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November 30th, 2016 12:00

VNX Snaphots - Multiple CG or use SnapView

We have been using our VNX with FC mounted LUNs for a Linux file server for a couple of years now.  We also have a VM which manages to keep 4 snapshots available in rotation for quick recovery during the day.  The LUNs were added to a snapshot consistency group.

We have a new requirement to keep a single snapshot open for backup to disk or tape, even if that takes a couple of days to complete.  This is to cover a worst-case scenario of losing the server and the VNX.

For this new backup process, can I create a second SCG with the same source LUNs?  I would like to keep the 4 daily rotation SCG unmodified if possible.  If not, can I create SnapView snaps alongside this SCG?  Let me know if this is not clear.

9 Legend

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December 1st, 2016 05:00

oh i see.  So back to your original requirement. Using the same CG what's stopping your from creating a "dedicated" backup snapshot that will be used specifically for that purpose. Name is differently and manage it naviseccli.

9 Legend

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20.4K Posts

November 30th, 2016 14:00

one source LUN can only belong to one CG. If you are snapping one LUN, why do you need to use CG ? CG is good if you need to snap multiple LUNs at the same time (database for example)

November 30th, 2016 14:00

We have a CG because there are about 7 or 8 LUNs for this file server.  It appears that I cannot create a snapshot outside of the existing CG, so...

9 Legend

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20.4K Posts

November 30th, 2016 18:00

what do you mean you cannot create a snapshot outside of a CG ?

December 1st, 2016 04:00

Working from naviseccli, I get the following error:

naviseccli -Address VNXADDRESS  -secfilepath /root snap -create -res 110 -resType LUN -name testsnap1 -descr clisnap -keepFor 1h -allowreadwrite no

Snapshot creation is not allowed because the source LUN belongs to a consistency group. You must create snapshot on the entire consistency group. (0x716d8057)

December 1st, 2016 05:00

I suppose that is what I will have to do.  It shouldn't be too difficult.  We have a fancy wrapper script with command line switches to manage snapshot rotation and lun mounting and un-mounting so that we keep the snaps available for recovery. It has worked fairly well for the last couple of years.  A similar version works on our DR VNX to do nightly snapshots, keeping two available at all times.

I'll try adding a name check so that it leaves the new daily snap alone.

December 9th, 2016 05:00

I was able to add simple filtering by snapshot name in our scripts.  The script that cycles 4 snaps per day doesn't affect the snapshot taken for a full backup and vice versa.  Thanks for the push.

9 Legend

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20.4K Posts

December 9th, 2016 08:00

very good.

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