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sArchiving with Enterprise Vault 9and Dell DX Object StorageSymantec Technical Whitepaper
White Paper:Archiving with Enterprise Vault 9 and Dell DX Object StorageContentsENTERPRISE VAULT 9 ‐ OVERVIEW . 3DELL DX OBJECT STORAGE PLATFORM ‐ OVERVIEW . 4HOW ENTERPRISE VAULT 9 AND DX OBJECT STORAGE WORK TOGETHER . 5SETTING UP THE DX OBJECT STORAGE PLATFORM AS AN ENTERPRISE VAULT PARTITION . 5ADDITIONAL DETAILS OF ENTERPRISE VAULT 9 AND THE DX OBJECT STORAGE PLATFORM . 15WORM Compliance. 15Mixing Worm & non‐Worm archives in a Single DX Object Storage Platform Cluster. 15Built‐in Safety Features when Deleting Data . 15Managing Retention Periods & Life Cycles . 15Managing Replicas . 16CONCLUSION .16
Enterprise Vault 9 - OverviewEnterprise Vault, the industry leader in integrated content archiving, enables users to store, manage, and discover unstructuredinformation across the organization. As the industry’s most widely‐deployed archiving solution, Enterprise Vault helpscustomers deduplicate information at the source to reduce costs, delete information confidently and discover informationefficiently. Enterprise Vault stores, manages, and enables the discovery of corporate data from email systems, file serverenvironments, instant messaging platforms, and collaboration and content management systems. Enterprise Vault delivers thefollowing key business benefits: Eliminates .PST headaches. PST files (also known as personal folders or Outlook data files within Outlook)were not designed to handle the rigorous demands of today's large‐scale corporate email requirements.However, many companies commonly move email from Exchange to PST files for retention. Ultimately,these files create more problems than they solve. They are one of the main reasons why manyorganizations eventually seek an enterprise archiving solution. Enterprise Vault software helpsorganizations solve these issues by migrating PST files into a central archiving repository. Archives for legal and compliance. Enterprise Vault can be configured to retain and expire email andother electronically stored information according to policy, ensuring that it is kept for the appropriateperiod of time required to meet regulatory or legal requirements. Faster backup and improved disaster recovery. By reducing the online message store by 50% to 75%,Enterprise Vault can shrink backup and recovery times and can help save money on storage and storagemanagement. More important, this archived data can be leveraged for greater value through search andretrieval tools. End users benefit from the ability to initiate their own restores quickly, and IT groupsspend less time on administrative restore requests. Automatic mailbox management. With Enterprise Vault's automatic mailbox management, organizationscan eliminate quotas and message size restrictions and give users a mailbox of virtually unlimited size.Enterprise Vault also reduces the time spent dealing with mailbox housekeeping. Admin‐defined policiesautomatically archive individual mailbox email and attachments out of Microsoft Exchange and intoonline Enterprise Vault stores. Storage optimization. Enterprise Vault blocks unwanted content and moves files to alternative storagedevices without affecting the end user, allowing organizations to free up space on primary storageresources. User‐driven recovery of specific content helps reduce administration overhead. Intelligent archiving. Because different types of content have different values (e.g., business, personal,junk, and so on), companies are increasingly interested in controlling archive storage and operationalcosts. Intelligent archiving is a methodology to shape the Enterprise Vault archive and store onlybusiness‐valued content with context. This is accomplished through classification options usingautomated classification, user‐driven classification, or third‐party (for example, records management)approaches.
