🆕Data Offloading

Data offloading allows vStor to automatically move older snapshots to another vStor according to age-based policies. This feature helps reduce primary storage usage while preserving access to historical data. vStor offloading operates on the snapshot level, where offloaded snapshots remain available for clone-based retrieval when needed.

Offloading requires establishing an offload relationship between a volume on the primary vStor (offload source) and a secondary partner vStor (offload target). To establish an offload relationship, you need to create a partnership between two vStors. For more information, see vStor Partnerships.

Once an offload relationship is established, the offload operation can be triggered by schedule policies (recommended) or manually. Even after a snapshot is offloaded, the primary vStor keeps the metadata that allows the system to keep track of the snapshot tree.

Note. Data on offloaded snapshots cannot be accessed directly from the source vStor. To learn how to access the data, see Accessing Offloaded Data.

Replication and Offload Relationship Interaction

When both replication and offload relationships exist on the same volume, vStor applies a safety mechanism in session queueing to ensure that offload operations never advance ahead of replication. This prevents inconsistencies and avoids deleting snapshots that have not yet been replicated.

During offload synchronization, the system checks whether a replication relationship is present on the same volume. If a replication relationship exists:

• Only successfully replicated snapshots are eligible for offload. Offload will queue only snapshots with an ID lower than the replication relationship’s last_success_snap_id.

• If the replication relationship has not completed at least one successful synchronization, offload synchronization will be skipped until that first successful sync occurs.

• Snapshots that have not yet been replicated are automatically excluded from offload processing. Replication always takes precedence over offload operations.

This coordination ensures that data protection through replication is not affected by offload activities, preserving the integrity of your backup and archive workflows.

Establishing an Offload Relationship

Important. To establish an offload relationship with a secondary vStor, a partnership with this vStor must exist.

To establish an offload relationship:

1. Select Offload from the sidebar. Click the Add relationship button in the upper-right corner of the Offload Relationships pane to open the Add Offload Relationship dialog window.

1. Select the volume you want to offload and the offload partner. Specify the Offload Policy. Snapshots older than the defined number of days/months will be automatically offloaded. Select Offload Bandwidth Settings. This setting is only applicable when Bandwidth limit is set in System Settings (see Replication), and it determines how much of the bandwidth is consumed by each task when they coincide.

2. Click Add.

Advanced Options

The Advanced Options section allows you to specify a custom name for the offload target volume. If no name is specified, the original volume name will be used. You can also select the target pool where the offload volume will be created and stored. If no pool is specified, the first available pool will be used.

Note. Successful establishment of an offload relationship does not entail any data transfer from the local volume to the target vStor. To populate the target volume with data from the local volume, set up a schedule or synchronize data manually using the Synchronize button.

Manual Synchronization

To manually synchronize data between the local volume and the offload target on a partner vStor, hover over the offload relationship record or right-click the record and select Synchronize. The offload operation will be queued for synchronization.

Scheduling an Offload

To schedule an unscheduled offload, follow the procedure below.

Restrictions. Only one schedule per replication relationship is allowed.

1. Click the Add schedule button in the Schedules pane. Or, right-click an offload relationship in the Offload Relationships pane.

2. Select an unscheduled offload relationship from the dropdown menu. Choose the schedule type (interval, weekly or monthly) and select schedule details.

1. Click Save.

See also. The time of replications depends on your vStor instance’s NTP Settings.

Editing a Schedule

1. Right-click the schedule and select Edit to launch the Edit Schedule dialog window.

2. Make necessary changes to the schedule.

3. Click Save.

Disconnecting an Offload Relationship

To disconnect an offload relationship:

1. Go to the Offload view and find the Offload Relationships pane.

2. Right-click the relationship you want to disconnect and click the Delete button. You will be prompted to confirm your choice and select some offload relationship removal options.

Attention! Disconnecting an offload relationship will result in the deletion of references to offloaded snapshots.

Managing Offload using vStor CLI

To create a new offload relationship with vStor CLI, use the following command, specifying the following mandatory parameters:

vstor offload create --vol_id <source_volume> --partner_id <partner_address> --policy_unit <days/months> --policy_value <number_of_days/months>

Tip. For more commands and parameters, use the --help flag at any level, e.g:

vstor offload --help vstor offload create --help