Managing Protected Paths

Note

Protected paths are used in local backup, in backup to S3 and in native replication.

Protected Paths Overview

A protected path is a path in the element store (file/object system) that is protected by snapshots taken on a schedule controlled by a protection policy. The snapshots can be stored locally and/or replicated to either an S3 replication peer or to a native replication peer. Before a protected path can be defined, a protection policy must be created.

Important

Limitations:

Data cannot be moved into or out of a path that is protected by either native replication or S3 replication. This applies to moving files or directories from a protected path to a non-protected path, from a non-protected path to a protected path or from one protected path to another protected path.
Protected paths with native replication cannot be nested.

When you create a protection path, it is automatically activated, and can be deactivated and reactivated at any time. Deactivating means suspending the snapshots and replication. Activating resumes the snapshot and replication schedule.

Immediately after you create a protected path, if the protection policy specifies an S3 replication peer or a native replication peer, an initial sync is triggered in which all data under the protected path is copied to the peer. It continues copying until an initial state of sync between the VAST Cluster and the peer is reached. Following initial sync, replication to the peer is performed at the times configured in the protection policy. Due to the immediate initial sync, the start time in the policy is in fact the second time replication is done.

Replication on a protected path is done by taking a snapshot of the VAST Cluster's data at a point in time and then copying data to the peer until replication is complete. Only the changes between the data at the time of the snapshot and the data previously copied to the peer are copied. For each point in time, a restore point is created from which the data can be accessed.

Caution

If you create a protected path to replicate data to a peer that you already replicated data to earlier by means of another protected path that was deleted earlier, the initial sync is performed again. In other words, the re-creation of a protected path triggers a new transfer of all data under the path to the peer.

Creating a Protected Path via the VAST Web UI

In the left navigation menu, select Data Protection and then Protected Paths.
On the Replication Paths tab, click + Create Protected Path.

In the Add Protected Path dialog, complete the fields:

Field	Description
Path Name	Enter a name for the protected path.
Choose a policy	Select a protection policy from the dropdown. The policy defines a schedule for taking snapshots and/or backing up data to a specific replication peer or S3 replication peer. To create a new policy, see Managing Protection Policies. Warning After creating the protected path, it is not possible to change which policy is associated with the protected path. All changes to a protected path's snapshot schedule, replication schedule, and snapshot expiration must be done by modifying the protection policy. Those modifications affect all protected paths that use the same protection policy. To work around this limitation, create a protection policy per protected path.
Path	The path to a directory in the Element Store. A snapshot of this directory will be taken periodically according to the protection policy. Note If you specify '/' (the root directory), this includes data written via S3. To specify a path to a specific S3 bucket with name bucket, enter /bucket.
Tenant	Select the tenant to which the path belongs. Note Paths on different tenants can share identical names.
Path on peer	For native replication only. Specify the directory on the native replication peer where the data should be replicated. This must be a directory that does not yet exist on the native replication peer.
Remote tenant	If path on peer is specified, select the tenant on the remote peer to which the path belongs.

Click Create.

The protected path is created and listed in the Protected Paths tab.

Viewing Protected Paths

In the left navigation menu, select Data Protection and then Protected Paths.

The following information is displayed for each protected path:

Field	Description
Name	The name of the protected path.
Role	For native replication,The role of the local peer in the protected path, which can be: Source. Snapshots are replicated from the local peer to the remote peer. The protected path on the local peer is writeable. Destination. Snapshots are replicated from the remote peer to the local peer. The replication path on the local peer is read only. Standalone. Replication between the peers is suspended and data on the local peer is writeable.
State	Possible values: Format. The protected path is being formatted and the initial sync has not yet begun. Initial Sync. The initial data sync is in progress. Active. The initial data is sync was completed in the past and the protected path is enabled. Suspended. The protected path was suspended. A protected path can be suspended in any of the following situations: When manually deactivated. Temporarily during graceful failover (native replication). If the connection between the peers is lost (native replication). Following ungraceful failover, when the protected path role is standalone and both peers are writeable (native replication).
Path	The local data path that is being protected.
Tenant	The local tenant to which the local data path belongs.
Path on peer	For native replication only. The directory on the native replication peer where the protected data is replicated.
Remote tenant	For native replication only. The tenant on the native replication peer to which the path on peer belongs.
Replication peer	If there is a native replication peer configured on the cluster, this field displays the cluster name of the native replication peer.
Protection Policy	The protection policy which governs the protected path's schedule, snapshot retention and replication peer if applicable.
Last Point Creation Time	The time of the last completion of a restore point on the replication peer or replication S3 peer, if applicable.
BW	The speed of the connection with a replication peer or replication S3 peer, if applicable.
Aggregated Usage	An estimate of the amount of usable capacity that could be reclaimed by deleting all snapshots on the protected path. This estimation takes into account any nested protected paths that hold common data, because data held by another protected path's snapshots would not be removed even if all snapshots on the protected path were removed.
Health	An indication of whether the state is OK or not: OK, if the State of the protected path is healthy. Error, if the State is not a healthy state.

Modifying a Protected Path via the VAST Web UI

To modify the configuration of a protected path, click to open the Actions menu for the stream and select Edit. Make your changes and then click Update.

Note

You cannot change the protection policy of a protected path.

Activating and Deactivating (Starting and Pausing) Protected Paths

Deactivating a protected path pauses replication for the path. Activating the protected path resumes replication.

Note

Deactivating a protected path that is using an indestructible protection policy requires unlocking the indestructibility mechanism on the cluster.

Under the Actions column for the protected path you want to activate or deactivate, click () and select Activate or Deactivate as needed.

Removing a Protected Path via the VAST Web UI

Removing a protected path prevents the ability to resume it. After removing a protected path, if you create a new protected path using the same policy, that new protected path triggers a new initial sync, copying over all of the VAST Cluster's data to the S3 replication peer (if a peer is specified in the policy).

Tip

If you only want to pause replication and you may want to resume later, don't remove the protected path; instead deactivate the protected path.

Removing a protected path does not delete snapshots or restore points that were already backed up to a native or S3 replication peer.

To remove a protected path:

Click to open the Actions menu for the protected path and select Remove.
Click Yes to confirm the removal.