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1 Avamar Fundamentals
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This course covers an introduction to EMC Avamar. It includes an
overview of Avamar terminology, features, and components, including
Avamar backup and restore functions. The course reviews Avamar
tools for monitoring and maintaining an Avamar system.
2 Avamar Fundamentals
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This module focuses on the features and functions of the Avamar
backup solution.
Avamar Fundamentals 3
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EMC Avamar is a comprehensive, client-server network backup and
restore solution. With its unique global data deduplication
technology, Avamar addresses the data protection challenges in
todays IT environments.
The ever-increasing amount of data to backup presents a
challenge to organizations facing the demands of shorter backup
windows, quicker restore responses, consistent backups of remote
sites, and regulatory requirements; all with the need to accomplish
this with fewer staff and tighter budgets.
Avamar meets these challenges by re-designing backup and restore
as true disk-based processes. Avamars patented global deduplication
technology reduces the amount of backup data by identifying unique
data at the source. Avamar stores only one copy of this common data
across the backup network. This results in a dramatic reduction in
the amount of data that is moved across the network and stored in
backup storage. The same data is backed up as in traditional backup
systems, but consumes significantly less network and backup
resources as only unique data is stored. And, by using standard IP
network technologies, dedicated backup networks are not
required.
Avamar employs a scalable disk-based, server architecture built
of modules that provide a balance of connectivity, security,
processing and disk storage resources. Scheduled backup and
replication functionality enable efficient backup of remote sites
and provide disaster recovery of primary backup sites. Avamar
provides a user-friendly interface for central management of the
entire backup system.
Avamar Fundamentals 4
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A high percentage of data that is retained on backup media by
most backup solutions is highly redundant. The typical backup
process for most organizations consists of a series of daily
incremental backups and weekly full backups.
Daily backups are usually retained for a few weeks and weekly
full backups are retained for several months to several years.
Because of this process, multiple copies of identical or
slowly-changing data are retained on backup media, leading to a
high level of data redundancy.
A large number of operating systems, application files and data
files are common across multiple systems in an enterprise.
Identical files such as Word documents, PowerPoint presentations
and Excel spreadsheets, are stored by many users across an
environment. Backups of these systems will contain a large number
of identical files.
Additionally, many users keep multiple versions of files that
they are currently working on. Many of these files differ only
slightly from other versions, but are seen by backup applications
as new data that must be protected.
Backing up redundant data increases the amount of backup storage
needed and can negatively impact network bandwidth. Organizations
are running out of backup window time and facing difficulties
meeting recovery objectives due to the need to manage backup
versions and a myriad of backup tapes.
Avamar Fundamentals 5
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Avamar differs from traditional backup and restore solutions by
identifying and storing only unique, sub-file data objects.
Redundant data is identified at the source, drastically reducing
the amount of backup data that travels across the network to be
stored and managed by the backup host. When storing data objects,
Avamar takes maximum advantage of inherent hard-disk
characteristics. Avamar also creates and stores trees that link all
data objects from a single backup. These trees are used to
re-create files for restore.
Avamar Fundamentals 6
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The Avamar solution includes the following key features:
Global data deduplication ensures that data objects are only
backed up once across the backup environment.
Systematic fault tolerance, using RAID, RAIN, checkpoints and
replication, provides data integrity and disaster recovery
protection
Highly reliable, inexpensive disk storage is used for primary
backup storage.
Since standard IP network technologies optimize the use of the
network for backup, dedicated backup networks are not required.
Daily full backups are possible using existing networks and
infrastructure.
Scalable server architecture provides security and
expandability. Additional storage nodes can be added to an Avamar
multi-node server to accommodate increased backup storage
requirements.
Flexible deployment options include Avamar Virtual Edition and
Avamar Data Store. Avamar supports a wide-variety of client
operating systems and applications, including: Windows, Linux,
Unix, NDMP, Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, and
Oracle. With its global deduplication technology, Avamar is an
efficient backup choice for VMware and remote office backup
environments.
Centralized management is also provided. Avamar Enterprise
Manager and Avamar Administrator interfaces enable remote
management and monitoring of Avamar servers from a centralized
location via internet access. Avamar can also integrate with Data
Protection Advisor and Backup & Recovery Manager for further
monitoring capabilities.
Avamar Fundamentals 7
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There are several Avamar terms that are used throughout the
course.
