Avamar Fundamentals v2

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yright 2013 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to Avamar Fundamentals.

Click the Notes tab to view text that corresponds to the audio recording.

Click the Supporting Materialstab to download a PDF version of this eLearning.

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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.

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This module focuses on the features and functions of the Avamar backup solution.

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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 facingthe 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 andbackup 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.

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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 forseveral 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.

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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 inherenthard-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.

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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.

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There are several Avamar terms that are used throughout the course.

An objectis 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 stripeis 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 serveris a group of one or more nodes on a local, high-speed network.

A systemis one or more Avamar servers and the network servers or desktop clients that

back up data to those servers.

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An Avamar backupis defined as a point-in-time copy of client data that can be restored as

individual files, selected directories or entire file systems.

Initializationis 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 theAvamar Product Security Manualfor additional details.

Retentiondetermines 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.

Replicationis the process of storing a logical copy of Avamar server data on another Avamar

server to support future disaster recovery of the source server.

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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 Serverstores 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 Clientsoftware 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 Administratoris a user management console software application that is used to

remotely administer an Avamar system from a supported Windows or client computer.

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The primary building block of an Avamar system is a node.

Utility nodesare dedicated to providing internal Avamar server processes and services,

including the administrator server, external authentication, Network Time Protocol (NTP),

and web access.

Storage nodesinclude the Avamar Data Server software and are dedicated to providing

backup storage.

TheNDMP Acceleratoris 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 Nodeis an optional node that can be used as a pass-through device for

sending Avamar backup data to tape for long term storage.

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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 areprotected 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.

Replicationprotects 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.

Checkpointsprotect 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.

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Avamar supports two basic types of standard Avamar server configurations.

Non-RAINconfigurations 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 protectagainst dual disk failure.

RAINconfigurations 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.

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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.

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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 isshipped. 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.

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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 machinesrunning on the same physical server.

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.

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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 trafficand 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. EmployingAvamar disk-based backup eliminates the need to manage a complex tape system for

backups, restores, and offsite security.

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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 PostgreSQLdatabase 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.

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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, 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 isstored 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, approximately 65%.

Initial database commonality approximately 35%.

Day-over-day file system backups approximately 99.7%, and

Subsequent database backups approximately 97%.

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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.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.

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.

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.

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.

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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 createa single root hashfor the backup.

When data is sent to the Avamar Server during a backup, data object storageis 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 hasexpired 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.

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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 datastripes. 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.

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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.

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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 backupsolution 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.

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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 systemdata, 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 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.

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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.

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This module covered the features and functions of the Avamar backup solution.

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This module focuses on performing backups and restores using Avamar interfaces.

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Avamar backup clientsare 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.

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Domainsare 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 rootdomain, 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.

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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 aretracked 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.

Rootusers are created at the root domain. Root users can perform tasks for all domains in

the hierarchy and the clients within the domains.

Domainusers 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.

Clientusers are created for an individual Avamar client. The tasks that a client user can

perform are limited to that specific client.

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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 avtarcommand

from the command line.

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Avamar uses groupsto 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 policythat is used to configure settings for the backup. The group policyspecifies 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.Datasetsdefine 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 Schedulefor 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 Policiesspecify how long each backup from the group will be kept. Any backupsolder 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 Policyview, or select itemsto backup from Avamar Administrators Backup, Restore and Manageview, as shown on the

slide. An on-demand backup can also be initiated from the client side using the avtarCLI

command or using the Desktop/Laptopinterface.

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Desktop/Laptopprovides 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 Manageview.

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

Actionsmenu 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 mccliinterface. Initiatingthe restore from the Avamar client is accomplished by the Desktop/Laptopinterface or the

avtarcommand.

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Using the Avamar Administrator Backup and Restoreview, 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, orredirected 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 andeasier 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 Activityview provides a central facility to monitor backup and

restore progress and status. With the Activity Monitor,you can see a listing of all activity forthe 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 Actionsmenu 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 Progressbar and

Work Order Status.

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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 Replicationis 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 atthe 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 asingle-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 Managerfeature. 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 shownincludes 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 clientscan 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 Monitordisplays 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 Serverview 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 Monitorpresents a summarized view of CPU, network and hard driveperformance 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 checkpointis 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) checkis 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 collectionis 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 windowis when the majority of backups are performed. Backups should be

scheduled to run during this time. No maintenance activities, such as garbage collection orHFS checks, are performed by the Avamar server during the backup window.

The maintenance windowis 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 tothe 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 Reportand

Manage All Reportsfeatures. 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.

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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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Documents

Avamar Fundamentals v2