OceanStor HDP3500E Technical White Paper

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2 1 Overview Today, IT enterprises are facing a vast extent of challenges protecting their critical data. With the rapid growth of data and incessant release of new laws and regulations, IT departments are challenged to meet demanding service level agreement (SLA) requirements in terms of backup time, recovery time objective (RTO), and recovery point objective (RPO). In the past, data protection strength was scattered and mainly focused on tapes and physical servers. Permanent storage of data seems not able to address the current data protection challenges for IT enterprises. For this reason, IT enterprises are enforced to discover the new generation of information management tools. It is believed that the emerging technologies such as disk-based backup, virtualization, archiving, and cloud backup networks are about to revolutionize the way how we protected the data. However, managing multicast solutions implies introducing more complexity. Therefore, a unified data protection method is required to be in place. The OceanStor HDP backup device has the following features: Powerful data storage capability Quick and easy deployment Cost effectiveness High reliability High availability Easy maintenance Simplified management Low power consumption Huawei Confidential Page 1

3 2 Innovative Product Portfolio A traditional backup solution involves backup servers, storage switches (optional), backup media such as disk arrays and physical tape libraries, and backup software. The hardware components are in different forms and from different manufactures, which challenges users with compatibility problems and assortment difficulties. In addition, the system maintenance is complex, which poses high requirements on the skills of personnel, resulting in high cost. Figure 2-1 HDP3500E appearance The HDP3500E creatively integrates backup servers with backup media: Configured with two Intel E5 CPUs and 16 GB memories (two 8 GB DDR3 memories), possessing strong backup data processing capability Huawei Confidential Page 2

4 Supports 12 x 2 TB NL-SAS hard disks to be its data disks. Data disks are located in the front of the device and form a reliable hard disk system together with the power supply and disk controller. By consolidating the hardware resources of the backup system, the HDP3500E can meet the storage need for data backup, minimize the maintenance difficulty, and reduce maintenance personnel's workload and backup system's total cost Huawei Confidential Page 3

5 3 Complete Data Protection 3.1 Proven Disaster Recovery Capability Apart from the RAID 1 and RAID 6 level data protection provided by the disk controller, the HDP automatically backs up its own system data every two weeks. Additionally, three recovery CD-ROMs are provided so that the system can be quickly recovered when the HDP3500E backup system becomes faulty. Before recovering the system, you must back up the critical data of the HDP3500E system for quick recovery. Data recovery can be applied in the following two scenarios: Clearing faults of an HDP3500E whose data disks are intact The system faults of an HDP3500E whose data disks are intact will result in unavailability of the services. Data loss can be avoided by recovering the system. Clearing faults of an HDP3500E whose hard disks contain. When the data of 14 disks of an HDP3500E are cleared due to data disk RAID group failures or misoperations, you can reset the HDP3500E using the system recovery. In this case, all the data on the HDP3500E server will be lost. 3.2 Plug and Play Installing the operating system, backup software for the backup server and configuring backup media are necessary preparations when you are creating a traditional backup policy. Normally, it takes one to two hours to install the operating system. If a disk array, as 24 TB for example, is used as the backup server, it takes about 24 hours to configure the disk array and complete the initialization. In this case, no preparation work that is relevant with the system backup has been done in last 25 to 26 hours. To reduce the preparation work in a deployment, the hard disks of an HDP3500E come preconfigured and initialized during the manufacturing. Meanwhile, the operating system is preinstalled on the HDP3500E. No additional efforts need to be made when the device is delivered to the Huawei Confidential Page 4

6 deployment site except some hardware installation work. You can start the backup system configuration immediately after the device is started. Preparations in the manufacturing stage include: Configuring hard disks The HDP3500E front panel provides 12 service disk slots, numbered from 0 to 11 from bottom to top and from right to left. Disks in slot 0 to slot 10 are used to create a RAID 6 group. This RAID group stores backup data and certain system data for system disaster recovery. The disk in slot 11 is the global hot spare disk, which is used to take over the services of a faulty disk in the system. Figure 3-1 Disk slots on the front panel of the HDP3500E The HDP3500E rear panel provides two disk slots, numbered OS0 and OS1 from left to right. This section illustrates the disk slots on the rear panel of the HDP3500E with the AC power module in the following figure. OS0 and OS1 create a RAID 1 group. This RAID group is used to host the operating system and backup software and to store critical information about the backup system. Figure 3-2 Disk slots on the rear panel of the HDP3500E with the AC power module Preinstall the operating system and backup software During the manufacturing, preinstall the operating system for the device using the network deployment, and initialize the basic information such as the time, time zone, and IP address. The preinstallation and initialization are intended to simplify the onsite installation and configuration. Besides the preinstallation of the operating system, the backup software is also preinstalled using the network deployment method during the manufacturing. In a deployment, you can quickly complete the installation Huawei Confidential Page 5