An object is a single instance of deduplicated data. Objects are
stored and managed within stripes on the Avamar server. It is also
sometimes referred to as a chunk.
A stripe is a unit of disk drive space managed by Avamar
A node is a self-contained, rack-mountable network-addressable
computer consisting of both processing power and hard drive
storage. Nodes run Avamar server software on the Linux operating
system.
A server is a group of one or more nodes on a local, high-speed
network.
A system is one or more Avamar servers and the network servers
or desktop clients that back up data to those servers.
Avamar Fundamentals 8
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An Avamar backup is defined as a point-in-time copy of client
data that can be restored as individual files, selected directories
or entire file systems.
Initialization is the process of running a first backup from a
client.
Restore is an operation that retrieves one or more file systems,
directories or files from an existing backup and writes it to a
designated location.
Encryption provides enhanced security during client/server data
transfers and on the Avamar server. As part of server installation,
an Avamar server can be configured to encrypt all backup data
stored on the server. For Avamar client/server communication,
Avamar supports two levels of encryption: Medium and High. The
administrator can also choose to turn off client/server encryption
entirely. The exact method and bit strength used in a given
circumstance depends on several factors, including client OS and
Avamar server and client versions. Please refer to the Avamar
Product Security Manual for additional details.
Retention determines the length of time that a backup is
available for restore. Avamar allows you to specify how long a
backup is retained; unused chunks from backups that have expired
are deleted from the system.
Replication is the process of storing a logical copy of Avamar
server data on another Avamar server to support future disaster
recovery of the source server.
Avamar Fundamentals 9
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The three major components of an Avamar system are the Avamar
server, Avamar backup clients and the Avamar Administrator.
The Avamar Server stores client backups and provides essential
processes and services required for client access and remote system
administration. Avamar Administrator Server (mcs) and Avamar Data
Server (gsan) run on the Avamar server.
Avamar Client software runs on each computer or network server
that is being backed up. Avamar provides client software for
various computing platforms. Each client consists of a client agent
and one or more plug-ins.
Avamar Administrator is a user management console software
application that is used to remotely administer an Avamar system
from a supported Windows or client computer.
Avamar Fundamentals 10
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The primary building block of an Avamar system is a node.
Utility nodes are dedicated to providing internal Avamar server
processes and services, including the administrator server,
external authentication, Network Time Protocol (NTP), and web
access.
Storage nodes include the Avamar Data Server software and are
dedicated to providing backup storage.
The NDMP Accelerator is an optional specialized node that, when
used as part of an Avamar system, provides a complete backup and
recovery solution for NAS devices via the Network Data Management
Protocol (NDMP). Avamar supports Network Appliance filers and EMC
Celerra with the NDMP Accelerator.
The Media Access Node is an optional node that can be used as a
pass-through device for sending Avamar backup data to tape for long
term storage.
Avamar Fundamentals 11
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To ensure system integrity, Avamar provides systematic fault
tolerance at the following levels:
RAID (redundant array of independent disks) is a method of
protection for disk data corruption. RAID is a balance between
performance and efficiency. Avamar servers are protected by either
RAID-1 or RAID-6, depending on the configuration. Avamar also has
hot-swap capability with minimum system impact for highest
failure-rate components (more than 90% of expected failures)
RAIN (redundant array of independent nodes) provides failover
and fault tolerance across nodes. RAIN provides uninterrupted
functionality during node failure, replacement and reconstruction.
In the unlikely event of a node failure, the backup data will be
stored on the remaining nodes; data for recoveries is reconstructed
using parity. RAIN is used to replace the failed node, reconstruct
the data on the replacement node, and when expanding an Avamar
server, rebalance the capacity across all nodes.
Replication protects against data loss in the event of a server
loss. Efficient, scheduled replication (local or remote) ensures
availability/redundancy of data if primary server is lost.
Checkpoints protect the server in the event of operational
failures. They provide redundancy across time. Checkpoints are a
read-only snapshot of the Avamar server taken to facilitate server
rollbacks. They are created using hard-links to all the stripes.
Regular checkpoint validation, including auto-repair capability, is
used to ensure data integrity.
High Availability Uplink and Dual Switches provide high
availability in the event of hardware failure.
Avamar Fundamentals 12
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Avamar supports two basic types of standard Avamar server
configurations.
