How Tivoli Storage Manager nodes are used in a virtual environment

Data Protection for VMware communicates to VMs during backup, restore, and mount operations through Tivoli® Storage Manager nodes.

A node represents a system on which the Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client, Data Protection for VMware, or other application client is installed. This system is registered to the Tivoli Storage Manager server. Each node has a unique name (node name) that is used to identify the system to the Tivoli Storage Manager server. Communication, storage policy, authority, and access to VM data are defined based on a node.

In a Data Protection for VMware vSphere production environment, the most basic node is the data mover node. This node represents a specific Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client (data mover) that "moves data" from one system to another. In a basic vSphere environment, where VMs are backed up by a single client, the VM data is stored directly under the data mover node.

In some scenarios, several data movers are used to back up a complete virtual environment, such as a VMware datacenter. In this scenario, since the backup work is distributed among multiple data movers, the VM data is stored in a shared node (instead of a specific data mover node). This shared node is called the datacenter node. Thus, in this large system vSphere environment, the data mover nodes store VM data into the datacenter node.

In a large vSphere virtual environment, where multiple data movers and datacenters are operative, a third node is used to communicate among the nodes and Tivoli Storage Manager server. This node is the VMCLI node.

A mount proxy node represents the Linux or Windows proxy system that accesses the mounted VM disks through an iSCSI connection. These nodes enable the file systems on the mounted VM disks to be accessible as mount points on the proxy system. You can then retrieve the files by copying them from the mount points to your local disk. Mount proxy nodes are created in pairs and are required by the datacenter node for each Windows or Linux system that serves as a proxy. To increase the number of available mount points, you can configure a datacenter node to have multiple pairs of mount proxy nodes.

Use the Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI configuration wizard or configuration notebook to set these nodes in a vSphere environment.
Table 1. Tivoli Storage Manager nodes in a vSphere environment
Node Description
vCenter node The virtual node that represents a vCenter.
datacenter node The virtual node that maps to a data center. The datacenter nodes hold the data.
VMCLI node The node that connects the Data Protection for VMware command-line interface to the Tivoli Storage Manager server and the data mover node. Unlike the data mover node, the VMCLI node does not require its own Tivoli Storage Manager client acceptor or scheduler service.
data mover node The node name for the Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client that is installed on the vStorage Backup Server. This node performs the data movement. Each data mover node requires its own Tivoli Storage Manager client acceptor and scheduler service.
Important: Data Protection for VMware stores sensitive information locally on the data mover, and the data mover might also have direct access to VM storage. Access to the data mover must be protected. Allow only trusted users access to the data mover system.
mount proxy node This node represents the Linux or Windows proxy system that accesses the mounted VM disks through an iSCSI connection. These nodes enable the file systems on the mounted VM disks to be accessible as mount points.
Figure 1. Node relationships and applications in a vSphere production environment that contains one VMware data center and two data mover nodes.
Node relationships and applications in a vSphere production environment that contains one VMware datacenter.
Figure 2. Proxy relationships among the nodes in a vSphere environment that uses two VMware datacenters. The arrows point from the proxy agent node to the proxy target node.
Proxy relationships among the nodes in an environment that uses two datacenters.

In a Data Protection for VMware vCloud Director production environment, several types of nodes are employed. Some nodes are used to represent vCloud entities and other nodes represent Tivoli Storage Manager entities.

The first node is the vCloud director node, which, as its name implies, represents the vCloud director. This node is the topmost node in the system. Next, vCloud provider virtual data centers (provider vDCs) are represented by corresponding provider vDC nodes. vCloud organization virtual data centers (organization vDCs) are represented by organization vDC nodes. The backup data for vApps (contained in a virtual data center) is stored in the corresponding organization vDC node.

On the Tivoli Storage Manager side, a data mover node represents a specific Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive client (data mover). This node "moves" data between the vCloud environment and the various data-storing organization vDC nodes. Each data mover node is associated with a single provider virtual data center (provider vDC) node, and moves data only for organization vDCs allocated from its provider. A provider vDC can have one or more data mover nodes that move data for its organization vDCs.

Finally, a central node is used to communicate among the nodes and the Data Protection for VMware vCloud GUI. This node is the VMCLI node.

Use the Data Protection for VMware vCloud GUI configuration wizard or configuration notebook to set these nodes in a vCloud Director environment.
Table 2. Tivoli Storage Manager nodes in a vCloud Director environment
Node Description Example
vCloud Director Node This node represents the vCloud Director and is the top-level node. This node typically contains the prefix VCD_ in its name.
Provider VDC Node This node represents a provider vDC in your vCloud environment. This node typically contains the prefix PVDC_ in its name.
Organization VDC Node This node represents an organization vDC in your vCloud environment. This node holds the data and typically contains the prefix OVDC_ in its name.
Data Mover Node This node represents a backup-archive client and is associated with a single provider vDC and all of its organization vDCs. It is authorized to do operations for all organization vDCs that belong to the provider vDC. This node typically contains the prefix DM_ in its name.
VMCLI Node This node connects the Data Protection for VMware vCloud GUI to the Tivoli Storage Manager server and the other nodes. This node typically contains the prefix VMCLI_ in its name.