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BlueBull's avatar
BlueBull
Level 4
11 years ago

Max Size for Vault Store Partitions

Hi,

I am currently sizing a new implementation for EV. We are migrating a client from a legacy Archive to EV.

What I would like to know, if possible, is what the max size for a LUN is for the a given Vault Store Partition. I have had suggestions that a 1TB LUN shoud be max but would like to find out if configuring 2TB luns would have an adverse impact on EV.

The client has a very large legacy archive that needs to be migrated and to create 1TB luns will become very administrative for them in the long run and they would like to implement 2TB LUNS. This is a requirement from the client.

Is this possible and are there any other considerations I need to take into account?

regards,

Best Practice
Configuring
Enterprise Vault
Information Governance
Windows Server (2003-2008)
  • Patti_Rodgers's avatar
    Patti_Rodgers
    11 years ago

    Yes. You can have multiple EV partitions on the same LUN, works just fine. Many customers size their EV partitions to roughly the same size as their backup media-- so for example if your tapes are 500GB capacity then 1 partition = 1 tape = 500GB, simply because it makes it more streamlined to restore a full partition from a single tape than from multiple tapes, should you ever need to do a restore. 

    Other customers size the partition based on backup speeds and backup windows. If you have a strict 2-hour backup window on the weeknights then you would want to make your EV partitions *no bigger* than the amount you can back up in 2 hours. You won't back your closed partitions up every night, but by keeping the partitions properly sized, you can ensure your open partition backups don't overrun your backup window.

    So you will have to look at the business needs, especially the backup windows and the SLA on a disaster recovery, to help lead you to the right sizing for the partitions. Note that if you are sizing for the backup times, you want to do some speed tests using actual EV data and not the backup manufacturer's advertized speeds, as a variety of factors (including the nature of the EV files themselves being very small and hence incurring a lot of overhead to back up) can keep you from reaching those top speeds.

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  • TonySterling's avatar
    TonySterling
    Moderator
    11 years ago

    2TB LUN's will be fine, EV really won't care.  You might consider creating multiple partitions on those LUN's.  Depending on what backup solution you are using it could make it easier to back up.
     

  • BlueBull's avatar
    BlueBull
    Level 4
    11 years ago

    So if I understand correctly, create the 2 TB LUNS but have multiple EV Partitions utilize the same LUN?

  • Patti_Rodgers's avatar
    Patti_Rodgers
    Level 4
    11 years ago

    Yes. You can have multiple EV partitions on the same LUN, works just fine. Many customers size their EV partitions to roughly the same size as their backup media-- so for example if your tapes are 500GB capacity then 1 partition = 1 tape = 500GB, simply because it makes it more streamlined to restore a full partition from a single tape than from multiple tapes, should you ever need to do a restore. 

    Other customers size the partition based on backup speeds and backup windows. If you have a strict 2-hour backup window on the weeknights then you would want to make your EV partitions *no bigger* than the amount you can back up in 2 hours. You won't back your closed partitions up every night, but by keeping the partitions properly sized, you can ensure your open partition backups don't overrun your backup window.

    So you will have to look at the business needs, especially the backup windows and the SLA on a disaster recovery, to help lead you to the right sizing for the partitions. Note that if you are sizing for the backup times, you want to do some speed tests using actual EV data and not the backup manufacturer's advertized speeds, as a variety of factors (including the nature of the EV files themselves being very small and hence incurring a lot of overhead to back up) can keep you from reaching those top speeds.