1. CATALOG. PROTECT. MANAGE.
SOLUTION SHEET
Unprecedented IT Insight Enables
Greater Efficiency and Accelerates
use of Snapshots for Data Protection
The Catalogic ECX Enterprise Catalog gathers, centralizes and catalogs information
about your NetApp and VMware environments, allowing you to search, report, analyze
and take action on information. By cataloging all tiers of NetApp Snapshots, search tasks
can be completed in seconds, stale or unwanted data identified and moved or deleted as
required, protection compliance validated, and much more.
A Snapshot Catalog for the NetApp Enterprise
The ECX Enterprise Catalog provides a centralized, scalable and easy way to catalog
and search the NetApp ONTAP®
landscape, including aggregates, qtrees, snapshots,
SnapVault™
and SnapMirror™
volumes and the files contained in them. The ECX
Enterprise Catalog gathers data from any ONTAP-based disk system, including the latest
Clustered Data ONTAP platforms, and catalogs it across all tiers of storage, including
snapshots on primary volumes, secondary volumes (SnapVault copies) and tertiary or
DR copies (SnapMirror volumes). By having a central catalog of information, users gain
unprecedented IT insight leading to new levels of efficiency and accelerating the use of
snapshot technology for efficient data protection.
ECX cataloging is not dependent on any specific tool or bound to any specific time
period. It catalogs snapshots created by PowerShell, NetApp OnCommand®, etc. ECX
does not interfere with or replace traditional backup technologies. But unlike backup
products, ECX isn’t limited to cataloging only the data it protects. Even if you have years
of snapshots on disk, ECX will catalog all of them and give you a complete view of your
environment.
Quick FAQ About ECX
QQ What does ECX catalog?
AA ECX catalogs files and IT objects. IT
objects include snapshots, volumes, LUNs,
virtual machines, etc. It supports both
Clustered Data ONTAP and 7-mode.
QQ Does ECX replace what I’m using for data
protection?
AA No! ECX is completely non-disruptive and
can co-exist with any other solution.
QQ Is ECX complicated to deploy?
AA No! ECX is a self-contained virtual
appliance that can be up and running in 15
minutes.
QQ I have hundreds of millions of files. Can
ECX handle that many?
AA Yes! ECX is designed to scale to billions of
objects.
Catalogic™
ECX™
Enterprise Catalog
ECX includes a powerful search capability that returns rich information in seconds. To locate a specific file (NFS/CIFS data), simply
enter a file name and ECX will return the location of every instance and version of that file across your entire NetApp infrastructure.
Searches can be filtered by date ranges, file types and so on allowing you to refine searches with precision. Search tasks that used to
consume hours of valuable IT time are now completed in seconds. It has never been this easy to find files.
ECX is built using modern software components that ensure it can scale with the growth of your environment and integrate with
existing systems. It has been built to be flexible and offers capabilities such as RESTful APIs, scripting capabilities and simple linkage
with host OS browsers.
Increasing Storage Efficiency
ECX uses powerful file reporting and analytics to quickly pin-point inefficient use of storage. With ECX you can identify unwanted
objects such as old files that have not been accessed for a set amount of time, extremely large files, file types that may violate storage
policies (video, music), unused virtual machines, and so on. Snapshot reporting identifies volumes that may have more snapshot
retention than they require, or where snapshots are taking up an excessive percentage of space.
Snapshot Catalog, Search and Reporting for NetApp®
and VMware®
2. CATALOG. PROTECT. MANAGE.
Utilization reports provide advanced
warning for volumes, aggregates or LUNs
that are beyond a specified capacity range
(e.g. 80% utilized). Similar reports are
available for VMware datastores.
All reports can be scheduled to run
automatically and be sent via email in
multiple formats (PDF, Excel, Word).
ECX can also provide remediation through
its script policy engine. For example, a list
of files beyond required retention dates
can be generated and used in a script to
migrate them to lower tier storage or to
delete them. With Catalogic ECX software,
you can create a new level of efficiency in
your storage environment.
Validating Protection Compliance
and DR
NetApp Snapshot, SnapVault and
SnapMirror are powerful and efficient
technologies for protecting data. But when
data grows into hundreds or thousands of
volumes, it’s not always easy to be sure
that everything is properly protected.
Catalogic ECX software provides reports
that identify any volumes that are not
being protected or where protection
may have failed due to an errant
configuration change or other issue. With
this information, you can investigate the
situation and apply proper corrective
measures rapidly and efficiently.
ECX also reports on the popular NetApp
protection tools of SnapManager for
Exchange, SnapManager for SQL and
Open Storage SnapVault (OSSV). Reports
indicate the last time protection was
successful for these systems, alerting you
to any failures.
ECX users can quickly locate files, volumes, Virtual Machines and numerous other IT
objects across their infrastructure with a simple and intuitive Search interface.
Many organizations also have compliance
requirements that certain files or volumes
of files be stored on multiple systems in
multiple locations. ECX software will let
you validate that data is properly in place,
providing you the verification you need to
satisfy protection requirements and provide
documentation to compliance auditors.
Built for Scale and Easy to Use
To handle rapid data growth, ECX software
is designed to be extremely scalable
and highly efficient. It can catalog a very
large number of objects, even into the
ECX Reporting and Analytics
ECX reports are divided into four
categories.
Storage Utilization
Reports designed to help improve
efficiency. These reports provide
information on NetApp and VMware
storage utilization, including threshold
warning reports, reports on potentially
wasted resources (e.g. VMware sprawl,
orphaned LUNs), and informational reports.
Storage Protection
Reports designed to help ensure proper
and efficient protection. These reports
detect whether or not NetApp protection
technologies (Snapshot, SnapVault,
SnapMirror, etc.) have been set for
optimum protection of data or whether they
may be over-protecting data.
File Analytics
Reports designed to help improve
efficiency. These reports provide analytics
on the file contents of NetApp volumes,
including file age, file types and file sizes
(largest files).
System Management
Reports designed to help you understand
ECX operations. These reports provide
detailed information about your ECX
environment.
billions. Rapid, low-impact data gathering can catalog tens of millions of files a day, and
differential cataloging going forward means minimal impact to production systems. With
ECX software, you can catalog your entire environment or only select portions of it, and
can easily expand as your needs grow.
ECX can be deployed literally in minutes. Delivered as a self-contained virtual appliance,
ECX software is up and running quickly. Adding storage and VMware nodes for
cataloging is straightforward. Once added, cataloging begins based on set schedules.
Storage utilization reports identify areas where capacity limits are being reached, as
well as uncovering inefficiency and waste.
