Manage SNAS units

In the section "Volumes", you can manage the NAS units and accesses. You can also view the statistics of the NAS units.

The selection of the correct settings depends on the respective software that is to be connected.

Add Volume

Volumes are generally distinguished between two different types:

• SNAS ERC

  • Secure NAS for archiving without WORM protection

  • Linear storage

  • 4 redundancies

  • Structural safety

  • Storage space is released upon deletionnotfreed up

  • Encryption

  • Internal and external replication

  • Manual snapshots are possible

  • Continuous snapshots occur automatically due to linearity

• SNAS

  • Secure NAS for backup and storage

  • 2 or 3 redundancies selectable

  • Storage space is immediately freed upon deletion

  • Internal and external replication

  • Manual snapshots are possible

  • Continuous snapshots can be activated

To add a new NAS unit, proceed as follows:

Add SNAS ERC Volume

• ➤ Click on the 'List' tab.

• ➤ Click on the 'Add' button.

• ➤ The 'Add Volume' window will appear.

• ➤ Select the volume type 'SNAS ERC'.

• ➤ Check 'Encrypt Volume' to encrypt the volume with a password.

• The installation wizard will then proceed to the step 'Add Bricks'.

Add SNAS Volume

• ➤ Click on the 'List' tab.

• ➤ Click on the 'Add' button.

• ➤ The 'Add Volume' window will appear.

• ➤ Select the volume type 'SNAS'.

• ➤ Check 'Encrypt Volume' to encrypt the volume with a password.

• ➤ Choose the desired number of redundancies.

To use the Silent Brick Max, 3 redundancies must be selected!

To use the Fast Clone Support, 3 redundancies must be selected!

• ➤ If necessary, disable 'Compression'.

  • ➤ Due to high efficiency, we recommend keeping the compression enabled.

  • ➤ We recommend disabling it if already compressed data is to be stored.

• ➤ If necessary, disable the 'Case Sensitive' option.

  • ➤ Typically, case sensitivity does not pose any problems.

  • ➤ In special cases, it may be necessary to disable this option.

• ➤ When using large files (e.g., backup), enable the 'Optimize for Large Files' option.

  • ➤ This switch only affects new files.

• ➤ Activate the switch "Fast Clone Support" to enable the use of Fast Clone and Reflink support in conjunction with the backup software VEEAM.

  • ➤ By enabling Fast Clone Support, you can take advantage of the Fast Clone technology provided by Veeam Backup & Replication. This technology allows for faster synthetic full backups and forever incremental chains, resulting in reduced time and storage space requirements.

  • ➤ Please note that the Large File Optimization setting will be ignored as a result.

• ➤ The installation assistant will then proceed to the step 'Add Bricks'.

Adjust Volume Settings

• ➤ Select the desired volume

• ➤ Switch to the 'General' tab

• ➤ Use the "Edit" button to adjust the corresponding settings:

Add Bricks to the Volume

Different brick types such as "Silent Brick", "Silent Brick FLASH", "Silent Brick Plus", "Silent Brick Max", and "Silent Brick Pro" cannot be mixed within a volume.

A volume can consist of multiple bricks. The bricks behave like a shared storage area and cannot be distinguished in the file system.

To add bricks to a volume, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the 'Bricks' tab.

• ➤ Click on the 'Add Bricks' button.

• ➤ The 'Add Bricks to Volume' window will appear.

• ➤ Select one or more bricks while holding down the 'CTRL' key.

• ➤ To confirm the selection, press the 'Add' button.

• ➤ To cancel the operation, press the 'Cancel' button.

Start Force Audit

A volume can consist of multiple bricks. The bricks behave like a shared storage area and cannot be distinguished in the file system.

The Force Audit is used to check all data of a brick. It is always advisable to select all Bricks.

To start the Force Audit, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the 'Bricks' tab.

• ➤ Right-click on the Bricks

• ➤ Select "Force Audit"

The Force Audit will now begin and can be monitored via the status display in the same window.

Add shares to the Volume

A Volume can provide multiple shares. Mixing different types of shares is not recommended due to varying permission mechanisms.

Possible share protocols are:

• SMB

• NFS

Add SMB Share

SMB shares are based on the Server Message Block protocol, which is widely used in Windows environments. Permission settings are done on a user basis.

Supported versions of the SMB protocol are:

• SMB v2

• SMB v3

To add an SMB share to a volume, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the 'Shares' tab.

• ➤ Click on the 'Add SMB Share' button.

• ➤ The 'Add SMB Share' window opens.

• ➤ Select the share path in the input field 'Share Path'.

  • ➤ '/' shares the entire volume at the top level.

  • ➤ '/Folder/' shares a subfolder 'Folder' within the volume.

• ➤ Choose a unique share name in the input field 'Share Name'.

• ➤ Check 'Read Only' to deny write access.

• ➤ Check 'Browsable' to display the share in the Explorer.

• ➤ Check 'Case Sensitive' to enable case sensitivity.

• ➤ Check 'Support NTFS-ACLs' to enable permissions at the file system level.

• ➤ Control permissions on files that the user does not have rights to via the 'Access Based Enumerations' option.