7 and configuration of the backup software by selecting the device role (master server or media server) in the configuration wizard. 3.3 Global Hot Spare Disk During disk array configuration, a disk is specified as a hot spare disk. Normally, this disk is not operating. When a disk in the array becomes faulty, the hot spare disk replaces the faulty disk and takes over the services on the faulty disk. In large-scale data processing or control centers that require nonstop running, hot backup handles latent security problems caused by hard disk faults that occur at nights or during the unattended periods. Hot spare disks are classified into two types: Global hot spare disk: applicable to all RAID groups of the disk array. Partial hot spare disk: applicable to a specific RAID group. The data disks of the HDP3500E adopt RAID 6. The following figure shows the working principles for the RAID 6 hot spare disk reconstruction. Figure 3-3 RAID 6 hot spare disk reconstruction When the data on a disk of the HDP3500E is corrupted, the corrupted data can be recovered on the hot spare disk based on the data on the parity disk and other member disks. All operations are performed without service interruptions. 3.4 RAID Group Consistency Check The OceanStor HDP3500E supports the consistency check of the RAID group. The consistency check ensures that the data on the stripes is correct and avoids data inconsistency Huawei Confidential Page 6

8 Figure 3-4 Parity check principle of RAID 6 Assume that a RAID group consists of five disks, among which Disk A, B, and C are data disks while Disk C and D are parity disks. The data on the disks are sequentially D0, D1, D2, P, and Q. During the parity check, the data D2, P, and Q on disks C, D, and E are firstly read. Then the data D0' and D1' on Disks A and B are calculated according to the parity algorithm. Compare D0' with D0 and D1' with D1. If either comparison result is inconsistent, the data consistency check fails. 3.5 Bad Sector Processing The OceanStor HDP3500E provides bad sector identifier and bad sector address remapping functions, which can effectively prevent data loss caused by bad sectors. Figure 3-5 Disk space partitioning During the data reading and writing, users are accessing the address of the virtual disk space. The system automatically switches the address into the address of the physical disk. The space of the physical disk is divided into the Huawei Confidential Page 7

9 configuration zone, data zone, reservation zone, and configuration mirroring zone. The configuration zone and configuration mirroring zone are located at the beginning and ending of the disk respectively to record the mappings among the virtual disk space, data zone, and reservation zone. The data zone and reservation zone store the data. When there are no bad sectors, the data disk and the virtual disk space are linearly mapped. When bad sectors occur, the reservation zone is used to remap the data zone to the address of a corresponding virtual disk space. Figure 3-6 Address remapping When a bad sector appears and data fails to be read or written on the disks, the system automatically allocates space of the same size with the damaged zone from the reservation zone for data readings and writings. The space of the original data zone is abandoned, and the mapping of the virtual disk space is reset Huawei Confidential Page 8

10 4 HDP3500E Software 4.1 Unified Management of the Hardware and Software For traditional loose-coupled backup systems, the backup servers, backup media, and backup software are managed separately and maintained by individual manufacturers. Once a backup system becomes faulty, users have to coordinate with different manufacturers to diagnose the fault, which has been bothering users for long. The HDP3500E integrates backup servers, backup media, and backup software to provide users with unified and professional maintenance services. This ideally resolves the problems in loose-coupled backup systems. Also, the graphical management system and command line management tools are provided, which enables users to uniformly manage and maintain the software and hardware of the backup system, and quickly diagnose the faults. This reduces the maintenance difficulty greatly. Figure 4-1 Main page of the HDP3500E ISM management interface Huawei Confidential Page 9

