Net2Vault Technical FAQ
An important note about Net2Vault Cloud Services: Net2Vault is unique in that we are the only NetApp Cloud Service Provider that exclusively leverages and supports native NetApp hardware. This improves the level of service and expertise for NetApp users while lowering the cost of the service to customers. In brief, anything that NetApp can (or can’t do) in terms of functionality also applies to Net2Vault. Net2Vault Cloud Services are specifically designed to be an offsite extension of your existing NetApp architecture and investment, not a stand-alone third-party service. We put tremendous emphasis on Customer Service and delivering a quality customer experience. If one of your questions isn’t answered below please use the “Contact Us” form and an Engineer will be in touch to answer your questions. You can also use the real-time chat function if a Net2Vault Support person is online (lower right corner of your browser).
Q. How does Net2vault replicate?
A. Net2Vault uses only native NetApp data replication, protection, and recovery software. For replication we use NetApp SnapMirror and/or SnapVault depending on the customer requirements. We only replicate incremental changed blocks which are often deduplicated and compressed before being replicated, which is more efficient and cost effective.
Q. Does Net2vault use any third party software or hardware to replicate data?
A. No. Net2Vault exclusively uses native NetApp hardware and software. This allows customers to leverage and extend the value of their existing NetApp investments and eliminates the need to purchase new equipment and learn new skill sets.
Q. How often can I backup using Net2Vault?
A. You can back up as often as you like. There is no additional charge for higher backup frequency.
Q. Will we be able to see the Net2Vault NetApp system on our own network?
A. Yes, the Net2Vault NetApp vFiler will be a visible node on your own internal network. You can ping it and ensure that it is online.
Q. Can we recover data from Net2Vault on our own?
A. Absolutely. Net2Vault sets up a reverse NFS mount so you can browse your backups and recover a full volume or a single file. You have full visibility to your data. That said, Net2Vault Support engineers are happy to assist if needed.
Q. Does Net2Vault offer disk-level encryption for data at rest?
A. Yes. Net2Vault is the only NetApp Cloud Service Provider in the world authorized to offer Cloud-based disk encryption. See more on encryption here.
Q. How does pricing work?
A. Pricing is based only on the number of Gigabytes (GB) protected. Net2Vault does not charge for any other variable such as the number of backups, restores, or recoveries.
Q. Does Net2Vault charge for bandwidth?
A. No
Q. How secure is NetApp’s multi-tenancy technology (vFilers)?
A. NetApp’s multi-tenant environment is highly-secure and utilized by some of the largest government agencies and financial institutions in the world. Please learn more about NetApp Secure Multi-Tenancy here.
Q. I have other storage other than NetApp. Can I use Net2vault to backup other storage platforms?
A. It depends on the customer requirements. If you need to back up physical servers or VMs you can leverage NetApp Open System SnapVault (OSSV), which is a software agent that can be used to backup data that is not on the SAN. NetApp does not charge for OSSV licenses and it is common for Net2Vault customers to use this approach. Net2Vault does not support other SAN vendors such as EMC, HP, or Dell. Net2Vault does support IBM N-Series, which is just IBM’s OEM clone of NetApp’s storage systems. Any recent version of NetApp Data ONTAP can replicate between each other…systems on each side of the mirror don’t have to be the same model.
Q. Where is Net2Vault’s office located?
A. Net2Vault’s headquarters is located in Beaverton Oregon. We have three data center locations for Net2Vault systems which are SAS 70 Type II state-of-the-art SunGard data centers. One data centers are located in Scottsdale AZ, Philadelphia, PA and Mississauga, Ontario Canada.
Q. Is Net2Vault HIPPA compliant?
A. Yes, Net2Vault is fully HIPPA compliant and documentation can be provided on request.
Q. Is Net2Vault PCI compliant?
A. Yes, Net2Vault is fully PCI compliant and documentation can be provided upon request.
Q. How do we know if we are a candidate to use Net2Vault Cloud for Disaster Recovery Services?
A. If you are using NetApp as primary storage you can use Net2Vault Cloud DR Services. Since using Net2Vault for Cloud backup provides the majority of what is required for Cloud-based DR services it is very easy to implement a Net2Vault DR service as well. We work with the customer to establish and document the RTO and RPO requirements and customize the DR service as needed.
Q. I have shares, LUNs and Qtree’s on my system can you replicate both?
A. Yes
Q. How is the data transferred over the wire?
A. Net2Vault uses the NetApp native SnapMirror to replicate data. SnapMirror is native software on all newer NetApp systems and the latest SnapMirror version included native data compression.