Non-RAIN configurations consist of a single stand-alone node. In
single node configurations, both utility and data functions are
provided in the single node. Most non-RAIN configurations require
replication. The exception is Avamar Business Edition, which uses
RAID 6 to protect against dual disk failure.
RAIN configurations include one utility node, three or more
storage nodes, plus a spare storage node. Currently, the largest
standard configuration consists of 16 storage nodes, 1 utility
node, and 1 spare storage node. A minimum RAIN configuration is a
1x3 server.
In a multi-node system, the nodes operate together as one
server. The hostname and IP address of the utility node is the
identity of the Avamar server for access and client/server
communication. Avamar load balances data across all available nodes
in a server. With node architecture, Avamar can be easily scaled by
adding more nodes.
Avamar Fundamentals 13
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The Avamar server runs on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES).
RHEL was used in previous versions and is still supported for
upgrades. The Avamar server is capable of operating on server
hardware with multiple processors.
Beginning with Avamar generation 4S hardware, three sizes of
storage nodes are supported: 2.0 TB, 3.9 TB, and 7.8 TB of
licensable capacity. Licensable capacity includes deduplicated data
plus RAIN parity protection. All storage nodes within an Avamar
server must be of the same size.
The two Avamar server editions provide the flexibility to meet
different customer requirements. Avamar can be deployed either as
physical hardware or as a virtual machine.
Avamar Fundamentals 14
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Avamar Data Store simplifies the purchase and deployment of
Avamar by delivering a pre-packaged solution consisting of Avamar
server software installed onsite on pre-configured and pre-tested
Avamar-certified hardware. Deployment time at customer sites is
reduced since hardware stress tests and initial benchmark tests are
performed before the hardware is shipped. Avamar Data Store is
available in several configurations as listed in the slide,
including multi-node and single-node servers. Multi-node servers
can be expanded by adding new nodes. Avamar Data Store is deployed
by EMC-trained personnel.
Avamar Fundamentals 15
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The EMC Avamar Virtual Edition (AVE) allows the Avamar solution
to be standardized on VMware infrastructure. It is ideal for small,
remote offices or small data centers, by lowering the total cost of
ownership through sharing the server and storage infrastructure and
reducing the cost of hardware support and maintenance.
AVE is a single-node non-RAIN Avamar server running as a virtual
machine on a VMware ESX Server. The licensed capacity sizes
include: 0.5 TB, 1.0 TB, 2.0 TB, and 4.0 TB. Each of these capacity
versions has a set of requirements for memory, I/O, and storage.
The choice of AVE version to be deployed depends on the type of
data in the environment to be backed up and the expected daily
change rate.
The VMware ESX Server is supplied by the customer. Installation
of AVE on a virtual machine is performed by EMC-trained personnel.
The AVE benchmark test must be run to ensure that server hardware
and the virtual environment meet expected I/O performance
benchmarks. Also, the benchmark test helps to determine the impact
of AVE on other virtual machines running on the same physical
server.
Note: For more information about Avamar Virtual Edition,
including the currently supported ESX server versions, please refer
to the EMC Avamar Virtual Edition System Installation Manual,
available on EMC Powerlink. Training for AVE includes the eLearning
course, EMC Avamar Virtual Edition Overview.
Avamar Fundamentals 16
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Because Avamar architecture is extremely flexible and scalable,
Avamar is an ideal solution for distributed enterprises. Corporate
backup policies can be implemented, enforced, and managed
throughout the organization from a central location. Avamar
supports both local area network and wide area network connections.
There is minimal impact to network traffic and performance as after
initialization, only changes travel over the networks.
You can backup both local and remote clients to a centralized
Avamar server. As a centralized backup system, Avamar protects
critical branch data without the addition of hardware or specially
trained personnel at branch office sites. For sites where recovery
time objective requirements must be satisfied, a local Avamar
system may be employed to backup local data at the site and
automatically replicate the backup data to the central data center
or disaster recovery site. Additionally, the central Avamar server
can be replicated to an offsite location for disaster recovery. All
backup and replication activity is managed from the central data
center using the Avamar Enterprise Manager and Administrator
interfaces. Employing Avamar disk-based backup eliminates the need
to manage a complex tape system for backups, restores, and offsite
security.
Avamar Fundamentals 17
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Avamar administration tools provide central administrative
access to the Avamar system.
