Defining a tiering subrule

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To specify exceptions to a cloud or tape tiering storage rule, you can define one or more subrules.

About this task

Subrules can be useful in many situations:
  • For example, a cloud tiering storage rule is defined to tier all of the data in a directory-container storage pool to cloud storage. However, some of the data is required for daily operations, so you want to keep that data on disk storage, from which restore operations are typically faster. You define a subrule for specific nodes or file spaces to keep the specified data on disk storage.
    Restrictions:
    • You can tier data from IBM Storage Protect Plus to cloud-container storage pools, but only to cloud storage classes that support the rapid recall of data. For example, if you are using Amazon Web Services (AWS) with the Simple Storage Service (S3) protocol, do not move the data to Amazon S3 Glacier.
  • For example, a tape tiering storage rule is defined to tier data from different client types by using the tier-by-state option. However, you determine that the tier-by-age option is more appropriate for one of the client types. You define a subrule only for nodes or file spaces of the specified client type to apply the tier-by-age option. Data from all other clients will be tiered by state.
    Tip: To learn about tiering options as they affect different client types, see Determining whether tiering is appropriate for your storage environment.
    Restrictions:
    • You cannot use a stgrule to tier or copy data from IBM Storage Protect Plus to tape. To store IBM Storage Protect Plus data on tape, copy the data to an IBM Storage Protect server for storage on physical tape media or in a virtual tape library. For instructions, see Configuring operations for copying data from S3 client to tape.

Procedure

To define a subrule, complete the following steps:

  1. On the Operations Center menu bar, click Storage > Storage Rules.
  2. On the Storage Rules page, select the rule for which you want to create a subrule. Click +Create Subrule.
  3. On the Create Subrule for Storage Tiering page, complete the fields.
  4. To add individual client members to the tiering subrule, click Add > Individual clients. On the Add Clients to Subrule page, only clients that have data on the source pools of the parent tiering rule are shown for selection. Select clients and click Add Clients.
  5. To add members to the tiering subrule by specifying VM patterns, take the following actions:
    1. Click Add > VM name pattern.
    2. On the Add Clients to Subrule page, select a VM owner and specify a pattern. Before you add a pattern, you must test the pattern to confirm that it does not overlap existing patterns for this or other subrules of the parent rule.
    3. Test the pattern by clicking Test. Only clients that have data on the source pools of the parent tiering rule are displayed.
    4. After a pattern is successfully tested, add the pattern by clicking Add VM Pattern.
  6. To create the tiering subrule, click Create.
    Tip: Alternatively, you can define a subrule by using the DEFINE SUBRULE command. For more information, see DEFINE SUBRULE (Define an exception to a storage rule).

Results

The subrule is created. If the parent rule is active, the subrule runs on the same schedule as the parent rule. If the parent rule is inactive, the subrule is also inactive.