How to migrate a filesystem shared by two cifs servers using VDM.

Sandip,

Thanks for your response. Much appreciated. All cifs servers are currently on physical DM .I had a couple of more questions:

1) What would be the backout plan when using VDM migration?. I mean to bring the cifs server back online at the source, what would be the procedure?

2) What is the difference between a failover and a switchover in Celerra Replicator?. Which one is recommended?

2) What is the difference between a failover and a switchover in Celerra Replicator?. Which one is recommended?

This is explained in detail on page 43 and 44 of the "using Celerra Replicator V2" manual.

Hello Sandip,

I need your help. We dont have any VDMs configured yet. All FS and CIFS servers are at physical DM. As far as i understand, i will have to configure the FS and CIFS server on a VDM before i initiate a replication. Please answer following questions:

1) If i move the CIFS server from physical DM to VDM, will it copy the local groups?.

2) If i move the FS from physical DM to VDM, do i need to recreate new shares at the source, or can i reconfigure the existing shares.

3) We have hundreds of local groups on the CIFS server and so i was thinking of using VDM to replicate the CIFS server. If i decide to migrate the CIFS servers using VDM and the FS without using VDM, how should i go about it?. Can i move the CIFS server from physical DM to VDM at source, then migrate the CIFS server using VDM to destination, then move the CIFS server back to physical DM at destination. Will it work?.

4) Other plan is to keep the FS and CIFS server at physical DM and not use any VDM,but after i copy the FS to destination,  how do i copy the shares using sharedup and the local groups using lgdup and bring the CIFS server up at the destination?

If anybody else has been through this, please be kind enough to assist.

Thanks a ton.

in order to just replicate the file system data you dont necessarily have to use VDMs

VDMs just replicate the CIFS server config as well so that you can do an easy failover

1) yes - but I think the procedure isnt public so you need to work with EMC support

2) no - not when you properly move the CIFS server

3) if you are going to move the CIFS server to a VDM then you need to move the file system there as well

if the CIFS server is in a replicated VDM the localgroups get replicated automatically as part of the config

4) exactly like you would with any other migration, create CIFS server, sharedup, lgdup, .....

If you go that route I would suggest you create a test CIFS server and file system to make sure you have the necessary steps and order

to see which config data gets replicated with the VDM take a look at the VDM manual

Rainer

to be clear - a CIFS server in a VDM can ONLY access the file systems that are mounted on that VDM

if you have to have access from multiple CIFS servers to data in one VDM then these all have to be located in that VDM

otherwise you would need to split the file system - i.e. migrate some parts out to another fs

please see the VDM manual for concepts

Rainer

Rainer,

Thanks for the replies. Can you tell me what is the proper way to move a FS from physical DM to VDM such that shares will not need to be recreated/reconfigured?. I really need urgent help with this.

I need the CIFS server and the shares to come back up online at the source after i move the FS and CIFS server to the VDM.

Thanks

AFAIK the procedure for moving a CIFS server from a physical data mover to a VDM is not public so you need to open a service request

Rainer

For such migration operation on Celerra box, you need to contact with the service manager in charge of your account to get professional service involved.

Open a service request to technical support does not really help as the main function of technical support is provide broken/fix service.

In your case, the field activity is demanded.

If you have problem to get anyone from EMC, of course you can open a service request to query some assistance from support to help you engage some resources.

seriously ? I have to get ps engagment to move a file system around ?

no you dont necessarily need a ps engagement

If you know what you are doing you can very well do it yourself.

If you want EMC to help with a data migration or reconfiguration or have EMC execute it is a professional service engagement

Rainer

i understand if somebody needs help with migration to another platform and they are not comfortable doing that ..PS might be a good option, but please do not push PS on support forums. If somebody needs PS they will contact their account manager. I had "PS" come out for GE PACS installation where Celerra was being used as cache area. EMC PS person was creating 56 file systems using Celerra Manager and was in awe when i show him how to do it from the command line in a "for loop".  Scary thought that this was "EMC Professional services".

I think he just wanted to point out how far customer service goes – they aren’t responsible for data migration – that is a PS job