The Avamar Administrator is a graphical user interface (GUI)
used to configure, monitor and manage an Avamar system from one or
more Windows or Linux clients.
Avamar uses a PostgreSQL database to store various kinds of
data, such as backup and restore activities, events, defined groups
and clients. This information is available for reporting using
third-party reporting tools such as Crystal Reports, MS Query, and
Microsoft Excel.
The Avamar Administrator Command Line Interface (CLI) is a Java
application providing command line access to the features and
functions that are available via the GUI.
Avamar provides many command-line utilities, programs and
scripts that can be used to manually configure and manage Avamar
server operations as well as perform manual backups and
recoveries.
Backup and Recovery Manager is a separate tool that can be used
to monitor Avamar, NetWorker, and Data Domain systems.
Avamar Enterprise Manager provides centralized access to the
Avamar Administrator for each Avamar system in an enterprise, as
well as dashboard, reporting and search capabilities. With
Enterprise Manager, backup administrators can monitor and manage
all Avamar servers in a distributed environment. Client Manager is
a tool within Enterprise Manager used to add and update backup
clients to the Avamar system.
Avamar Fundamentals 18
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Deduplication is a key feature of the Avamar system.
Deduplication ensures that each unique object is stored only once
in the Avamar storage system. Redundant backup data is eliminated
at the client (source), drastically reducing the amount of data
that travels across the network to be stored and managed by the
Avamar backup server. As long as a data object is stored on the
server, it is never re-sent to the server. This dramatically
reduces network traffic and enhances backup storage efficiency,
guaranteeing the most effective deduplication of the data.
Typically, deduplication commonality yields the following
results:
Initial file system commonality ~65%
Initial database commonality ~35%
Day-over-day file system backups ~99.7%
Subsequent database backups ~97%
Avamar Fundamentals 19
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The slide depicts a high level logical process and data flow of
an Avamar backup. During a scheduled backup or restore, the Avamar
server generates a work order. The server then either pages the
client agent or the client agent checks in with the server to pick
up the work order.
1. On the client, the Avamar agent traverses each directory in
the backup. For each file, the agent checks the local file cache to
see if the file has been backed up before.
2. If there is no match in the file cache, the file is divided
into variable-sized data objects or chunks. The chunks are
compressed and hashed. The hashes are used to quickly determine if
the chunks have previously been stored. The client compares each
hash with the entries in the local hash cache to see if the chunk
has been stored before.
3. If there is no match in the local hash cache, the client asks
the Avamar Server if the hash is present on the server due to its
corresponding chunk having been stored previously by a different
client.
4. If there is no match on the Avamar server, the hash and the
corresponding data are transferred to the Avamar server and stored.
The client cache files are updated accordingly.
This process is repeated for the rest of the files included in
the backup.
Avamar Fundamentals 20
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Hashes are used to store and find data objects. Three types of
hashes are created during a backup: atomic, composite, and root.
The hash created directly from a data chunk is referred to as an
atomic hash. Atomic hashes are combined into composites and hashed
to create composite hashes. All the composite hashes are combined
and hashed once more to create a single root hash for the
backup.
When data is sent to the Avamar Server during a backup, data
object storage is used to manage the objects on the server. Both
the chunk that has gone through the compression process and its
corresponding hash are stored. Part of the number of the hash is
used as an address to identify the location where the corresponding
data chunk is stored on backup disk storage. Because each hash is a
random and unique number, data is automatically evenly distributed
across all available storage nodes and disks within an Avamar
system. This type of address is called an object address. It
eliminates the need for a separate file level catalog.
Once an object has been stored, it cannot be deleted until the
specified retention period has expired and it is not used by any
current backup. Storing data on disk, rather than on tape,
streamlines the process of searching for stored objects.
Avamar Fundamentals 21
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Data is stored using a complex hierarchical hashing file system
with an indexing structure consisting of the data elements grouped
together by multiple levels of hashes, composites and root hashes.
The root hash of each backup links to the data objects and hashes
comprising the backup at the point-in-time when the backup
occurred.
Data objects are stored on Avamar disk storage in special files
called data stripes. A single data stripe can hold approximately
30,000 objects.
