3 Policy Operations

This chapter describes the various operations that may be performed on selected files by FileFly Admin Portal policies.

User interface operation is further detailed in Chapter 5.

3.1 Gather Statistics Operation

Requires: Source(s)

Generate statistics report(s) for file sets at the selected Source(s). Optionally include statistics by file owner. By default, owner statistics are omitted which generally results in a faster policy run. Additionally, rules may be used to specify a subset of files on which to report rather than the whole source.

Statistics reports can be retrieved from FileFly Admin Portal – see §5.8.6 .

3.2 Migrate Operation

Requires: Source(s), Rule(s), Destination

Migrate file data from selected Sources(s) to a Destination. Stub files remain at the Source location as placeholders until files are demigrated. File content will be transparently demigrated (returned to primary storage) when accessed by a user or application. Stub files retain the original logical size and file metadata. Files containing no data will not be migrated.

Each Migrate operation will be logged as a Migrate, Remigrate, or Quick-Remigrate.

A Remigrate is the same as a Migrate except it explicitly recognizes that a previous version of the file had been migrated in the past and that stored data pertaining to that previous version is no longer required and so is eligible for removal via a Scrub policy.

A Quick-Remigrate occurs when a file has been demigrated and NOT modified. In this case it is not necessary to retransfer the data to secondary storage so the operation can be performed very quickly. Quick-remigration does not change the secondary storage location of the migrated data.

Optionally, quick-remigration of files demigrated within a specified number of days may be skipped. This option can be used to avoid quick-remigrations occurring in an overly aggressive fashion.

Additionally, this policy may be configured to pause during the globally configured work hours.

3.3 Quick-Remigrate Operation

Requires: Source(s), Rule(s)

Quick-Remigrate demigrated files that do not require data transfer, enabling space to be reclaimed quickly. This operation acts only on files that have not been altered since the last migration.

Optionally, files demigrated within a specified number of days may be skipped. This option can be used to avoid quick-remigrations occurring in an overly aggressive fashion.

Additionally, this policy may be configured to pause during the globally configured work hours.

3.4 Scrub Destination Operation

Requires: Destination (non-WORM)

Remove unnecessary stored file content from a migration destination. This is a maintenance policy that should be scheduled regularly to reclaim space.

A grace period must be specified which is sufficient to cover the time from when a backup is taken to when the restore and corresponding Post-Restore Revalidate policy would complete. The grace period effectively delays the removal of data sufficiently to accommodate the effects of restoring primary storage from backup to an earlier state.

An aggressive scrub removes not only data that will never be used but also data that is not accessible but could be reused during a quick-remigrate (to avoid full data transfer). Use of aggressive scrub is usually desirable to maximize storage efficiency. In order to also maximize performance benefits from quick-remigration, it is advisable to schedule migration / quick-remigration policies more frequently than the grace period.

A non-aggressive scrub only removes data that will definitely never be used.

To avoid interactions with migration policies, Scrub tasks are automatically paused while migration-related tasks are in progress.

Important: Source(s) MUST be backed up within the grace period.

3.5 Post-Restore Revalidate Operation

Requires: Source(s)

Scan all stubs present on a given Source, revalidating the relationship between the stubs and the corresponding files on secondary storage. This operation is required following a restore from backup and should be performed on the root of the restored source volume.

If only Write Once Read Many (WORM) destinations are in use, this policy is not required.

Important: This revalidation operation MUST be integrated into backup/restore procedures, see §7.2 .

3.6 Demigrate Operation

Requires: Source(s), Rule(s)

Demigrate file data back to the selected Source(s). This is useful when a large batch of files must be demigrated in advance.

Prior to running a Demigrate policy, be sure that there is sufficient primary storage available to accommodate the demigrated data.

3.7 Advanced Demigrate Operation

Requires: Source(s), Rule(s)

Demigrates files with advanced options:

• Disconnect files from destination – remove destination information from demigrated files (both files demigrated by this policy and files that have already been demigrated); it will no longer be possible to quick-remigrate these files
• Fast disconnect – minimizes access to secondary storage during disconnection – note that non-aggressive Scrub policies will not be able to remove corresponding secondary storage files if this option is specified
• A Destination Filter may optionally be specified in order to demigrate/disconnect only files that were migrated to a particular destination

It is recommended that this operation be used only after consultation with a Caringo engineer.

Prior to running an Advanced Demigrate policy, be sure that there is sufficient primary storage available to accommodate the demigrated data.

3.8 Simple Premigrate Operation

Requires: Source(s), Rule(s), Destination

Premigrate file data from selected Source(s) to a Destination in preparation for migration. Files on primary storage will not be converted to stubs until a Migrate or QuickRemigrate Policy is run. Files containing no data will not be premigrated.

This can assist with:

• a requirement to delay the stubbing process until secondary storage backup or replication has occurred
• reduction of excessive demigrations while still allowing an aggressive Migration

Policy.

Premigration is, as the name suggests, intended to be followed by full migration/quickremigration. If this is not done, a large number of files in the premigrated state may slow down further premigration policies, as the same files are rechecked each time.

By default, files already premigrated to another destination will be skipped when encountered during a premigrate policy.

This policy may also be configured to pause during the globally configured work hours.

Note: Most deployments will not use this operation, but will use a combination of Migrate and Quick-Remigrate instead.

3.9 Create DrTool File From Source Operation

Requires: Source(s), Rule(s)

Generate a disaster recovery file for Caringo FileFly DrTool by analyzing files at the selected Source(s). FileFly DrTool can use the generated file(s) to recreate stubs or update source files.

Note: DrTool files generated from Source will account for stub renames.

DrTool files can be retrieved from FileFly Admin Portal – see §5.8.7 .

3.10 Create DrTool File From Destination Operation

Requires: Destination

Generate a disaster recovery file for Caringo FileFly DrTool by reading the index and analyzing files at the selected Destination without reference to the associated stub files. Note: DrTool files from Destination may not account for stub renames.

Important: It is strongly recommended to use ‘Create DrTool File From Source’ in preference where possible.

3.11 Erase Cached Data Operation

Requires: Source(s), Rule(s)

Erases cached data associated with files by the Partial Demigrate feature (NetAppSources only).

Important: The Erase Cached Data operation is not enabled by default. It must be enabled in the advanced section on the Admin Portal ‘Settings’ page.