11 4.2 Integrated with the USM to Simplify Configurations For almost all the users, the backup system is always detached from the customers' application system. Therefore, it has always been a headache for users to integrate the configuration and maintenance of the backup system into the service system. The HDP3500E customizes the needs based on the Advanced Telecom Application Environment (ATAE) and integrates the client deployment function into the Universal Server Manager (USM) so that service engineers and users can configure the backup system using the USM. This achieves the unity of the service system and the backup system and enhances user experience because it adapts to users' existing habits in using service system. 4.3 Support for Alarm Reporting to Huawei I2000 Network Management System Components of the backup system come from different manufacturers and have their unique ways of managing alarms. To simplify the alarm management of the backup system, the HDP3500E implements unified alarm reporting of the hardware platform, operating system, and backup software using the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Figure 4-2 Integrating the alarm system of the HDP3500E backup system with the I2000 Huawei I2000 network management system implements an all-around management of the HDP3500E and has an advantage over other backup systems that may have a loose and disordered manner of managing alarms Huawei Confidential Page 10

12 4.4 Simplified Maintenance Tools Another problem that faces traditional backup policies is the complexity of system maintenance. First of all, the hardware and software of a traditional backup system are independent of each other and must be maintained separately. Yet, no unified platform is currently available for viewing the status of the hardware and of the backup software all in one place. Second, once the system becomes faulty, the system administrator must collect the system logs of each component in the backup system separately and this may require remote technical support from the service engineers of each manufacturer, the whole process of which is sophisticated and time-consuming. At last, during the daily maintenance, the maintenance engineers must check whether each component in the backup system is normal on different command line interfaces and management interfaces. This introduces a lot of complex operations. The HDP3500E takes problems during maintenance into account and provides tool packages for displaying configurations, collecting information, and one-key maintenance. These tools greatly simplify the management and maintenance work. The tool for displaying device configurations is provided. The system administrator can easily view the version information of the hardware platform, operating system, and backup software simply by running a command. Specially designed one-key information collection tool enables the system administrator to collect the logs of the entire system as well as other information by running one information collection command. This facilitates log collection and reduces time consumption in collecting logs. One-key maintenance tool is intended for the health status check of the key components in the backup system. The system administrator can quickly complete the maintenance by checking critical components in the system. 4.5 Integrated With the Enterprise-Level Backup Software NetBackup The HDP3500E integrates with Symantec enterprise backup software NetBackup. It allows the backup recovery for various kinds of application data in Windows, Linux, and UNIX operating system platforms. The HDP3500E supports multiple backup types, uniformly manages backup policies, and automatically adjusts backup tasks. The HDP3500E is highly scalable due to the three-layer architecture of the NetBackup. Master server, as the core of the backup system, centrally manages the entire backup domain. Media servers connect the storage devices and complete backup tasks. Clients are deployed on service systems that need to be backed up. The HDP3500E can be configured either as a master server or a media server. One or more HDP3500E devices can be deployed according to the number of application systems and the total amount of Huawei Confidential Page 11

13 backup data. The uniform management of the backup policies and backup space can be achieved easily among multiple HDP3500E devices. Figure 4-3 NBU three-layer architecture 4.6 Bare Metal Restore The HDP3500E delivers the Bare Metal Restore (BMR) component to implement instant backup and recovery of operating systems. BMR can automate the server recovery, avoiding the need to manually reinstall operating systems or configure hardware. Simplified deployment and application of BMR eliminate the time spent on the upfront trainings and management, contributing to an attractive total cost of ownership. BMR comprises the BMR master server, BMR startup server, and BMR client. The following provides a procedure and step-by-step instructions on how to use BMR to restore operating systems, system configurations, system files, and data files Huawei Confidential Page 12

14 Figure 4-4 Restore procedure 4.7 Data Archiving The HDP3500E supports the file system archiving function. After data on the file system is archived to the storage media, the source data can be deleted. The source data is inaccessible after being deleted. To access these data, restore the archived data to their original locations. A user initiates a user archive through the Backup, Archive, and Restore client page.a user archive backup first backs up the files that the user indicates. Then it deletes the files from the local disk if the backup is successful. Archive backups free local disk space while retaining a copy for future use. The copy is kept until the retention period expires. Users can start archives only during the times that are specified in the schedule Start Window tab. To create an archiving policy, perform the following steps: Step 1 On the Attributes tab page, set a backup type for the user archive. Step 2 In Start Window, set the archiving start time. Step 3 Set the backup selection to blank. Step 4 As the archiving policy is successfully created, append the following information in the bp.conf file. BPARCHIVE_POLICY = archive policy name BPARCHIVE_SCHED = archive schedule After the information above is appended, the screen similar to the following is displayed: Huawei Confidential Page 13