Composite hashes are stored in separate stripes. Root hashes, as
well as information about the origin of the files (client, domain,
etc.), are stored in the accounts stripes. On a RAIN system, an
additional stripe file contains RAIN parity data. This data is used
to reconstruct data for a failed node. These additional stripe
files account for the RAIN overhead.
Avamar Fundamentals 22
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For restore, Avamar presents a full backup as of a single
point-in-time.
Each backup has its own root hash linking to the data objects
and hashes which comprise the specific backup at the point in time
when the backup occurred.
For a restore, the Avamar server locates the chunks necessary to
fulfill the restore request and sends the chunks to the client. The
chunks are collected in the clients memory, ordered, uncompressed,
and written to disk on the client.
Avamar Fundamentals 23
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Avamar is ideally suited for protecting clients in virtual
environments by reducing the amount of backup data within and
across the virtual machines. Both VMware and Hyper-V are supported.
Avamar provides a high level of integration with VMware for backing
up virtual environments. Avamar provides the flexibility of
implementing a virtual machine backup solution in two ways. Avamar
agents can be installed in the virtual machines for guest level
backups. Image level backups are also available to create a backup
of the virtual disk files.
VMware backups can be centrally configured, scheduled and
managed with Avamar Administrator. Avamar Administrator also has
the ability to browse the virtual machines in the environment and
display information for each machine as shown on the slide.
Avamar Fundamentals 24
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Data Domain Integration
Data Domain systems can be used as storage for Avamar backup
data. Backup data is sent directly from the client to the Data
Domain system using DDBoost technology. Backups can then be managed
through the Avamar system. This can provide faster backup and
recovery, especially for large active databases. Data Domain
integration is supported for File system data, NDMP data, Lotus
Domino, DB2, Microsoft Exchange VSS, Hyper-V VSS, Microsoft SQL
Server, Microsoft SharePoint VSS, Oracle, SAP with Oracle, Sybase,
and VMware image backup and restore.
Maintenance Activities
Maintenance activities that are performed on the Avamar server
are also performed on any data stored on the Data Domain. This
means that a backup that has expired or been deleted on the Avamar
server will be deleted from the Data Domain. Avamar garbage
collection, checkpoints, rollbacks, and HFS checks and replication
trigger similar processes on the Data Domain system.
Avamar Fundamentals 25
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Resources related to Avamar include the guides, release notes,
and training courses are listed on the slide. For a complete set of
product information and documentation for Avamar, as well as client
and Administrator Console software, point a web browser to your
Avamar utility node, or single node.
Avamar documentation is also available via the EMC support web
site: support.emc.com. You can register for EMC Education Services
training courses via the EMC training web site:
education.emc.com.
Avamar Fundamentals 26
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This module covered the features and functions of the Avamar
backup solution.
Avamar Fundamentals 27
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This module focuses on performing backups and restores using
Avamar interfaces.
Avamar Fundamentals 28
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Avamar backup clients are the machines that contain the data to
be backed up to the Avamar server. They are networked computers or
workstations accessing the Avamar server via a network connection.
Avamar clients are usually the file servers and database servers in
an IT environment or employee computers.
Avamar Client software is installed and running on each client.
Avamar provides client software for various computing
platforms.
For backing up databases, the Avamar client and a specialized
database plug-in are installed and run on the same machine.
Databases supported with Avamar client software include: Microsoft
Exchange, Lotus Domino, Microsoft SQL, SharePoint, DB2, and
Oracle.
System State can also be backed with Avamar using a specialized
module that is utilized by the backup client. This captures system
settings, software installations, registry, networking information
and shares, and more. The backup of the system state can save time
if a bare metal recovery needs to be performed.
Avamar Fundamentals 29
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Domains are distinct zones within Avamar that are used to
organize and manage backup clients. They are used to manage
administration access to groups of clients. By nesting domains
within domains to create a tree structure, you can create a
hierarchy for managing organizations and the clients in those
organizations. The highest level domain is the root domain,
represented by the Avamar server in the hierarchy. When an Avamar
client is added to the Avamar server, it is assigned to a specific
domain within the domain hierarchy. The real power of domains is
that they provide the ability to add specific users to specific
levels on the client tree.
Avamar Fundamentals 30
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Security within the Avamar system is implemented through the use
of user accounts. Users can be created at the root, domain, and
client levels in the domain hierarchy. The level at which a user
account is added to the Avamar system and the role assigned to the
user determine the access and privileges accorded to that user.
