PowerScale OneFS 9.2.1.0 CloudPools Administration Guide

CloudPools concepts

CloudPools moves file data from PowerScale to the cloud. Users can access or recall these files as needed.

Following are descriptions of key CloudPools concepts that affect the end user:

Archive

The CloudPools process of moving file data to the cloud. This process extracts the data from the file and places it in one or more cloud objects. CloudPools then moves these objects to cloud storage, and leaves in place on the local cluster a representative file. This file is called a SmartLink file.

SmartLink file

For every file that is archived to the cloud, OneFS maintains an associated SmartLink file on the cluster. A SmartLink file contains metadata and map information which allows the data in the cloud to be accessed or fully recalled. If the SmartLink file archiving policy permits it, users can automatically retrieve and cache data from the cloud by accessing the SmarkLink file. Like other files, SmartLink files can be backed up through NDMP or synchronized to other clusters with SyncIQ. When SmartLink files are retrieved from a backup or SyncIQ operation, CloudPools maintains their links to related file data in the cloud.

Inline access

CloudPools enables users connecting to a cluster through supported protocols to access cloud data by opening associated SmartLink files. This process is called inline access. To the user connecting to OneFS through a supported protocol, a SmartLink file appears to be the original file. When the user opens a SmartLink file, CloudPools retrieves and caches cloud data locally. The user can view and edit the file as usual. CloudPools automatically retrieves and sends any updated file data back to the cloud so that the cloud contains the latest version.

NOTE CloudPools offers inline access as a user convenience. However, CloudPools is designed mainly as an archival solution, and is not intended for storing data that is frequently updated. Such data should be left on the local cluster until it stabilizes and is ready for archival.

Recall

The CloudPools process of reversing the archival process. CloudPools replaces the SmartLink file with the original file data, and removes the cloud objects from cloud storage.

Following are the key concepts related to CloudPools configuration:

Cloud provider accounts

CloudPools requires you to set up one or more accounts with a cloud provider. See Supported cloud providers and storage types. You use the account information from the cloud provider to configure cloud accounts on the PowerScale cluster.

Cloud storage accounts

A cloud storage account is a OneFS entity that defines access to a specific cloud provider account. These accounts are used to enable and track local use of a cloud provider account. The cloud storage account configuration includes the cloud provider account credentials.

CloudPool

A CloudPool is a OneFS entity that contains a single cloud storage account and provides a conduit between OneFS and the cloud storage repository. Creating a CloudPool requires the availability of at least one cloud storage account. The cloud storage account must be of the same type as the CloudPool.

File pool policies

File pool policies are the essential control mechanism for both SmartPools and CloudPools. OneFS runs all file pool policies regularly. Each file pool policy specifies the files to manage, actions to take on the files, protection levels, and I/O optimization settings.

The file pool policy also specifies the remote cloud account to archive files to, and how to handle files before archiving them. A policy can also specify where to store the locally retained SmartLink files.