Bit of a
tongue-in-cheek title, but why not!
x) NetApp Insight 2018 Sessions
1205-2 SnapCenter Deployment Best Practices
1131-2 Protecting vSphere Using the NetApp SnapCenter Plug-in for vSphere
1149-2 Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server Using NetApp SnapCenter and its Best Practices
1178-2 Data Protection for Microsoft SQL Server Using NetApp SnapCenter and its Best Practices
.....
Watch the Insight 2018 presentations:
- 1205-2 SnapCenter Deployment Best Practices (x)
- 1131-2 Protecting vSphere Using the NetApp SnapCenter Plug-in for vSphere (x)
- 1149-2 Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server Using NetApp SnapCenter and its Best Practices (x)
- 1178-2 Data Protection for Microsoft SQL Server Using NetApp SnapCenter and its Best Practices (x)
APPENDIX: Some More Notes
i) SnapCenter requires your SVMs have a dedicated admin/management LIF (data-protocol = none). SnapCenter is designed with multi-tenancy in-mind, it cannot be connected to cluster management LIF.
Q: If someone says to you, you’re needed to deliver a
customer workshop on SnapCenter in 2 weeks’ time, but you’ve limited experience
with SnapCenter, what would you do?
Note: If you’re
being asked to deliver a customer workshop, you’d have to be working for either
NetApp or a NetApp Partner, hence this post follows that premise.
A: Here’s what I’d do/did!
Note: Specifically,
this post is focused on SVC (SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere) but also
SnapCenter Plug-in for Exchange (new in 4.0 for Exchange 2013 and 2016), and a
little SnapCenter Plug-in for SQL.
Part 1) Find all the resources available to me
i) NetApp Field
Portal & TRs:
Search for “snapcenter” and download interesting
collateral. Or look up the SnapCenter Collection:
For me this
included:
-
SnapCenter Software 4.1.1-SE-Update
- SnapCenter 4.1 SE Presentation
- SnapCenter 4.1 SE Presentation
- SnapCenter vs
SnapManager Feature Comparison 4.1
-
SnapCenter 4.1 Sales and Technical FAQ
- SnapCenter 4.1 Customer Presentation - August 8_2018
- SnapCenter 4.1 Customer Presentation - August 8_2018
-
VSC-72-SCV-41-SE-Presentation-Training
- SC Reference
Wins 2018
- VSC7.2-SCV4.1-Customer-Presentation-Aug-2018
- How to Migrate
SMVI (VSC) backups to SnapCenter (SCV)
- Transform data
protection for your Microsoft Exchange environment
- Migration to
SnapCenter for Microsoft Exchange
-
TR-4628 Comparative Study of SnapCenter, Veeam, and Commvault IntelliSnap (NOT RECOMMENDED READING)
- TR-4597 VMware vSphere with ONTAP
- TR-4681 Best Practice Guide for Microsoft
Exchange Server
- TR-4714 Best Practice Guide for SQL Server
using SnapCenter
ii) NetApp
University:
Search for “snapcenter” and sign up to interesting
courses.
Note: After a lot
of reading, I didn’t actually do any NetApp University courses. If you like
learning this way, there are a couple of courses “SnapCenter Administration”
and “SnapCenter Fundamentals” - whether these are of value to you depends on
your level of expertise.
iii) NetApp Lab on
Demand:
Search for “snapcenter” LoDs and request the labs.
For me the labs of
interest to me included (all have SnapCenter 4.0 or 4.1):
iv) Manuals:
Docs & Knowledgebase > A-Z Documentation
And download all the documents for the specific version
you are interested in.
For me this is
4.1.1 and the downloaded files included:
SnapCenter_Software_41_Concepts_Guide
SnapCenter_Software_411_Release_Notes
I “skimmed” over these (read the contents to
identify interesting topics):
SnapCenter_Software_41_Installation_and_Setup
SnapCenter_Software_41_Administration_Guide
SnapCenter_Software_41_Data_Protection_Guide_for
(For VMs and Datastores using the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere)
SnapCenter_Software_41_Data_Protection_Guide_for
(Microsoft Windows File Systems)
SnapCenter_Software_41_Data_Protection_Guide_for
(Microsoft Exchange Server)
SnapCenter_Software_41_Data_Protection_Guide_for
(Microsoft SQL Server)
Note: You might
also want to look at the documentation for Virtual
Storage Console for VMware vSphere
v) YouTube:
Search for “SnapCenter”.