Actions performed by users are tracked and maintained in an audit
log. The slide lists the roles that can be assigned to users at the
following levels in the domain hierarchy.
Root users are created at the root domain. Root users can
perform tasks for all domains in the hierarchy and the clients
within the domains.
Domain users are created at the Avamar domain level. Users at
the domain level can perform tasks for that domain, the clients
assigned to the domain, and any domain/client beneath the domain in
the domain hierarchy.
Client users are created for an individual Avamar client. The
tasks that a client user can perform are limited to that specific
client.
Avamar Fundamentals 31
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Avamar provides two backup types: scheduled and on-demand.
Scheduled backups are run automatically according to
specifications that can be customized by the administrator using
the Avamar Administrator interface.
On-demand backups can be initiated from the Avamar Administrator
interface and the Management Console command line interface
(MCCLI). On-demand backups can also be run from a client machine
using the Desktop/Laptop interface and with the avtar command from
the command line.
32 Avamar Fundamentals
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Avamar uses groups to implement various policies for automating
backups and enforcing consistent rules across a collection of
clients. Backups are scheduled to run automatically by configuring
and enabling groups. A group consists of one or more clients that
will be backed up, and a group policy that is used to configure
settings for the backup. The group policy specifies a dataset,
schedule, and retention for that group. Once a group is configured,
the Avamar server will automatically perform backups of the clients
within the group according to the schedule that was set for the
group. The dataset settings for the group determine the data from
each client is backed up, and the retention settings determine how
long each backup from the group is retained.
Avamar groups should not be confused with Avamar domains. Groups
are used to create automated backups for a set of clients, while
domains are used to grant Avamar administration rights to a set of
clients and to organize and manage sets of clients.
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Clients inherit the group policy settings by means of their
membership in a specific group. An Avamar user with Administrator
privileges can configure persistent backup selections by creating,
modifying and deleting datasets, schedules and retention policies,
assigning them to a new or existing group, and then assigning
clients to the group.
Datasets define the persistent backup selections for the file
systems, directories or files to be included in a backup. You can
also narrow the scope by specifying certain content, such as file
types, to exclude or include. Datasets can be created at any domain
level and can be assigned to one or more groups and clients within
the assigned domain.
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The Schedule for a group determines when and how often a backup
will automatically be run. Schedules can be created at any domain
level and can be assigned to one or more groups within the assigned
domain.
Retention Policies specify how long each backup from the group
will be kept. Any backups older than the specified retention are
automatically dropped from the system. Retention policies can be
created at any domain level and can be assigned to one or more
groups and clients within the assigned domain.
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On-demand backups by definition are run manually at the time
that the backup request is initiated. Avamar provides multiple ways
for running on-demand backups from either the client or server
side. An administrator can run an on-demand backup using the mccli
command line, run a group backup from Avamar Administrators Policy
view, or select items to backup from Avamar Administrators Backup,
Restore and Manage view, as shown on the slide. An on-demand backup
can also be initiated from the client side using the avtar CLI
command or using the Desktop/Laptop interface.
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Desktop/Laptop provides an easy to use graphical user interface
to be installed on a desktop or laptop in use by an end user. This
allows the end user to perform on-demand backups and restores
without help desk intervention. Desktop/Laptop is included as an
option in the Avamar client installer. It is available for Windows
XP, Windows Vista, and Mac.
End users can initiate an on-demand backup through the
Desktop/Laptop interface. This will back up data using the dataset
and retention policies set by the Avamar administrator for the
client. The end user must ensure that the data to be protected
resides within the a directory within the backup dataset.
Desktop/Laptop can optionally be configured to allow the end user
to create their own dataset and apply their own schedule. Backups
and restores over VPN are supported.
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You can manage backups from the Avamar Administrator Backup,
Restore and Manage view. You can list the backups run for a
particular client by first selecting the client in the tree and
then choosing to list by date, date range or retention type.
Options available from the Actions menu include changing the backup
expiration date, changing the retention tag, deleting a backup,
viewing completed backup statistics, and validating a backup.
Validating a backup initiates a virtual restore of all files in the
backup but does not actually restore any files to the client file
system. Deleting a backup permanently deletes the backup from the
system. Note that data referred to by other backups will not be
candidates for deletion.