Dell DX Object Storage Platform - OverviewThe Dell DX Object Storage Platform is designed to intelligently access, store, protect and distribute fixed digital content. Fromweb publishing to archiving, the Dell DX Object Storage Platform offers a powerful combination of data and storagemanagement features through an elegant, self‐managing, peer‐scaling architecture. In addition, the DX Object StoragePlatform uses an easy interface that employs simple HTTP and Native API integration. It is supported by Enterprise Vault 9. Thisversatile platform can serve as a foundational storage tier for unstructured data allowing multiple applications in differentsolution areas to access, store and distribute digital content. Object‐based storage offers a solution for the Rapid growth ofunstructured data such as files, images and videos is bloating primary storage and complicating data management. The DXObject Storage Platform delivers the following key benefits: Simple architecture. Information is only valuable when it can be accessed, but keeping it readilyavailable can be cumbersome and expensive. With Dell DX Object Storage Platform, you can simplify datamanagement while easily expanding capacity. A flat‐address‐space design removes file‐systemcomplexity and the need to manage LUNs and RAID groups. Metadata. Object‐based and metadata‐aware disk storage lets you identify and retrieve informationquickly, better leverage your data for decision‐making, automatically manage that data from creationthrough deletion, and minimize your dependence on complex and sometimes unreliable tape storage. Byincorporating metadata into objects, you can apply preservation, retention and deletion policies, lowermanagement resources, and facilitate enhanced discovery. Enhanced scalability. An extremely large number of available addresses means a common pool ofstorage can support literally billions of objects. Massively expand your system, scaling in amounts assmall as 3TB up to multiple petabytes and billions of objects, without the complexity or limitations of atraditional file system Policy‐based management. The DX Object storage platform features automated, object‐level retentionand deletion based on metadata, eliminating the human errors, access and preservation problems thatincrease risk and drive up costs. Self‐healing. The DX Object storage platform continuously self‐manages the integrity of stored objects todetect and repair errors and automatically reconfigures and regenerates objects without the need for ITintervention. Transparent upgrades. As storage needs evolve, you can easily add, replace or retire nodes without anymanual migration requirements. Flexible & peer‐scaling. The architecture of the DX Object storage platform allows you to scale at yourown pace, ensuring a perfect balance between capacity and throughput
How Enterprise Vault 9 and DX Object Storage Work TogetherDell and Symantec have worked together to integrate the DX Object Storage platform with Enterprise Vault 9 to help customersoptimize their storage. The Dell DX Object Storage Platform is ideal for Enterprise Vault or Archiving in general because it'sextremely scalable ‐ scaling up to multiple petabytes of data and/or billions of objects. It's extremely easy to add storage nodesto the cluster ‐ they simply PXE boot and are automatically added to the pool of storage. As storage nodes are added, capacityand performance of the cluster increases. This is ideal for archiving when one starts to consider how long data must beretained, and how storage requirements will increase over time. In addition, the DX Object Storage Platform is a WORMcapable storage device; make the DX Object Based storage platform ideal for Enterprise Vault 9 customers. This section willcover the technical aspects of Enterprise Vault 9 functionality with the DX Object Storage Platform:Setting up the DX Object Storage Platform as an Enterprise Vault PartitionWhen Symantec Enterprise Vault is deployed, The DX Object Storage Platform Connector/Streamer is installed by EnterpriseVault 9.0 as part of its installation. There is no need to install additional software or license on the Enterprise Vault server touse the DX Object Storage Platform as the archiving destination. This document outlines the steps to create a new DX VaultStore and Vault Store Partition in Symantec Enterprise Vault 9.0. It also includes notes regarding important settings for utilizingthe DX Object Storage Platform.To create a new DX Vault Store and Vault Storage Partition:1.Open Enterprise Vault Administration Console ‐ [Site] ‐ Vault Storage Groups2.Right click the Vault Store Group to add a DX Vault Store, select New‐ Vault Store.3.4.Review the information on Vault Store and Click the Next button.Enter a name and description for the new Vault Store, then click the Next buttonNote: The name may contain the letters A through Z, the numbers 0 through 9, and spaces. It does not allow the use ofany other characters.
Not5.Specify the name of an existing SQL Server, then click the Next button. For a clustered SQL server use the cluster name.Note: Microsoft SQL Server Client Tools must be installed on the Enterprise Vault server to support hosting the databaseon a named instance of SQL server.
6.Specify the Vault Store database and transaction log location on the SQL server. You can enter the UNC path directly oruse the Browse button to locate the folder.7.Select the appropriate safety copy removal option, then click the Next button. There are four options to choose from: After backup: This option postpones the deletion of the original data, “safety copy”, until the data copied to thearchive has been backed up. After backup (immediate for Journaling): This option causes Enterprise Vault to delete the safety copyimmediately when journaling, but for other archive types it deletes the safety copy after the appropriate VaultStore has been backed up. Immediately after archive: Selecting this option removes original items immediately without waiting for thearchive copy to be backed up Never: The production data is never deleted and replaced with a pointer, this allows the entire productionenvironment to be archived and indexed for legal e‐Discovery searches without impacting the productionenvironment.Enterprise Vault will consider the creation of all required object replicas on the DX Storage Platform to meet therequirement of a backup.Notehipnrms
8. Review the new Vault Store summary information; click the Next button to create the new Vault Store.9. Once the vault store is created successfully, click the Next button to finish the Vault Store creation.10. You will be prompted to create a new Vault Store Partition, click the Next button to start.11. Enter a name and description for the new Vault Store Partition. You can use the default settings. Because you want to usethe Vault Store Partition, we will create the partition as Open. Click the Next button to continue.Note: Each Vault Store will have one Open partition on the DX Object Storage Platform. If there is a need to assigndifferent attributes to data as it is being ingested, multiple Vault Stores can be used. For example, this would apply if thearchive for one set of users should maintain 4 replicas while the archive for a separate set of users should maintain only 2replicas.
