Can I use NDMP to backup from (or to) appliance?

Starting from version 1.1.8 NexentaStor provides NDMP as a supported and integrated option.

NDMP, or Network Data Management Protocol, is a networking protocol (and simultaneously, an open standard – see NDMP the Open Standard web site) for backing up data in a heterogeneous environment.

The task of NDMP is to back up networks of heterogeneous file servers, including dedicated NAS systems, under control of any NDMP compliant backup applications. NDMP supports a three-way copy: that is, copying data between two remote servers directly, without having the data "traveling" through controlling backup management system.

NexentaStor provides a fully compliant NDMP server implementation. The supported NDMP versions include: NDMP v2, v3, and v4.

You can use any NDMP management client software to make backups from NexentaStor appliance(s) to tape. List of such backup management software includes (*):

• EMC/Legato Networker
• Symantec Veritas NetBackup
• Arkeia Network Backup Suite
• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Future release will include virtual tape library (VTL). That will make it possible for the appliance to act as a backup destination.

In addition, NexentaStor includes command-line utility 'ndmpcopy', to make a three-way copy between appliances.
NDMP transfers all filesystem level information and meta-information, including attributes, owner, group owner Ids, and ZFS ACLs. NDMP correctly recognizes soft and hard links, which is why no duplicate information is copied.

When initiating backup, NDMP server makes a temporary snapshot of a given ZFS volume.

NexentaStor also includes an easy-to-use NDMP management utility that can be used to perform NDMP transfers between two NDMP capable (and NDMP compliant) servers. The utility is called 'ndmpcopy'.

At runtime 'ndmpcopy' establishes connections to NDMP server processes on the source and destination machines, performs authentication to the servers, and initiates NDMP backup on the source machine and NDMP restore on the destination machine.

For more information, please see:

• User Guide, Section "NDMP" (also available online)

(*) Interoperability with 3rd party backup management software is not fully tested. The work is ongoing to test and certify NexentaStor with all major NDMP based backup solutions.