• ➤ Enable or disable the Op-lock functionality via the 'No Opportunistic Locking' option. (See also:O'Reilly - Samba settings)

• ➤ Uncheck 'Public' to restrict access for specific users or groups.

• ➤ Use the search box to look for users and groups.

  • ➤ Check the box 'Add Selected User With Admin Rights' to grant this user administrative rights to all folders of this share.

See also section"Adjust SMB settings."

Add NFS Share

NFS shares are based on the Network File System protocol, which is widely used in Unix and Linux environments. Permissions are set on a host basis.

Supported versions of the NFS protocol are:

• NFS v3

• NFS v4

• NFS v4.1

To add an NFS share to a volume, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the 'Shares' tab.

• ➤ Click the "Add NFS Share" button.

• ➤ The "Add NFS Share" window opens.

• ➤ Select the share path in the input field 'Share Path'.

  • ➤ '/' shares the entire volume at the top level.

  • ➤ '/Folder/' shares a subfolder 'Folder' within the volume.

• ➤ Select "Enforce NFS3" to enforce protocol version 3.

• ➤ Click "Add Client" to open the configuration assistant for permissions.

Add S3 Share

S3-compatible shares allow access to an SNAS volume (NOT SNAS ERC) via the S3 object store interface. Permissions are set based on Access Key and Secret Key.

To add an S3 share to a volume, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the 'Shares' tab.

• ➤ Click on the button 'Add S3 Share'.

• ➤ The window 'Add S3 Share' opens.

• ➤ Select the share name in the input field 'Share Name'.

• ➤ Select an access key in the input field 'Access Key'.

• ➤ Select a password in the input field 'Secret Key'.

• ➤ Confirm the password in the input field 'Retype Secret Key'.

• ➤ Edit the service point DNS name for access in "virtual-host-style" if necessary. Make sure that this name must also be resolvable via your DNS server.

• ➤ Edit the port number if necessary.

  • ➤ The port number is unique per share.

  • ➤ The port number will be automatically incremented.

• ➤ Click on “Save” to save the share.

Create and delete S3 bucket

Buckets are essentially root folders within an S3 share. Buckets can be created via an S3 client as well as through the user interface.

• ➤ To create or delete a bucket via the user interface, open the context menu of the share by right-clicking on the corresponding S3 share and select "Manage Buckets":

• ➤ To create a new bucket, now select "Create new Bucket" or "Create new Bucket with Object Locking" (if enabled in the last step).

  • ➤ Assign a unique name.

• ➤ To delete a bucket, selectthe emptybucket and choose "Delete Bucket":

Delete volumes along with their contents

Please note that all shares must be removed from a volume before the volume can be deleted.

Risk of data loss due to accidental deletionData may be accidentally deleted when a brick is deleted. Ensure that the data to be deleted is not needed.

To delete a volume, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the corresponding volume.

• ➤ Click on the 'General' tab.

• ➤ Click on the button "Delete with all Data.”

• ➤ The window 'Delete Volume with all Data' is displayed.

• ➤ Confirm the deletion process again by entering 'Yes'.

• ➤ To delete the volume now, click on 'Delete'.

Delete contents of the volume

Risk of data loss due to accidental deletionData may be accidentally deleted when a brick is deleted. Ensure that the data to be deleted is not needed.

To delete the contents of a volume, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the corresponding volume.

• ➤ Click on the 'General' tab.

• ➤ Click on the button 'Erase all Data'.

• ➤ The window 'Erase all Data of Volume' is displayed.

• ➤ Confirm the deletion process again by entering 'Yes'.

• ➤ To delete the volume now, click on 'Erase'.

Replicate volumes locally

To create a local replication of a volume, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the corresponding volume.

• ➤ Click on the 'General' tab.

• ➤ Click on the 'Replicate' button.

• ➤ The window “Replicate” opens.

• ➤ Choose a name for the replica.

• ➤ Check 'Encrypt Volume' to encrypt the replica (Only SNAS ERC)

• ➤ Check 'Compression' to compress the replica (Only SNAS)

• ➤ Select the number of parities (Only SNAS)

• ➤ Click the “Add” button to create the replica.

• ➤ The window “Add Bricks to Volume” opens.

• ➤ Add a sufficient number of bricks to your replication volume.

• ➤ Check the replication status using the volume overview

Replicate volumes remotely

Establish remote connection

To create the remote replication of a volume, first establish a connection between both systems. Follow the description for this.Create remote connection.

Creating the replication

• ➤ Click on the corresponding volume.

• ➤ Click on the 'General' tab.

• ➤ Click on the 'Replicate' button.

• ➤ The window “Replicate” opens.

• ➤ Choose a name for the replica.

• ➤ Check 'Encrypt Volume' to encrypt the replica (Only SNAS ERC)

• ➤ Check 'Compression' to compress the replica (Only SNAS)

• ➤ Select the number of parities (Only SNAS)

• ➤ Activate the 'Remote Replication' button and select a remote connection.

• ➤ Click the “Add” button to create the replica.

• ➤ Open the target system.

• ➤ Add a sufficient number of bricks to your replication volume.