12. Select Dell DX Object Storage Platform from the Storage type drop down list. Click the Next button.13. Highlight Primary DX Storage Nodes, and click the Modify button.14. Enter name or IP addresses of the Primary DX Cluster Storage Nodes as a space separated list, and then click the OKbutton.Note: We recommended entering at least one IP address from each Storage Node. For consistency you can use the NodeIP address on each Storage Node.
You can obtain the DX Cluster Storage Node IP address by looking them up in the DX Storage Console.15. Highlight Primary DX CR Publisher, and click the Modify button.
16. Enter name or IP address of the Primary DX Cluster CR (Content Router) Publishing service, and then click the OK button.You can obtain the DX CR Publisher IP address from the DX Storage Console ‐ Content Router.
17. The number of Primary DX replicas can also be changed. The default value is 2. The minimum number of replicas set atthe DX Object Storage Platform takes precedence.18. Click the Test button to verify all settings work properly, and the click the OK button.19. Click the Next button. You will be prompted to specify whether or not data should be stored in Compliance mode. Clickthe Next button to continue.Note: When the Compliance mode is selected, objects are written to the DX storage platform with a life point that insuresit will be undeletable prior to the designated retention period.
20. Click the Run Test button to test the connectivity to the Enterprise Vault server(s) and SQL server. The connection ratingshould be Good in most LANs. Click the Next button to continue.The results of the connectivity test are interpreted as follows: Good: Less than 1 ms and up to 1ms Bad: Between 1ms and up to 10 ms Very Bad: More than 10 ms Failed: No responseSince ICMP traffic can be restricted or blocked in certain network environment, this could affect the connectivity testresults. However, it does not mean that the network is unsuitable. The results only indicate that the connectivity testcannot operate correctly in this environment.21. Select Not Enabled on the Partition Rollover screen. Unlike a Vault Store Partition on an NTFS volume, there is no need torollover a Vault Store Partition on the DX Object Storage Platform. The DX Object Storage Platform does not have thevolume size or object quantity limitation of a NTFS file system.
22. You can change the default partition scan interval if required. The default setting is to scan the partition every 60 minutesfor replication. Click the Next button to continue. Note: Every object written to the DX Object Storage Platform has avalue that dictates how many replicas are to be maintained. Once the DX Object Storage Platform has confirmed that allthe required replicas have been created, Enterprise Vault will flag the object as backed up.23. Review Vault Store Partition information, and click the Finish button to create the new Partition.24. Verify the Partition has been created successfully, and click the Close button to complete.
Additional Details of Enterprise Vault 9 and the DX Object Storage PlatformWhen using Enterprise Vault and the DX Object Storage Platform together, consider the following:WORM ComplianceVarious industry regulations require data, such as health information and transaction records, to be archived reliably andsecurely over a long period of time. The Dell DX Object Storage Platform can manage content lifecycle informationautomatically and Enterprise Vault can specify that a file cannot be changed throughout its defined life and cannot be deleteduntil the retention period has expired. This addresses regulatory mandates such as Securities and Exchange (SEC) Rule 17a‐4,which is the most stringent regulatory requirement defined for data storage for the US Finance Industry.Dell’s DX Object Based Storage platform has been designed to deliver the assurance that content can be stored safely overextremely long periods of time. Therefore, WORM capability has been intentionally added to otherwise rewritable mutableobjects. The compliance feature is configured within the Enterprise Vault GUI under “Create a New Vault Partition”. This GUIpresents a “Compliance Mode” box which provides administrators with an option to enable “Compliance Mode”. (See step 19above) When the “Compliance Mode” box is checked within the Vault Partition setting, the DX Object Storage Platform willdeny any request by the Enterprise Vault application to delete an object prior to expiration of the object’s lifepoint. A lifepointis a special metadata element (contained as part of the metadata elements stored along with objects in the DX Object StoragePlatform) that gives Enterprise Vault parameters on how a file should be managed during its lifecycle.Mixing Worm & non‐Worm archives in a Single DX Object Storage Platform ClusterIt is possible to set up multiple Vault Stores each with a unique Vault Partition configuration. This would enable both WORMprotected and Non‐WORM Objects to be saved in the single flat file space that makes up a local DX Object Storage Platformcluster. To accommodate this business objective two Vault Stores would be created, one of them would have a Vault Partitionconfigured without “Compliance Mode” enabled, and the other would have a Vault Partition with “Compliance Mode” enabled.Enterprise Vault Policies would map specific archives to the appropriate vault store either WORM or Non‐WORM. But all of thearchives could be stored on a single DX Object Storage Platform cluster. Each Vault Store would determine the characteristicsof the objects that are routed to it, allowing an organization to have a single DX Object Storage Platform cluster contain bothWORM and non‐WORM objects.Built‐in Safety Features when Deleting DataObjects written to the DX Object Storage Platform can be deleted by Enterprise Vault if the object was written outside of“Compliance Mode.” In compliance mode, Enterprise Vault’s request to delete an item from the archive must pass a two‐stepvalidation process. First, Enterprise Vault will check to see if the archived item is beyond the Enterprise Vault Retention Period.If the Enterprise Vault retention period has been met, the second step is for the DX Object Storage platform to approve that theobject is past its designated life span as recorded in the lifepoint metadata attribute. Only after the Enterprise Vault retentionperiod has been met, AND the object’s lifespan has expired – will Enterprise Vault succeed in deleting the item from thearchive. This gives users added insurance that files cannot be accidently deleted.Managing Retention Periods & Life CyclesWhen writing to a DX Object Storage Platform cluster the retention period within an EV policy is recorded in the “lifepoint”metadata field. Despite being written as Mutable the Enterprise Vault will not change the “lifepoint”. This limitation is byDesign, it was intended to prohibit an update that would call for a write change to what could be many billions of objects.
