:1.

HyperFactor The IBM algorithm that eliminates data duplicates from

the incoming backup data streams. The factoring

ratios are the result of HyperFactor processing.

VTL The ProtecTIER VTL service emulates traditional tape

libraries. By emulating tape libraries, you can use

ProtecTIER VTL to transition to disk backup without

having to replace your entire backup environment.

Your existing backup application can access virtual

robots to move virtual cartridges between virtual slots

and drives. The backup application perceives that the

data is being stored on cartridges, but ProtecTIER

actually stores data on a deduplicated disk repository.

OST This configuration option allows ProtecTIER to be

integrated with Symantec NetBackup to provide a

backup-to-disk capability without using a VTL

emulation. Using a plug-in that is installed on an OST

enabled media server, you can use ProtecTIER to

implement a communication protocol that supports

data transfer and control between the backup server

and the ProtecTIER server. Therefore, to support the

plug-in, you use ProtecTIER to implement a storage

server emulation.

FSI-CIFS ProtecTIER emulates Windows file system behavior

and presents a virtualized hierarchy of file systems,

directories, and files to Windows CIFS clients. When

configured for FSI-CIFS, ProtecTIER emulates a

network-attached storage (NAS) backup target

capable of using both HyperFactor and ProtecTIER

Native Replication bandwidth reduction techniques for

storing and replicating deduplicated data. Common

Internet File System (CIFS) is supported.

Chapter 1. ProtecTIER basics 5

System console The system console used with the TS7650 Appliance

products is the IBM TS3000 System Console (TSSC).

Metadata Metadata is the data used to track the data about your

backup data, including where it is stored on the disk.

User data User data consists of the backup files and data sets

stored on the VTL. It is the data that you are storing on

disk.

Repository The repository is the physical disk that holds the

ProtecTIER factored data. There are two types of file

systems that make up the ProtecTIER Repository:

metadata and user data.

Front end The connection from ProtecTIER to the backup server.

Back end The connection from ProtecTIER to the attached disk

storage subsystem that acts as a repository.

Node and server A single ProtecTIER server (TS7650G, TS7650

Appliance, TS7610 Appliance Express, or TS7620

Appliance Express) is represented as a node from the

ProtecTIER Manager software. Stand-alone node or

dual-node cluster configurations are available. This

book uses the terms node and server interchangeably.

Shelf A container of VTL cartridges within a ProtecTIER

repository. This container is analogous to a shelf or a

rack where physical tapes are kept outside of the

automated tape library in cartridge slots.

IBM Tivoli Assist On-site (AOS) A web-based tool that enables a remote support

representative in IBM to view or control the

management node desktop. More information is at the

Tivoli AOS website at:

http://www.ibm.com/support/assistonsite

1.1.1 ProtecTIER Appliance terminology

The ProtecTIER Appliance is the IBM self-contained virtualization solution that includes an

embedded pre-configured disk storage repository. The following terms are specific to the

TS7650 Appliance:

Disk controller The disk controller for the TS7650 Appliance is the 4.8 TB Fibre

Channel Disk Controller (Feature Code 3708). Use this feature code

for ordering or service purposes.

Disk expansion unit The disk expansion unit for the TS7650 Appliance is the 4.8 TB Fibre

Channel Disk Expansion Unit (Feature Code 3707). Use this feature

code for service purposes.

Server The 3958 AP1 server is based on the IBM System x3850 X5 Type

7145-AC1with ProtecTIER Version 3.2. When used as a server in the

TS7650 Appliance, its machine type and model are 3958 AP1.