• ➤ Check the replication status using the volume overview

Manage volume snapshots

Create manual snapshot

A manual snapshot can be created as follows:

• ➤ Open the desired volume

• ➤ Switch to the "Snapshots" tab

• ➤ Click on the “Add” button.

• ➤ Choose between the options in the “Snapshot” menu

  • ➤ “From Now”: A snapshot will be created from the current time.

  • ➤ “By Date / Time”: A snapshot will be created from a continuous snapshot (if available)

• ➤ Assign a name for the snapshot

• ➤ Assign a description for the snapshot

• ➤ By checking "Provide Snapshot as Volume", the snapshot will be started directly and mounted as a virtual volume (See: "Start Volume Snapshot")

Create automatic snapshots

This function is called "Continuous Snapshots" in the Silent Brick System.

In the volume type "SNAS ERC", the continuous snapshot function is fixed by the linear writing method and cannot be disabled or configured.

In the volume type "SNAS", the continuous snapshot function can be manually activated and configured. To do this, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Open the desired volume

• ➤ Switch to the "Snapshots" tab

• ➤ Click the button “Continuous Snapshots” (only SNAS)

• ➤ Check the box next to "Enabled:" to activate the function for this volume

• ➤ The "Snapshot Interval" specifies the time intervals at which snapshots should be created

• ➤ The "Lifetime" indicates after what time old snapshots will be automatically deleted and the storage space can be freed up

• ➤ "Minimum Number of Snapshots to Keep" defines the minimum number of snapshots to retain

Convert automatic snapshots into fixed snapshots

Please follow the instructions for "Creating a Manual Snapshot".

Start Volume Snapshots in Readonly mode

Both a manually created snapshot and a continuous snapshot can be started in a readable mode parallel to the actual volume. This creates another volume that makes the corresponding files available in Read-Only mode.

To display the snapshot of a volume, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the corresponding volume.

• ➤ Click on the 'General' tab.

• ➤ Click on the button 'Provide Snapshot as Volume'.

• ➤ The window 'Provide Snapshot as Volume' will open.

• ➤ Choose between the options in the “Snapshot” menu

  • ➤ 'From Now': Start a snapshot from the current time.

  • ➤ 'By Date / Time': Start a snapshot from a different time.

  • ➤ 'Snapshot Name': Start a manually created snapshot.

• ➤ Choose a name for the snapshot.

• ➤ Click on the button 'Create' to create the snapshot.

Start volume snapshots as writable

To use a volume snapshot as writable, this snapshot state must be transferred to an empty Silent Brick using the cloning functionality.

Follow the steps under 'Clone Volume'.

Clone Volume

When cloning a volume, the entire content is mirrored to a second Brick. A clone can also be used to copy a snapshot into a writable volume.

To create a clone of a volume, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the corresponding volume.

• ➤ Click on the 'General' tab.

• ➤ Click on the “Clone” button.

• ➤ The “Create Volume Clone” window will open.

• ➤ Choose between the options in the “Snapshot” menu

  • ➤ 'From Now': Start a snapshot from the current time.

  • ➤ 'By Date / Time': Start a snapshot from a different time.

  • ➤ 'Snapshot Name': Start a manually created snapshot.

• ➤ Choose a name for the clone.

• ➤ Provide a description for the clone if necessary.

• ➤ Select the desired protection.Please note that these settings are not automatically inherited from the source volume! If the protection settings should match those of the source volume, you must configure the settings correctly.

• ➤ In the section "Action on Finish Clone", you also have the option to perform a follow-up action after the cloning process is completed:

• ➤ Now click the “Create” button to create the clone volume.Note that no Silent Bricks have been assigned to the clone volume yet.

• ➤ Finally, add a sufficient number of Silent Bricks to your clone volume. For a local clone, the configuration assistant will assist you with this.

Disable Volumes

The so-called offline mode is used for maintenance, energy saving, and removal of the Silent Brick. To set a volume to offline mode, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the 'List' tab.

• ➤ Click on a volume to select it.

• ➤ Click the “Set Offline” button.

• ➤ The volume will now be disabled.

Enable Volumes

To set a disabled or newly detected volume to online mode, proceed as follows:

• ➤ Click on the 'List' tab.

• ➤ Click on a disabled volume to select it.

• ➤ Click the 'Set Online' button.

• ➤ The volume will now be imported.

• ➤ When the status changes from 'Importing' to 'Online', the activation is complete.

Manage Compliant Archive

The Compliant Archive is the tamper-proof long-term storage of the Silent Brick System and consists of two components:

• ➤ Stage Area

• ➤ WORM Area

During storage, the Stage Area, which by definition is rewritable, is used for accepting data. Additionally, the Stage Area provides the ability to automatically retain frequently used data.

The WORM Area, on the other hand, is used for the final and secure long-term archiving of files and can therefore only be used with specially equipped WORM Bricks.

The Stage and WORM Areas share a common namespace. The transfer of files from the Stage Area to the WORM Area occurs according to the following logic, depending on the configured volume type:

• ➤ After the time since the last change has elapsed

• ➤ By setting the Read Only flag on the corresponding file