15 Figure 4-5 Screen of the archive policy setting Step 5 Go to the management console of the client or master server, create a backup policy on the Backup, Archive, and Restore page. NOTE The NetBackup administrator should make sure that a full backup of the client exists before a user archives files from the client. 4.8 FlashBackup FlashBackup is a policy type that combines the speed of raw-partition backups with the ability to restore individual files. FlashBackup can provide the following benefits: Increases backup performance as compared to standard file-ordered backup methods. For example, a FlashBackup of a file system completes faster than other types of backup in the following case: The file system contains a large number of files. Most of the file system blocks are allocated. Restores individual files from raw-partition backups. Backs up the following file systems: VxFS (Solaris, HP, Linux, AIX), ufs (Solaris), Online JFS (HP), and NTFS (Windows). Supports multiple data streams, to further increase the performance of raw-partition backups when multiple devices are in the Backup Selections list. For a complete list of supported platforms, snapshot methods, and data types, see the NetBackup 7.x Snapshot Client Compatibility at Huawei Confidential Page 14

16 4.9 Data Encryption The HDP3500E supports the client-based encryption. This function safeguards data during data transfer and storage, preventing critical information from eavesdropping and disclosure. The encryption key resides on the client and is used to encrypt the channel between the client and the storage media. The supported encryption modes include AES-128-CFB (by default), BF-CFB, DES-EDE-CFB, AES-256-CFB, DES 40, and DES 56. Encryption is incompatible with FlashBackup, FlashBackup-Windows, NDMP, NetWare, OS/2, and vault. NOTE When deduplication is enabled, an independent encryption mode (using Blowfish algorithm) rather than regular encryption modes is supported. Select Encrypt on the Attributes tab page, as shown below. The default encryption mode is AES-128-CFB. Figure 4-6 Diagram of data encryption You can set other encryption modes to fit your needs: AES: In the Client Cipher drop-down list, select an AES key type. DES: Setting the DES mode is required to specify the location of the directory where the encryption file resides. The default directory is /usr/openv/lib. The default file is /usr/openv/netbackup/keyfile Remote Replication The deduplication-free remote replication is implemented using the storage life cycle policy. The local and remote data centers must reside in the same Huawei Confidential Page 15

17 domain and data in the backup set is not deduplicated. The standby backup set is user-definable. Figure 4-7 Deduplication-free remote replication Data is backed up from the service server to the local backup system through the service plane and to the remote backup system over the wide area network (WAN). To restore data, perform the following steps: Step 1 Deploy the NetBackup master at the remote data center and establish a new backup domain. Step 2 Import the NetBackup media that stores the backup data to the backup domain. Step 3 Restore the backup data to the service server over the local area network (LAN) at the remote data center Backup and Recovery Implemented Through NDMP The NetBackup for NDMP function is optional. It allows NetBackup to start and control backup and recovery of the network attached storage (NAS) system using Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP). NDMP is a widely used protocol that allows the NDMP-based application to implement backup and recovery of all NDMP hosts. The NDMP-based application works in client/server mode. The NetBackup master server or media server running NetBackup for NDMP is called a NetBackup for NDMP server. The host running the NDMP server program is called a NDMP host. The NetBackup software is a client of the NDMP server program. NetBackup for NDMP allows NetBackup to serve as an NDMP client, and the NDMP host to serve as a NetBackup client Huawei Confidential Page 16

18 The HDP3500E can use the NDMP to back up and restore data on the NAS engine to and from an HDP3500E. Note: The DNMP host is free of installing the NetBackup agent. Figure 4-8 Diagram of the NDMP-based backup 4.12 Backup Solutions Applied in the Virtualization Environments In the VMware environment that applies the latest Vstorage API for Data Protection technology, adopt agent-free backup by installing the NetBackup agent only on the physical server rather than on each virtual server. In the Hyper-V environment, adopt agent-free backup by installing the NetBackup agent only on the physical server rather than on each virtual server. In the XEN environment, adopt the agent-based backup by installing the NetBackup agent on each virtual server. In the physical server environment, adopt the agent-based backup Huawei Confidential Page 17

