MSA 2040 Backup Options

[Ken_Link]

I'm curious how folks are backing up the data stored on an MSA 2040 systems?  Our setup is pretty small and simple... 3 LUNS dedicated to VMware Datastores... and 1 LUN dedicated as a builds repository.

I'm looking for a product/products that would allow me to utilize the snapshoting capabilities of the MSA, and then backup that snapshoted data off of the MSA.

In regards to VMware, ideally some backup software would trigger a VM snapshot, and then take a MSA snapshot of the LUN, back it up and then delete the VM and MSA snapshots.

Similar to VMware, ideally the builds repository LUN would utilize a MSA snapshot, back it up and then delete the MSA snapshot.

I've used products like CommVault and TSM (Tivoli Storage Manager) to accomplish this againsts a NetApp SAN/NAS before however I'm finding very little information on any products that support the MSA series.  I was wondering if anyone had a working solution or thoughts on how I might achieve this?

Cheers,

Ken

[slesru]

I just map snapshots to linux VM and then use dd to backup. Anyway, MSA is entry-level, so just avoid it :-)

[Shawn_K]

Hello,

There are a couple of options you might consider.

MSA1040 - This is the lower performance array to the MSA2040. It supports replication to the MSA2040. If you bought the replication license you could configure the MSA2040 to replicate data to the MSA1040. This would then support a backup solution where you are not backing up to the MSA2040. Additionally, in case of failure of the main MSA2040 storage system your VMs could access the MSA1040 and you would be back up and running fairly quickly. This solution would also support a VMotion configuration from your hosts if you needed that capability in the future.

Additionally, you could look at the newer generation of MSA2050 arrays. The MSA2040 can also replicate data to an MSA2050 as long as you are using virtual storage on the arrays. The MSA2050 does not support linear vdisks. If you did buy an MSA2050, you could then replicate the data to the MSA2050 and then promote the MSA2050 as your primary storage and use the MSA2040 as your secondary backup device. Most of the physical hard drives are interchangable between the two array. This would allow you to easily swap in hard drives to either array depending on where you wanted your main storage to be.

I suggest reviewing the MSA QuickSpecs to confirm your environment and SAN is fully compatable. http://h41370.www4.hpe.com/quickspecs/overview.html

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Shawn