Configuring cloud storage volumes

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You can use IBM Cloud Object Storage, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), or Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) for your resource manager storage volume. Cloud storage is useful for long-term storage of objects on devices other than the fixed disks that are attached to the resource manager.

About this task

To use IBM Cloud Object Storage, Amazon S3, or Hitachi Content Platform (HCP), you must define a Cloud Object Storage server that connects to it.

Using a proxy server

If your resource manager uses a proxy server to connect to the cloud storage server, you must configure the proxy server to allow the GET, PUT, and DELETE request methods of the HTTP or HTTPS protocol to pass through it. Make sure that the proxy server pass-through protocol matches the resource manager's protocol that is used to connect to the IBM Cloud Object Storage server.

Using versioning

Make sure that versioning is not enabled on these following types of cloud object storage buckets that you use with the resource manager:

  • IBM Cloud Object Storage buckets
  • IBM Cloud Object Storage buckets with retention
  • Amazon S3 buckets
  • Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) buckets.

If versioning is enabled on these buckets, the objects that are deleted by the resource manager stay on the cloud object storage server with their version ID, and they are no longer managed by the resource manager.

Using Amazon S3

The Intelligent-Tiering configurations in Amazon S3 and storage classes other than the AWS S3 Standard have not been tested with the resource manager.

Storage classes such as Glacier Instant Retrieval, and the access tiers which support instant retrieval and comply with the Standard Amazon S3 REST APIs, as long as they are transparent to the resource manager, are supported.

Storage classes and access tiers which do not support instant retrieval or do not comply with the Standard Amazon S3 REST APIs, are not supported. These include Archive Access tier, Deep Archive Access tier, Glacier Flexible Retrieval storage class, and Glacier Deep Archive storage class, and so on.

Specifying the hostname

In the server definition, you must use a path-style URL for the hostname; do not use a virtual hosted-style URL. The URL access type depends on the hostname style that is entered in the resource manager server definition in the system administration client. For more information, see Hostname.

Support history

IBM Cloud Object Storage support was added in V8.6; IBM Cloud Object Storage with retention in V8.6 fix pack 2; Amazon S3 in V8.6 fix pack 1; and Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) in V8.6 fix pack 3.

Procedure

  1. In the cloud storage system, create a bucket to use as the resource manager storage volume. For more information about how to do this, see the documentation for IBM Cloud Object Storage, Amazon S3, or Hitachi Content Platform (HCP).
  2. In the Content Manager Enterprise Edition System Administration client, navigate to Content Manager > library server > Resource Managers > resource manager.

Define the Cloud Object Storage server:

  1. Right-click Server Definitions, and then click New.
    The New Server Definition dialog box opens.
  2. Set these properties:
    Name
    Type a name to identify the server, for example: S3Server
    Server type
    Select Cloud Object Storage.
    Hostname
    The name or IP address of the server that cloud storage system is on.
    You must use a path-style URL; do not use a virtual hosted-style URL.
    For example, if you are using Amazon S3, use a path-style URL hostname that looks like this: 
    s3.<region>.amazonaws.com
    Do not use a virtual hosted-style URL hostname that looks like this: 
    <bucketname>.s3.<region>.amazonaws.com
    After you add a voilumnbyAfter you add a volume using path-style URL in the resource manager, do not change the path-style URL hostname in the server definition to a virtual hosted-style URL; if you change it, the existing objects cannot be accessed.
    Access key ID
    The access key id for the cloud storage server.
    Secret access key
    The secret access key for the cloud storage server.
    Protocol
    Select http or https.
    Port number
    The port number on which the cloud storage server listens.
    For http, the default value is 80; for https, the default value is 443.
    Path
    The region name to be used by the AWS4 authentication system to generate the authentication signature. If the region name is "us-standard", you can leave this box blank.
  3. Click OK.
    Content Manager creates the server definition.

Define the Device Manager:

  1. Right-click Device Managers, and then click New.
    The Device Manager Properties dialog box opens.
  2. In the Description field, type IBM S3 Device Manager.
  3. If your cloud storage is IBM Cloud Object Storage and retention protection is enabled, type "mode=retention" in the Parameters field. Otherwise, leave the Parameters field blank.

    For more information about IBM Cloud Object Storage with retention, see Support for IBM Cloud Object Storage retention.

  4. In the Class field, type S3.
  5. Set Device Manager to Enable, and then click OK.
  6. Define a storage class that uses the device manager that you have created. For more information, see Creating a storage class.

Define the Cloud Object Storage volume:

  1. Right-click Cloud Object Storage Volumes, and then click New.
    The Export All to XML option is not available for cloud object storage volumes.
    The New Cloud Object Storage dialog box opens.
  2. In the Bucket field, type the name of the cloud storage bucket that is to be used as the resource manager storage volume, and then click OK.
  3. Assign the volume to the storage group that you want, and then click OK.
    For more information, see Creating a storage group.
  4. Define a migration policy that uses the new storage class. For more information, see Creating a migration policy.

    If you are using IBM Cloud Object Storage with retention:

    • the storage class of the cloud object storage must be the only one or the last one in the migration sequence and
    • the retention period must be Forever.
  5. Define a collection that uses the new migration policy. For more information, see Creating a collection.
  6. Define an item type that uses the new collection. For more information, see Creating an item type.
    You can now use the item type to create, read, update, and delete objects in Content Manager. Objects that use this item type are stored in the cloud storage bucket.