19 Figure 4-9 Diagram of the virtualization backup Huawei Confidential Page 18

20 5 Energy Saving 5.1 Carrier-Class Power Module of Highly Efficient and Energy Saving A Green Data Center (GDC) is a center whose IT systems, equipment, lighting devices, electrical devices maximize the energy efficiency and minimize the environmental influence. With the management of the enterprise becoming increasingly delicate, GDCs are natural development tendencies for data centers. The OceanStor HDP3500E adopts professional telecommunication power modules that feature: High efficiency, reaching 90% in rated environments Input power factor correction, high power factor, and weak harmonic current, minimizing pollution to the power system EMI filter circuit for AC input, high electromagnetic compatibility, and low electromagnetic interference, achieving green environments Wide ranges of input voltage and input frequency and applying to different modes of power networks; working properly when the input voltage ranges between 90 and 240 V AC and the input frequency ranges between 47 and 63 Hz, suitable for different types of power supply networks; and for different types of power supply networks Supports a wide range of temperature (0 C to 49 C) and humidity (< 85%) 5.2 Intelligent Disk Power-On Technology A storage system generally contains many disks. If they are powered on simultaneously, the power supply will be greatly affected. The worst situation is that the power supply may be disrupted due to the overloaded current. This problem is fully considered during the design of Huawei OceanStor storage system series. The intelligent power-on technology is applied to ensure that the hard disks are powered on in batches. Requirements for power supply are lowered therefore. Instant overcurrent occurs when a hard disk is powered on. If 12 hard disks are powered on simultaneously, great electronic shock occurs, which damages the power supplies. The HDP3500E resolves the problem of overcurrent by Huawei Confidential Page 19

21 powering on the system disks and data disks in batches. The system disks start to rotate 3.5 seconds after the device is powered on. The process is completed within 0.5 second. The data disks start to rotate five seconds after the device is powered on. Six hard disks start to rotate each time and each group takes 500 ms. All the data disks are powered on within one second. 5.3 Intelligent Fan Speed Control Technology The HDP3500E intelligent fan speed control module provides real-time monitoring and detection of ambient temperature of heat-sensitive positions. Taking advantage of the responses from each detection point and the innovative algorithm, the HDP3500E meets the heat dissipation needs of the system at the lowest rotational speed. This intelligent fan speed control technology attains the following goals: Using fans rationally Preventing entry of dusts effectively Reducing system noises Reducing system power consumption Huawei Confidential Page 20

22 6 Focusing On the Electricity Environment In such application scenarios as the equipment room of the telecom carriers and profession Internet Data Centers (IDCs), and data hosting centers that pose high requirements for data security, a professional equipment room with DC power supplies is built. However, over a long time period, most storage device providers are only able to provide AC power supplies. Telecom carriers are therefore have to allocate a temporary area exclusively used for AC power supply as the storage devices do not support DC power supplies With the Huawei's experience in designing DC power supplies for telecom devices, HDP3500E fully considers the electricity environment and offers you both AC and DC power modules at your own choice. This simplifies electricity environment planning of the equipment power supply. There are currently two types of electricity environment in China, one is AC power supply (220 V and 380 V, 50 Hz) and the other is the DC power supply (-48 V). AC power supply is very common and easy to be obtained. Normally, Power Supply Bureau provides AC power, which can be used directly without being converted. Because there might be multiple users on the same power supply line, the power supply may fluctuate. The DC power supply environment is complicated. The DC power is provided by the Power Supply Bureau through exclusive lines. Meanwhile, battery groups are used as the backup power supply. This provides a long-term and stable power supply environment, and ensures the normal and continuous working of the devices Huawei Confidential Page 21

23 7 Acronym and Abbreviation Acronym ATAE IDC RAID SNMP USM Full Spelling Advanced Telecom Application Environment Internet Data Center Redundancy Array of Independent Disk Simple Network Management Protocol Universal Server Manger Huawei Confidential Page 22