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Avamar supports restoring one or more individual files,
directories or file systems from backups stored on the Avamar
server. There are two methods of initiating restores of client
data: from the Avamar server or from the client. Restores can be
initiated from the Avamar server using Avamar Administrator Backup
and Restore or the mccli interface. Initiating the restore from the
Avamar client is accomplished by the Desktop/Laptop interface or
the avtar command.
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Using the Avamar Administrator Backup and Restore view, the
items to restore for a specific client can be selected either from
a list of all backups for a particular date or of all backups
containing a particular path. Restores can be performed using the
Avamar Administrator by a user with Administrator privileges.
Restores can be directed to the original client, or redirected to a
different client.
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If Desktop/Laptop is installed on the client machine, end-users
can restore their own data. Using the Desktop/Laptop GUI, users can
search or browse for the desired files and initiate a restore.
Restores can only be performed to the client where the data
originated; redirected restores are not supported with
Desktop/Laptop. This user initiated restore is quicker and easier
because no calls to IT need to be made. Also, no additional
passwords are needed. Desktop/Laptop uses LDAP or Active Directory
Authentication to ensure that the user is authorized to access
their data.
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Avamar provides several ways to monitor backup activity while
backups are in progress and to report on backup status.
The Avamar Administrator Activity view provides a central
facility to monitor backup and restore progress and status. With
the Activity Monitor, you can see a listing of all activity for the
last 72 hours, up to a maximum of 5,000 rows. You can also bring up
activity logs and cancel an activity in progress. Options from the
Actions menu include filtering the activity results display and
viewing statistics for a selected activity.
Status information is also available on a Windows client with
the Avamar Progress bar and Work Order Status.
Avamar Fundamentals 42
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This module covered backups and restores using Avamar
interfaces.
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This module focuses on Avamar replication, daily Avamar
maintenance, and monitoring activities.
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Avamar Replication is the process of logically copying backup
data from one or more source Avamar servers to a destination or
target Avamar server. Replication always transmits data. Data is
pushed from the Avamar server executing the replicate command
(source) to the target server. As with the backup process, Avamar
employs deduplication methodology at the source Avamar server,
transferring unique data only to the target server and encrypting
the data during transmission.
Replication can be configured and run with the Avamar
Administrator and the replicate utility interfaces. Replication is
most often run on a scheduled basis, but can also be run
on-demand.
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Replication can be configured in multiple ways to meet an
enterprises unique requirements. For example, replication can be
used to provide disaster recovery protection of data from multiple
single-node servers to a central multi-node server in a remote,
branch office to home office scenario. It can also provide
peer-to-peer disaster recovery protection from a single-node to
single-node server and multi-node to multi-node servers.
The two basic kinds of Avamar replication are standard, also
referred to as normal, and full copy or root-to-root
replication.
Standard replication copies backup data from one or more source
Avamar servers to a target Avamar server. Replicated data is stored
within a special REPLICATE domain on the target Avamar. With
standard replication, an Avamar server can be both a replication
source and a target for replication. Data can be restored from
replicated backups directly from the replication target Avamar
server to a client activated on that server.
Full copy or root-to-root replication creates a complete logical
copy of an entire source server on the destination Avamar server.
Only a one to one configuration is supported with full copy
replication. Full copy replication is best suited for server
migrations and high availability environments.
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For a quick, system-wide monitoring of multiple Avamar servers,
Avamar provides the Enterprise Manager feature. The Enterprise
Manager is accessible through any web browser and provides an
overview of multiple Avamar servers and centralized access to
Avamar system administration for each Avamar server in an
enterprise. Information that is shown includes server capacity,
capacity forecasts, errors, backup statistics, and reports. Each
Avamar server can be selected to retrieve more detailed
information. A link to launch Avamar Administrator for each server
is also included. The Enterprise Manager Policy view lists policy
information for each Avamar server being monitored. Using the
Enterprise Manager Reports view, you can run many preconfigured
reports, including reports of actual and forecasted server capacity
utilization.
Further monitoring can be done from Avamar Administrator as
shown in following slides.
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Client Manager is a graphical user interface accessible from a
link in Enterprise Manager which provides many functions for
managing large amounts of clients. It provides the ability to move
multiple clients between domains or servers, and to retire or
delete multiple clients and to change backup groups of clients. It
is especially useful in large environments as clients can be found
easily through the use of search filters. Client Manager can also
be used to update client software and analyze backup statistics.
