DiskXtender 6.1 Extended Drive Migration

Argh, I'm supposed to oversee the migration process of DiskXtender ED containing stubs and Metadata for one of the largest DiskXtender and Centera deployment at SEA. Searched through EMC powerlinkg and discovered 3 methods of migrating the stubs and metadata. Each options listed here has its own pros and cons that requires carefull planning and execution.

Option 1: Data-Export Procedure:

1) Ensure that all transaction-, move- and purge logs on the Old Extended Drive are flushed out

2) Disable move schedule and disable real-time moves
3) Create/map the disk that becomes the new ED 
4) Perform a Meta Data Export (MDE) of the original ED to a network share folder. 
5) Stop DX services and set it to manual start
6) Run Vol Id ((http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/VolumeId.html), change the vol-id and drive letter of the old ED to temporal values

7) Reboot

8) Run Volume ID tool (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/VolumeId.html), and assign the new drive the Volume ID and drive letter that was previously assigned to the old Extended Drive. 
9) Reboot
10) Start the DX service, and set it to automatic start again 
11) At this point, DX recognizes the new ED but with no data inside. 
12) Perform a Mata-Data import done in 2 step to the new ED.

 

Deallocate media from one ED and reallocate to the new ED (See EMC KB article - esg74432)

 

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Option 2: Using dxdmchk utility

Using dxdmchk utility (command line utility) to fetch the files back from the Centera and then run the clean switch to stripped migration information of the files. In order to run the clean switch, EMC Support will issue an access key.
 
Then remove the media from the media group and uninstall DX. Next, reinstall DX and reconfig DX on the new server
Then, use any 3rd party utility to copy the files frm old ED to the new ED on the new server

 

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Option 3: File restore (Centera media)

 

During the migration, the Extended drive should be made inaccessible to users and processes.

 

1) Save out the EMC Registry. (HKLM\Software\EMC) and Registry Log folder (C:\Program Files\EMC\DiskXtender)

 

2) Run a full Meta Data Export and export the data to a network drive that is not the current Extended Drive, or the new drive.

 

3) Disable the DiskXtender Move Schedule. 

4) Disable the DX service (in windows services). Disable the DxSpy Driver, and DxSpy Recognizer Driver. Both of these drivers are located in Device Manager. Go to Computer Management > Device Manager. Select "Show hidden devices" from the "View" drop down menu. Next, expand "non-plug and play drivers" in the right hand tree view. You will see both drivers as listed above. 

 

5) Make note of the Volume ID and Drive Letter of your current Extended Drive and save this information. 

6) Power down the system, make the physical swap of the Extended Drive. 

 

7) Power the system back up.

 

8) Run Volume ID tool (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/VolumeId.html), and assign the new drive the Volume ID that was previously assigned to the old Extended Drive.

 

9) Verify the drive letter for the new drive matches the Drive Letter for the old Extended Drive. If the drive letter is not the same, change the drive letter to match the drive letter for the old Extended Drive, using Disk Manager in Windows.

 

10) Reboot.

 

11) Verify volume ID for the new SAN drive is the same as the Volume ID for the old Extended Drive. Verify that the drive letter for the new drive is the same as the drive letter for the old Extended Drive.

 

12) Set the DxSpy and DxSpy Recognizer drivers back to startup type "Demand", as originally configured, and set the DX service to manual.

 

13) Create a folder at the root of the new Extended Drive called "EmailXtender".

NOTE: Step #13 will differ, depending on the Media Folder names in use for your particular system. Make sure to manually create any Media Folders in Windows Explorer, prior to starting the DiskXtender Service, as part of Step #13.

14) Reboot. 

 

15) Create a file in the directory called "dx_EmcService.log". (Use this step if you have Centera Media) -- see EMC KB article esg 61046

 

16) Start the DiskXtender service. Verify the service starts successfully and the Extended Drive has an "Online Status". 

 

17) Run the File Restore task on EMC media. (Right click on the media in the DiskXtender Administrator, and choose "Edit Tasks" from the flyout menu. Choose the "File Restore" task from the drop down menu, and complete the wizard. This will re-populate the new Extended Drive with the file and directory structure of the old Extended Drive.

***You can also run Meta-Data Import instead of File Restores for this step*** 

 

18) Force a Drive Scan. Enable the DiskXtender Move Schedule. 

19) Verify existing migrated files can be accessed, and new files can be successfully written to media.

 

20) Stop the DiskXtender Service. Cut the file in the directory called "dx_EmcService.log" out of the directory and save it to another location. (Use this step if you have Centera Media)

 

21) Start the DiskXtender Service. Set the Startup type back to "Automatic".

Regards,

MARK