When an administrator attempts to reduce the retention span of an archive within Enterprise Vault, this will have no effect onthe actual lifecycle of the object on the DX Object Storage Platform if was written in “compliance mode”. Any request to deleteexpired archives will fail the two step validation process described in the ‘Built‐in Safety Features when Deleting Data’ section.Lengthening the retention period of an archive within Enterprise Vault will effectively extend the actual life cycle of the objecton the DX Object Storage Platform. This is because the DX Object Storage Platform will not actually delete objects that expire;the DX Object Storage Platform will simply allow expired objects to be deleted by Enterprise Vault. However, Enterprise Vaultwon’t delete an archive until its retention period has been met.Managing ReplicasThe DX Object Storage Platform protects against loss of content objects using replication where it creates one or more exactreplicas (copies) of each file stored in the system. Each replica is stored on a different node within the cluster to ensure that if anode fails, another replica will be accessible through a different node.Enterprise Vault can designate the quantity of replicas that should be maintained for an object within the range configured onthe hardware. By default the Minimum is 2 replicas, and the Maximum is 12 replicas. The hardware settings will always takeprecedence if the EV setting is below the minimum or above the maximum. However, if the Enterprise Vault value is within thehardware range then EV will dictate the number of replicas an object should maintain.In order to configure multiple replica values for different groups of users set up multiple Vault Stores. One of them may have aVault Partition configured with 2 replicas per an object, and the other would have a Vault Partition configured with 3 replicasper an object. Each Vault Store would determine the characteristics of the objects that are routed to it, allowing anorganization to have a single DX Object Storage Platform cluster contain archives with 3 replicas, as well as archives with 2replicas. Policies would map specific user groups to archive to the appropriate vault store depending on the desired number ofreplicas.ConclusionMany businesses have massive amounts of unstructured data in diverse formats such as e-mail, instant messages,documents, spreadsheets, graphics, images, and videos that may be subject to industry or government regulationsfor access and retention. With unstructured information consuming a large percentage of corporate storage, it mustbe appropriately classified, managed and placed in storage systems that are easily accessible for search anddiscovery.Enterprise Vault and the DX Object Storage Platform are ideal for large-scale digital content and long-term datastorage.The peer-scaling architecture of the Dell DX Object Storage Platform gives you the ability to addcapacity in a modular approach without the need to configure LUNs, RAID groups or hierarchical file structures.Scale at your own pace, non-disruptively, by starting with a cluster of 2TB and grow in increments as small as1TB with the flexibility to grow up to multiple petabytes and billions of objects.
Enterprise Vault, the industry leader in email and content archiving, enables companies to store, manage, anddiscover unstructured information across the enterprise. With Enterprise Vault IT can partner with Legal departmentsto develop information retention systems that not only ensure records are not accidentally lost or deleted, but canalso ensure rapid recovery. Any organizations faced with litigation involving e-discovery must be able to applyindefinite litigation hold of relevant content with minimal strain on storage and IT resources. Enterprise Vault helpscompanies close the gap between technology and policies in order to eliminate the risk associated with noncompliance.With Enterprise Vault, organizations are able to consolidate email and other electronic information from any sourceacross the organization into a single repository. This simplifies management, enforces policies, enables legal hold,reduces information redundancy, and allows for timely search and retrieval of relevant information for legal cases.Archiving with Enterprise Vault and the Dell DX Object Storage Platform is the cornerstone of an efficient,repeatable and defensible discovery process.
automatically archive individual mailbox email and attachments out of Microsoft Exchange and into online Enterprise Vault stores. . When Symantec Enterprise Vault is deployed, The DX