Activation of multiple clients can be achieved through this
interface. Clients can be discovered through the use of a directory
service such as Active Directory and then activated.
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Avamar activities and operational status are reported as events
to the administrator server. Examples of events include client
registration and activation, and backup completion and restore
activity. The Avamar Administrator Event Monitor displays the most
recent 5,000 system events during the past 24 hours. The listing
can be filtered by event code, category, type, severity, and
domain. The report can be exported to a CSV file.
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The Avamar Administrator Server view is a primary system status
monitoring tool. With the functions within the Server view, you can
suspend or resume server activity, check server capacity, review
the health of nodes and disks, and manage checkpoints and hash file
system checks. The Server Monitor presents a summarized view of
CPU, network and hard drive performance statistics for each
node.
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Daily Avamar server maintenance activities include checkpoints,
checkpoint validation and garbage collection. These server
maintenance activities are run automatically.
A checkpoint is a read-only snapshot of the Avamar server taken
to enable server rollbacks. Checkpoints are created using
hard-links to all the stripes.
A hash file system (HFS) check is an operation that validates
the integrity of a checkpoint. Once a checkpoint has passed an HFS
check, it can be considered reliable enough to be used for a system
rollback.
Checkpoints are taken twice daily and validated once daily
during the maintenance window. Avamar administrators can also
create and validate checkpoints at any time, as well as delete
checkpoints that are not needed in order to reclaim additional
server storage capacity.
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Garbage collection is the process of deleting unused chunks from
backups that have expired. This frees up capacity on the Avamar
server.
Garbage collection runs once daily starting at the beginning of
the Maintenance window.
Beginning with Avamar 7.0, backups can run during garbage
collection. However, doing so should be avoided since it will
negatively impact the performance of both the garbage collection
and backup processes.
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Avamar uses three operational windows to perform various system
activities. These windows can be customized to start and end at
times to meet site requirements.
The backup window is when the majority of backups are performed.
Backups should be scheduled to run during this time. No maintenance
activities, such as garbage collection or HFS checks, are performed
by the Avamar server during the backup window.
The maintenance window is reserved for maintenance activities,
primarily garbage collection, checkpoint creation, and HFS check. A
limited number of backups may be initiated, but both backup time
and maintenance activities will be impacted. By default, the
maintenance window runs during the day from 8 am to 8 pm.
Restores can be performed during any of these windows.
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New bytes are added to the Avamar server through the backup
process. Old bytes are removed from the server through garbage
collection of unused chunks from expired or deleted backups. The
goal of managing the capacity of the Avamar server is to achieve a
steady-state server capacity utilization where the rate that new
data chunks are added to the server is equal to or less than the
rate that expired data chunks are removed from the server.
Factors affecting capacity utilization include the amount of
primary storage being protected, the initial and day-over-day
backup commonality, and the length of time backups are
retained.
Capacity management is an important task for the Avamar
administrator to ensure that the Avamar system continues to have
the capacity to store the required backup information. Avamar
provides many tools and reports to assist the administrator with
this task.
For daily monitoring, the Avamar Administrator Dashboard, shown
on the slide, provides capacity management information, including
server capacity, forecasts, and warnings. Avamar automatically
issues warnings when server utilization exceeds 80% of user
capacity and, at 100%, will go into read-only mode. EMC Technical
Support is available to work with the administrator on all capacity
management issues.
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Avamar maintains logs of client and server activities. Logs are
especially useful for investigating issues and troubleshooting
error conditions. The slide shows an excerpt from a client log
detailing an on-demand backup operation.
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Many standard reports are available with the Avamar
Administrator Activity Report and Manage All Reports features.
Shown here is an example of one of the activity reports. You can
also create reports using the read-only views of the Avamar
Administrator server database.
Backend Capacity Reports can be generated to show how much
capacity is used by a client or a group of clients after
deduplication.
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This module covered Avamar replication, daily Avamar
maintenance, and monitoring activities.
Avamar Fundamentals 57
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This course covered an introduction to EMC Avamar, including an
overview of Avamar terminology, features, components, and backup
and restore functions. The course also reviewed Avamar tools for
monitoring and maintaining an Avamar system.
This concludes the training. Proceed to the course assessment on
the next slide.
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