Configuring the Sun FireTM X4500 Server as Network Attached Archival Storage for Symantec Enterprise Vault Tim Thomas Sun Microsystems January 2008
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Sun Microsystems, Inc. Table of Contents Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1 Solution Description..........................................................................................................................................2 Symantec Enterprise Vault..........................................................................................................................
Introduction The Sun FireTM X4500 Server is a four-way server with an AMD OpteronTM processor and 12, 24, 36, or 481 TB of storage in 4U (7 inches) of rack space. Compared to a traditional server with added disk arrays, the Sun Fire X4500 Server with 48 SATA II drives in a single system delivers 2 to 5 times the density of storage and saves about 30% to 50% in power at about 1/2 to 1/3 of the cost.
Solution Description Symantec Enterprise Vault Enterprise Vault software is designed to be a long-term, scalable store for unstructured information. Now in its seventh version, the Enterprise Vault software delivers not only a scalable and robust storage system, but also provides a wide choice of implementation scenarios addressing storage cost reduction and compliance-driven retention.
Topology of an Enterprise Vault Site Enterprise Vault is a Microsoft Windows application. A site will have a database server and one or more Vault Servers, the servers that run the Enterprise Vault software. Application Servers LAN Database Server Vault Servers LAN Archival Storage Figure 2: Symantec Enterprise Vault Site Each Vault Server archives data from applications, storing the data as files in Vault Stores.
The SAM file system can be viewed as a cache: All the files are kept in the cache until it fills up, at which point the oldest or least recently accessed files are released2. If a released file is later required, the data is quickly brought back from the archives by the SAM's stager2 process. These actions are transparent to applications with the benefit that the contents of the file system are managed so that it should never overflow3.
Features and Best Practices WORM Storage At this time, the WORM features of the SAM file system are not certified for use with the Enterprise Vault software. SAMBA Support Because Storage Archive Manager is based on the Solaris OS for SPARC and x64 platforms, SAMBA4 software, which is required to make a SAM file system available to servers running Microsoft Windows SAMBA, ships as standard with the Solaris OS and is supported by Sun Microsystems.
Testing the Sun Fire X4500 Server as Network Attached Archival Storage for the Enterprise Vault/SAM Solution Hardware and Software • Solaris 10 (8/07) OS SAMBA 3.0.25a (included in Solaris 10 8/07 OS) Sun StorageTek SAM 4.
LAN Database Server Vault Server Vault Server ● S un F ire V40z ● S un F ire X4100 S un F ire V40z 2 x 2.4 G Hz AMD Opteron ● 2 x 2.4 G Hz AMD Opteron ● 4 x 2.4 G Hz Dual C ore 850 850 AMD Opteron 2216 C P U ● 2 G B Memory ● 6 G B Memory ● 4 G B Memory ● Windows S erver 2003 E E ● Windows S erver 2003 R 2 ● Windows S erver 2003 R 2 ● S QL S erver S P2 S P2 ● E nterprise Vault 7.0 S P2 ● E nterprise Vault 7.
Configuring the Solution The process for setting up the solution follows this general plan: 1. Install the Solaris 10 8/07 OS (Update 4) or later with latest patches. 2. Install Sun StorageTek Storage Archive Manager 4.6 with latest patches and its File System Manager. 3. Download the x4500samconfig script from the site listed in the Appendix and unpack it. 4. 5. 6. Run the x4500samconfig script to create the default configuration based on Test Case 3.
The the following screen is displayed: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Next Screen- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Configure Sun Fire X4500 as Network Attached Archival Storage - Release 2.1 Choose Storage Pool Profile: 1. 2.
Press 6 to start the configuration. The script reviews the configuration information, as shown in the following screen: Next Screen Configure Sun Fire X4500 as Network Attached Archival Storage - Release 2.1 Review Configuration: Storage Profile: RAID-Z Pool for SAM FS,RAID-Z Pool for Disk Archive The SAM File System and SAM Disk Archive are in the different Storage Pools. SAM File System Name: samfs0 (Will be mounted as /samfs0) SAM File System Size: 7.
samfspool0 diskvsnpool0 diskvsnpool0/diskvsn0 samfs0 7.1T 7.1T 7.1T 7.0T 39K 39K 40K 57M 129G 7.1T 7.1T 7.0T 1% 1% 1% 1% /samfspool0 /diskvsnpool0 /diskvsn0 /samfs0 Configuring Storage Archive Manager File System Manager ships with SAM and is described in the SAM File System Manager User's Guide listed in the “For More Information” section. Use File System Manager to configure the Storage Archive Manager: 1. Customize the archiving policies to suit local requirements. 2.
Configuring Enterprise Vault 1. Create a share by mapping the Sun Fire X4500 Server's network drive to the Vault Server. Figure 4: Map Share to Vault Server 2. Navigate to the share and create a new directory to be used as a Vault Store Partition by the Vault Server. 3. Use the Vault Administration Console to configure the partition as part of a new Vault Store or as a new partition for an existing Vault Store. Add the share as storage type Network Share. 4.
Managing the Solution Sun Fire X4500 Server Use the same tools to manage the Sun Fire X4500 Server as you use for any other Solaris system. You can also manage the server using its Integrated Lights Out Management (ILOM) to power the server off and on and to connect remotely to the system console using its ssh interface and a web interface.
Figure 6: SAMBA Web-Based Administration Tool Configuring the Sun Fire X4500 Server as Network Attached Archival Storage for Symantec Enterprise Vault 14
Scaling the Solution In some environments, multiple archival storage units are required due to the rate or volume of data to be archived. Symantec Enterprise Vault scales horizontally and the partitions of a Vault Store can be placed on different network shares. Likewise, the Sun Fire X4500 Server Network Attached Archival Storage solution can also be scaled horizontally by adding more servers.
Appendix: The x4500samconfig Script Download the x4500samconfig script from the following location: http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/jsp/descFile.jsp?url=descAll/x4500samconfig_tar_ Test Mode The x4500samconfig script has a test mode to simplify development. The test mode gives you the following advantages: • You can run the script on any server running the Solaris OS and as any user. • The SAM packages are not required. • Most of the safety checks are switched on.
##### TEST MODE - NO CHANGES WERE MADE TO YOUR SYSTEM ##### #### All configuration files placed in /var/tmp/SAMFSTEST #### System Configuration is Complete. The system is ready to use. For information on managing SAM and SAMBA please consult the README file Hit Return to Exit Script. Resetting a Configured Sun Fire X4500 Server WARNING!: This procedure destroys your data. To reset a Sun Fire X4500 Server so that you can run the x4500samconfig script, use the following procedure. 1.
For More Information About Sun StorageTek Archive Manager: • Sun StorageTek Archive Manager page: http://www.sun.com/storagetek/management_software/data_management/sam/index.xml • Sun StorageTek Secure Archive page: http://www.sun.com/storagetek/archive/index.jsp • What Does Sun StorageTek Archive Manager Do? http://blogs.sun.com/timthomas/entry/what_does_sun_storagetek_storage1 About Sun Fire X4500 Server: • Sun Fire X4500 Server page: http://www.sun.
Wikis: • Storage Administration Wiki: http://wikis.sun.com/display/StorageAdmin/Home • Storage Developer's Wiki: http://wikis.sun.com/display/StorageDev/Home • Sun Fire x64 Servers Wiki: http://wikis.sun.com/display/SunFireX64/Home Events of interest to users of Sun products: • Worldwide Developer Events: http://developers.sun.com/events/ • Current Events: http://www.sun.com/events/index.