There is a SnapCenter playlist:
Videos I watched:
vi) Colleagues and
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
An invaluable resource. Pick-the-brains of colleagues who
have done SnapCenter deployments. Review their design documents. Etcetera.
Q: How to do a
SnapCenter PS Workshop?
“A: It will
typically start with gathering requirements and then start with SnapCenter
product overview. Talk about HA/Single instances and see which one they want.
Talk about plugins and their capabilities (is SC right for them, does it have
all the capabilities they need/their previous SnapX product – i.e. SME – had?)
No specific design (outline design.)”
vii) Blog Posts
Some random blog posts I looked at:
From http://allthingscloud.mscproductions.com/ (Steven Cortez - the SC TMEs - blog):
viii) NetApp
SnapCenter Software Documentation Resources
https://www.netapp.com/us/documentation/snapcenter-software.aspx
/ http://mysupport.netapp.com/snapcenter/resources
ix) Guided Problem
Solving:
I don’t plan to
consume this but useful to know it is there!
x) NetApp Insight 2018 Sessions
1205-2 SnapCenter Deployment Best Practices
1131-2 Protecting vSphere Using the NetApp SnapCenter Plug-in for vSphere
1149-2 Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server Using NetApp SnapCenter and its Best Practices
1178-2 Data Protection for Microsoft SQL Server Using NetApp SnapCenter and its Best Practices
.....
Part 2) Consume the resources
Consume the Resources starting with what looks most
interesting/beneficial/appropriate first.
List of Consumed Resources and Notes
Here’s the order in which I consumed the resources.
Due to time
constraints I won’t necessarily have touched all the resources I would have
liked to have done, but hopefully will have made good progress to Master of
SnapCenter!
- SnapCenter Software 4.1.1-SE-Update (i)
By Steven Cortéz
“Supports multisite
data center. The SnapCenter Server and the plug-in host can be at different
geographical locations.”
“Before upgrading
to SnapCenter 4.1 or later, you must manually update all of your Windows hosts
to .NET 4.5.2 or later.”
“Download 64-bit
MySQL community server 5.7.21 or later.”
- NetApp SnapCenter 4.0 – What’s New (vii)
By Steven Cortéz
“New Exchange
Server Plug-in:
… enables application
integration for backup and restore of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 and 2016
standalone and database availability groups, including IP-less configurations.”
- SnapCenter 4.1 SE
Presentation (i)
Image: SnapCenter
Deployment: SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere
Description: NetApp
Import Utility for SnapCenter and Virtual Storage Console (Tools > Tool
Chest)
https://mysupport.netapp.com/tools/info/ECMLP2840096I.html?productID=62135&pcfContentID=ECMLP2840096
“If you have the
SnapManagerSuite license on your controller, SnapCenter Standard
controller-based license entitlement is provided automatically. The names
SnapManagerSuite license and SnapCenter Standard controller-based license are
used interchangeably, but they refer to the same license.”
- SnapCenter vs SnapManager
Feature Comparison 4.1 (i)
“SDW: EOA , Mar.
2018; EOS, Dec. 31, 2020”
“Starting with
NetApp Virtual Storage Console (VSC) 7.0, the backup and recovery functionality
moved to the NetApp SnapCenter Plug-In for VMware vSphere (SCV).”
“NetApp SnapCenter
Plug-In for VMware vSphere (SCV) ability to support up to 4,000 VMs per VMware
vCenter instance.”
- Protecting the SnapCenter Repository (v)
- Planning a SnapCenter implementation (v)
Image: Scaled Out
Deployment
“Questions to be
answered in Planning:
- Will an Active
Directory administrator be able to make the necessary additions prior to
installation?
- Will the necessary NetApp
disks be provisioned prior to installation of SnapCenter?
- Will network
administrators be able to open the necessary ports in any firewalls?
- Will High
Availability be necessary for SnapCenter?
- Will this be an
upgrade to an existing SnapCenter installation?”
- SnapCenter_Software_41_Concepts_Guide (iv)
“RDM is not
supported for backups of VMs or datastores using the web client GUI in vCenter.
However, RDM is supported for application-consistent backups using other
SnapCenter plug-ins.”
“SnapCenter can
back up its own repository by using the SnapCenter repository management
features.”
“You must have
vsadmin account permissions to access the storage system (SVM).”
“For RBAC to work
correctly, you must specify the SnapCenter administrator name as the
Domain/Username when you configure the Plug-in for VMware vSphere for the
SnapCenter Server.”