Q. Do we need a SnapMirror license?
A. SnapMirror is already on all of your NetApp systems, however you may need to enable it with a software key which your NetApp Account Manager can provide. If you don’t have SnapMirror licensed on your NetApp system you will only need to license SnapMirror “Primary”. You won’t need to license SnapMirror “Secondary” as Net2Vault has Secondary on all of our NetApp systems. We recommend asking your NetApp Account Manager about the “Protection Pack” bundle as it comes with all necessary replication and recovery software and comes with great discounts.
Q. When is our data replicated/transferred to Net2Vault systems?
A. The customer dictates the mirror schedules based on their needs. We can throttle the connections so that impact on the production bandwidth is not impacted. The replication schedule is worked out with the customer during our standard new customer onboarding process.
Q. How do Net2Vault Cloud DR Services work?
A. At time of test Net2Vault creates a NetApp FlexClone of the mirrored data to present to the DR servers. Those volumes can be shares that are presented via CIFS or NFS or LUN’s which are presented via ISCSI.
Q. Does Net2Vault support Fiber Channel Protocol (FCP)?
A. Yes and No, Net2vault supports the replication of Fiber channel LUNs but all DR LUNs are presented via ISCSI over a 10Gb Ethernet link to the warm or hot SunGard recovery servers that are preconfigured to meet your RTO and RPO requirements.
Q. How does Net2vault get the data over the network?
A. A typical Net2Vault customer replicates over a 256 bit IPSEC site to site VPN. Net2Vault uses Cisco ASA’s for firewalls. Most firewalls that support IPSEC VPN’s can be configured to support the connection. Net2Vault also support a customer putting in an MPLS node to a SunGard recovery center. Net2vault, in rare instances can support inter-data center connections from a customer cabinet.
Q. What versions of NetApp Data ONTAP does Net2Vault support?
A. Net2Vault supports 7.x and 8.0.x versions of NetApp Data ONTAP. We plan on supporting 8.1 Data ONTAP when it is released from NetApp.
Q. Does Net2Vault support 64 bit filesystems?
A. Yes, Net2vault supports 64 bit filesystems under 8.0.x as well as the traditional 32 bit filesystems with 8.0.x and 7.x of Data ONTAP.
Q. Does Net2Vault support IBM N-Series?
A. Yes, we support IBM N-Series as a source for replication.
Q. Does Net2Vault support NetApp SnapManager products?
A. Yes, we encourage customers to use NetApp SnapManager software products. NetApp SnapManager supports SQL, Exchange, SharePoint, Virtual Infrastructure (VMware, Citrix, Hyper-V), SAP, and Oracle.
Q. When replicating a LUN how do you make it consistent?
A. LUN replication, be it a filesystem or a database requires that data in flight be synced to disk. This is why we encourage customers to leverage NetApp SnapManager products to ensure that replication captures a consistent Snapshot on the volume being replicated. This is the recovery point.
Q. I am not using the SnapManager products from NetApp. Can I still replicate using NetApp SnapMirror?
A. Yes, but a script must be created on the client end that flushes the filesystem and creates a Snapshot or calls a SnapMirror update. We can still replicate without this but there is no guarantee that the filesystem or database will be intact or that it is “crash consistent”.
Q. I have virtualized servers, how do I replicate them?
A. Net2Vault supports the replication of virtualized datastores presented via NFS or via LUN’s. We replicate the entire data store containing the VM’s.
Q. How fast is the NetApp FlexClone process during DR testing?
A. In a typical medium sized environment, the FlexClones take a couple of minutes to create.
Q. Does Net2Vault use NetApp FlexClones for an actual DR event?
A. No, during an actual DR event, Net2Vault would break the mirrors and present to the recovery servers the actual data. This is done so that when the primary site comes back, the data can be resynchronized back to production.
Q. What does Net2Vault need from us in order to provide a proposal?
A. In order to provide a proposal we only require the amount of data you need to protect. We will ask that you run a few standard NetApp command line reports on your daily change rate on data, volumes, and Snapshot information. We can usually turn around a proposal in a day for backup and a couple days for backup and DR depending on the complexity of your DR requirements.
Still have questions? Please send a message to Contact Us and an Engineer will be in touch to answer your questions. You can also use the real-time chat function if a Net2Vault Support person is online (lower right corner of your browser).
