Network Storage Data Stores

DDC supports two types of Network Storage types as data stores:

• NFS Share - NFS (Unix Network File System) is a distributed file system protocol allowing a user on a client computer to access files over a computer network as if it were a local storage.

• SMB/CIFS Share - Common Internet File System (CIFS) is a cross-platform, transport-independent protocol that provides a mechanism for client systems to use file and print services made available by server systems over a network.

To add a SMB/CIFS Share data store:

• Use a Windows Proxy Agent.

• Ensure that the target storage is accessible from the Proxy agent host.

To add a NFS Share data store:

• Use a Linux Proxy Agent.

• The target storage path must be mounted on the Proxy agent host. For instructions, refer to Mounting an NFS Share.

Adding Network Storage Data Stores

1. Select Store Type

1. On the Select Store Type screen, select Network Storage in Select Data Store Category.

2. From the Select Network Storage Type dropdown, select NFS Share or SMB/CIFS Share.

3. Click Next.

2. Configure Connection

1. On the Configure Connection screen, provide the following configuration details for your data store:

   • NFS Share

     • Hostname/IP - Provide a valid hostname or IP address of the NFS server. For example, if the NFS shared path is server_ip:/srv/nfs/share, then enter server_ip in the field.

     • Share Path - Provide a valid NFS path that begins with a slash ('/'). This is the path of the shared directory on the NFS server. For example, if the NFS shared path is server_ip:/srv/nfs/share, then enter /srv/nfs/share in this field.

     • Agent Hostname/IP - Provide a valid hostname or IP address of the host where DDC agent resides. It is mandatory to mount the file share on the host for scanning it.

     • Mount Point (On Proxy Agent) - Provide a valid directory path on the Proxy host where the NFS Shared Path is mounted. This is the local directory on the proxy agent where the NFS shared directory will be accessible. Note that the name of the local directory may be different from the Share path.

     Warning

     Mount the NFS export on the mount point on the proxy agent host before running any NFS scan.

     Note

     Use consistent values in the Hostname/IP field and the mount command on the DDC Proxy Agent. It is not possible to use the server IP address to execute the mount command, and then subsequently use the hostname to create the data store, or vice-versa.

   • SMB/CIFS Share

     • Hostname/IP - Provide a valid hostname, IP address, or URI of the data store. For example, if your Windows share path is \\remote-server-name\share-name, enter remote-server-name.

     • Share Name - Provide a valid Windows share name. These characters are not allowed in the Share Name: =*?,<>|;:+[]"/\

     Caution

     Do not confuse the Share Name with the Network Path. In Windows, the Share Name is typically set in the Advanced Sharing settings in the folder sharing properties.

     • User, Password - Provide a valid username and password. Use the appropriate user name format for the target Windows hosts credentials:

       • <domain\username> - use this format if the Windows host and the Windows agent host reside in the same Active Directory.

       • <target_hostname\username> - use this format if the Windows host and the Windows agent host do not reside in the same Active Directory.

       • <username> - use it if the above formats do not work.

     Tip

     DNS / DNS reverse resolution may increase the time to scan. Make sure that you optimize your DNS resolution or modify the agent's hosts file to skip the external DNS resolution as indicated in this technical note.

2. On the Agent Selection section, specify the minimum and maximum number of proxy agents when adding a datastore. Using multiple agents instead of a single agent to run the scan improves the scan execution time.

   Note

   Multiple agent support is available for the Linux Data Store (NFS Share).

   In the Select Number of Agents menu set the number of agents for the datastore:

   • Minimum: Set the minimun number of agents to use to scan the datastore. At least that number of proxy agents must be able to connect to the datastore.

   • Maximum: Set the maximum number agents to use to scan the datastore.

   Warning

   • As there is no limit on the number of minimum and maximum agents that you can set, you should exercise caution so that you do not impact the system performance by using too many resouces for a single scan.
   • You will not be able to add a datastore if the minimum number of agents cannot be assigned.
   • A scan will fail if the assigned agent is unavailable after adding the datastore.
   • The minimum number of agents must be less than or equal to the maximum number of agents.

3. In the Add Label field, add an agent label, by entering a label or removing an existing label. Agent labels represent the agent capabilities.

   Note

   Add Label is not supported for the NFS Share Data Store.

4. Click Next.

3. General Info

1. Configure the General Info part per the information in General Info.

2. Click Next.

4. Add Tags & Access Control

1. Configure the Tags & Access Control as per information provided in Tags & Access Control section.

2. Click Save. The newly created data store appears on the Data Stores page. By default, data stores are displayed in alphabetic order by name. Depending on the number of entries per page, you might need to navigate to other pages to view the newly created data store.