(SCV) “Best
practice: The root object is the recommended place to assign any permission
containing the View privilege.”
“The REST APIs for
SnapCenter Server are located at https://{SnapCenter_IP_address_or_name}:8146/swagger/”
- Overview of the SnapCenter interface (v)
- Tour through SnapCenter navigation pane
options (v)
- SnapCenter high availability (v)
“Snapcenter High
Availability is setup automatically when SnapCenter is installed on Windows
Servers that have the Microsoft Network Load Balancing feature already in
place.”
“(HA) … can be
checked through the use of a powershell cmdlet … Get-SmRepositoryConfig”
Master node /
Second node
- SnapCenter 4.1 Sales and Technical FAQ (i)
“Q: Is hardware load balancing
supported? A: No. Load balancing is
offered only through Microsoft NLB and ARR.”
“Q: What is the maximum number of
SnapCenter servers that can be in an HA group? A: SnapCenter uses NLB and ARR to provide this function. For the
current release, a maximum of two members are supported.”
- NetApp SnapCenter: Setting up Role-Based
Access (v)
- SnapCenter 4.1 Backup of Microsoft Exchange
Server Database (v)
- SnapCenter 4.1 Restore of Microsoft
Exchange Server Database (v)
- SnapCenter 4.1 Reseed of Database
Availability Group (DAG) (v)
- SnapCenter 4.0 plug-in for vSphere
installation workflow overview (v)
- SnapCenter 4.0 plug-in for vSphere full VM
restore workflow overview (v)
- SnapCenter 4.0 plug-in for vSphere single
file restore workflow overview (v)
- SnapCenter 4.1 Customer Presentation -
August 8_2018 (i)
- VSC-72-SCV-41-SE-Presentation-Training (i)
“vCPUs of UA are
reduced to 2 (from 4) to allow UA deployment in vSphere FT configuration with
Standard or Enterprise license” (or use VMware High Availability)
Image: VSC
Compatibility Matirx (Check IMT for update)
Also see: VMware
vSphere with ONTAP - https://www.netapp.com/us/media/tr-4597.pdf
- SC Reference Wins 2018
(i)
- VSC7.2-SCV4.1-Customer-Presentation-Aug-2018
(i)
- How to Migrate SMVI (VSC) backups to
SnapCenter (SCV) (i)
Note: Both ‘Migration
of SMVI based backups to SnapCenter (SCV)’ and ‘Migration of VSC 6.x to Unified
Virtual Appliance (VSC) 7.x’ have steps to stop VSC 6.x and reboot vCenter. Q: Can you do both migrations at the same time?
https://mysupport.netapp.com/tools/info/ECMLP2840096I.html?productID=62135&pcfContentID=ECMLP2840096
"The NetApp Import Utility for SnapCenter and Virtual Storage Console for VMware vSphere (VSC) is a standalone utility that helps customers using VSC 6.x import metadata to SnapCenter 3.0.1 and to VSC Appliance 7.0 and higher versions."
- Transform data protection for your Microsoft Exchange environment (i)
"The NetApp Import Utility for SnapCenter and Virtual Storage Console for VMware vSphere (VSC) is a standalone utility that helps customers using VSC 6.x import metadata to SnapCenter 3.0.1 and to VSC Appliance 7.0 and higher versions."
- Transform data protection for your Microsoft Exchange environment (i)
- Migration to SnapCenter for Microsoft
Exchange (i)
Image: Exchange
Server support with SnapCenter
- TR-4628 Comparative Study of SnapCenter,
Veeam, and Commvault IntelliSnap (i) (NOT RECOMMENDED READING – a
bit out of date!)
- TR-4597 VMware vSphere with ONTAP (i)
- TR-4681 Best Practice Guide for Microsoft
Exchange Server (i)
- TR-4714 Best Practice Guide for SQL Server
using SnapCenter (i)
“In ONTAP 9.4 and
later, the Snapshot copy limit is extended to 1024.”
- SnapCenter_Software_411_Release_Notes (iv)
“Supports
multisite data center. The SnapCenter Server and the plug-in host can be at
different geographical locations.” – 2nd time flagged (Q: Does 4.1 not support?)
“SnapCenter
Server 4.0 or later does not support the SnapCenter Plug-in for NAS File
Services.”
“Exchange
databases on VMDKs are not supported.”
- SnapCenter_Software_41_Installation_and_Setup
(iv)
Interesting
topics (to me):
- p13:
Connection and port requirements for SnapCenter installation
- p18:
Network Load Balancing and Application Request Routing options for high
availability
- p19:
Application Request Routing requirements
- p20:
High Availability for the SnapCenter MySQL Repository
- p20:
Checking for common configuration issues using Config Advisor
How to use
SnapCenter Config Checker Plug-in:
- p23:
SnapCenter Server installation worksheet
- p34:
Backing up the SnapCenter repository (Q: Restore to server in another DC?)
- p50:
Connection and port requirements for Plug-in for VMware vSphere
- p51:
Using SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere with multiple vCenter Servers
- p64: Prerequisites
for migrating VSC hosts
(Q: “You cannot migrate a VSC host that is not
associated with SnapCenter” does this only apply to SC 3.0? Not 4.x?)
- SnapCenter_Software_41_Administration_Guide
(iv)
- p23 to
p27: Managing the SnapCenter Server repository
“You can
restore the SnapCenter repository by running the Restore-SmRepositoryBackup cmdlet.”
“You can
migrate the SnapCenter Server database repository from the default location to
another disk.”
- p35 to
p41: Configuring secured MySQL connections with SnapCenter Server
- p41 to
p43: Using Application Request Routing and Network Load Balancing
- SnapCenter_Software_41_Data_Protection_Guide_for
(For VMs and Datastores using the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere) (iv)
- p86
Properties you can override to customize your configuration
- p102
Migrating VSC hosts
“VSC
registered with SnapCenter ... You can update and migrate backup jobs from
SnapCenter 2.x to any later version of SnapCenter.”
“VSC with
SMVI ... You can use the ‘NetApp Import Utility for SnapCenter and Virtual
Storage Console’...”
“You can
only migrate one host at a time although you can run several migration jobs
concurrently. If your vCenter is in Linked Mode or Enhanced Linked Mode, you
must migrate each host separately. ATTENTION: You must migrate all the hosts in
Linked Mode or Enhanced Linked Mode before beginning SnapCenter data protection
operations. With linked
hosts, you cannot run a mix of the Plug-in for VMware vSphere and VSC.”
“IMPORTANT:
You must not upgrade to VSC 7.0 or later until after you migrate your VSC hosts
to SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere.”
“IMPORTANT:
You must complete the post-migration tasks and then restart the vCenter web client service
before you can perform data protection operations.”
- SnapCenter_Software_41_Data_Protection_Guide_for
(Microsoft Windows File Systems) (iv)
- SnapCenter_Software_41_Data_Protection_Guide_for
(Microsoft Exchange Server) (iv)
- p10:
Storage types supported by SnapCenter Plug-in for Microsoft Windows and for
Micrsoft Exchange Server
“Note: VMDKs are not supported.”
“...
VHD(x) ... are not supported.”
- SnapCenter_Software_41_Data_Protection_Guide_for
(Microsoft SQL Server) (iv)
- p11: Storage
layout recommendations for SnapCenter Plug-in for Microsoft SQL Server
“To restore large
databases, the best practice is to use dedicated LUNs or VMDKs.”
Image: How you can
configure the storage layout for large (SQL) databases on LUNs (VMDKs is
similar)
Future Efforts
The above is all the reading I have done so far. Going
forward, I’m going to spend some quality time on the labs:
- Data Protection for Virtualized
Applications v1.0 (iii)
- SnapCenter for Enterprise Applications:
Microsoft Exchange v1.0 (iii)
- SnapCenter for Enterprise Applications:
Microsoft SQL (Basic) v1.0 (iii)
Watch the Insight 2018 presentations:
- 1205-2 SnapCenter Deployment Best Practices (x)
- 1131-2 Protecting vSphere Using the NetApp SnapCenter Plug-in for vSphere (x)
- 1149-2 Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server Using NetApp SnapCenter and its Best Practices (x)
- 1178-2 Data Protection for Microsoft SQL Server Using NetApp SnapCenter and its Best Practices (x)
Reach out to colleagues to ask (more) questions. Work on
designs. Work on a presentation...
APPENDIX: Some More Notes
i) SnapCenter requires your SVMs have a dedicated admin/management LIF (data-protocol = none). SnapCenter is designed with multi-tenancy in-mind, it cannot be connected to cluster management LIF.
APPENDIX: Microsoft NLB Unsupported with Cisco ACI
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