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Manual Chapter : Manage Data Collection Device Snapshots

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 8.2.0, 8.1.0
Manual Chapter

Manage Data Collection Device Snapshots

What is the difference between a UCS backup and a snapshot?

The BIG-IQ provides a couple different ways that you can make copies of the configuration information that it creates and uses. To understand how this works, the first thing you need to know is the difference between a UCS backup and a snapshot.
  • UCS backup
    : A compressed user configuration set (UCS) file contains all of the information required to restore a device's configuration. You can create and restore UCS backups for both BIG-IP and BIG-IQ.
  • Snapshot
    : A snapshot is a point in time copy. BIG-IQ uses two types of snapshots: one for the DCD cluster, and the other for the settings you specify for the configuration objects (such as virtual servers or ASM policies on your managed devices.
Use this table to find the backup content that pertains to the task you need to perform.
For this type of backup task
Look here for the documentation
DCD snapshots back up the alert, event, and analytics data collected by your DCDs.
Refer to
Managing Data Collection Device Snapshots
 in the
Setting up and Configuring a BIG-IQ Centralized Management Solution
 article on
support.f5.com
 for details.
Configuration snapshots back up the settings for configuration objects that reside on your managed BIG-IP devices.
Refer to
Managing Configuration Object Snapshots
 in the
Managing BIG-IP Devices from BIG-IQ
article on
support.f5.com
 for details.
To back up the entire configuration of a managed BIG-IP device, you create a compressed user configuration set (UCS).
Refer to
Managing BIG-IP UCS Backup and Restore
 in the
Managing BIG-IP Devices from BIG-IQ
article on
support.f5.com
 for details.
To back up the entire configuration of a BIG-IQ system, you create a compressed user configuration set (UCS).
Refer to
Managing BIG-IQ UCS Backup and Restore
 in the
Setting up and Configuring a BIG-IQ Centralized Management Solution
article on
support.f5.com
 for details.

DCD snapshot overview

You can preserve the logging and analytics data stored on your Data Collection Devices (DCD)s at any particular moment in time by creating a snapshot. You can also create snapshots on a specified schedule. The most common use for snapshots is to restore older versions of collected data after you upgrade your BIG-IQ cluster. Although each snapshot contains only changes made since the last snapshot, BIG-IP devices that are adding data at a high rate can result in snapshots that are quite large. Because there are no dependencies or relationships between snapshots that are taken at specific times, there is no need to restore multiple snapshots to recover data.
Both event log and analytics data are shared with each DCD in the cluster, so you don't need snapshots to prevent data loss. You can, however, use snapshots to restore data in the event that all of the DCDs fail (disaster recovery).
You control the snapshot frequency with a schedule. Each organization determines their own recovery point objective (RPO) as part of their disaster recovery plan. Because the snapshot represents a point-in-time copy of the data in the DCD cluster, you should align your snapshot schedule with your RPO. Take into account the amount of time or tolerance that your organization has for data loss. For example, if your RPO is 12 hours, then you should schedule snapshots every 12 hours. If all of the DCDs in your cluster failed 11 hours after the last successful snapshot, then you would lose any data collected after that snapshot. If this is not acceptable, you can schedule more frequent snapshots, but those extra backups require more storage. You can also mitigate that cost to some extent by carefully configuring your data retention settings.
If a disaster recovery is required, you can restore from the last snapshot; or, you can view a history of the snapshots currently in storage, and choose one of those.

Define external storage location for DCD snapshots

Before you configure the external snapshot storage location, collect the following information for the machine that will store your data collection device (DCD) snapshots:
  • IP address for the storage machine
  • Storage file path
  • User name, password, and (optionally) domain for the user account configured on the external storage device
  • Read/write permissions for the storage file path
The BIG-IQ needs to know where to store the snapshots you create. Best practice is to define the storage location independent to the DCD cluster.
Creating external storage so you can create snapshots is an optional task. However, F5 strongly recommends that you create snapshots to safeguard your data
  1. From BIG-IQ, at the top of the screen, click
    System
    , then, on the left, click
    BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION
     and then select
    BIG-IQ Data Collection Cluster
    .
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Cluster screen opens. On this screen, you can view summary status for the Data Collection Device (DCD) cluster and access the screens that you can use to configure the DCD cluster.
    • Under
      SUMMARY
      , you can access screens detailing how much data is stored, as well as how the data is stored.
    • Under
      CONFIGURATION
      , you can access the screens that control DCD cluster performance.
  2. Under the screen name, click
    CONFIGURATION
    External Storage & Snapshots
    .
    The External Storage & Snapshots screen opens.
  3. For
    External Storage
    , click
    Configure
    .
    The External Storage popup screen opens.
  4. In the
    User name
     and
    Password
     fields, type the user name and password for the user account configured on the external storage device.
  5. For the
    Domain
    , you can type the domain name for the user account configured on the external storage device.
  6. For the
    Storage Path
    , type the path to the external storage location.
    You can specify the device using the IP address or the host name. Additionally, you need to specify the path to the folder on the external storage device. For example:
    //<storage machine ip-address>/<storage-file-path>
    Remember, the folder you specify must have full read, write, and execute permissions.
  7. To test the settings just specified, click
    Test
    .
    A message displays to tell you whether the test completes successfully. If it does not, correct the settings and permissions.
  8. When you have successfully specified the external storage location, click
    Save
    .
This storage location is now accessible to all of the devices in the DCD cluster.

Create DCD snapshot schedules

Before you can define snapshot schedules, you must have defined the snapshot storage location.
You create snapshots to preserve the logging and analytics data sent to your Data Collection Devices (DCDs) at a particular moment in time. Specify the BIG-IQ snapshot schedule based on your organization's unique business requirements. For a more detailed discussion of factors to consider when determining your schedule, refer to DCD snapshot overview on
support.f5.com
.
  1. From BIG-IQ, at the top of the screen, click
    System
    , then, on the left, click
    BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION
     and then select
    BIG-IQ Data Collection Cluster
    .
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Cluster screen opens. On this screen, you can view summary status for the Data Collection Device (DCD) cluster and access the screens that you can use to configure the DCD cluster.
    • Under
      SUMMARY
      , you can access screens detailing how much data is stored, as well as how the data is stored.
    • Under
      CONFIGURATION
      , you can access the screens that control DCD cluster performance.
  2. Under the screen name, click
    CONFIGURATION
    External Storage & Snapshots
    .
    The External Storage & Snapshots screen opens.
  3. To view the list of snapshot schedules for this device, in the External Storage & Snapshots area, for
    Snapshot Schedules
     click the
    View Schedules
     button.
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Snapshot Schedule screen opens.
  4. To define a new snapshot schedule for this device, click
    Create
    .
    The New BIG-IQ Data Collection Snapshot Schedule screen opens.
  5. For the
    Snapshot Name Prefix
    , type the string that you want to use to identify the snapshots created by this schedule.
    For example,
    snapshot_
    .
  6. In
    Snapshots to Keep
    , specify the number of snapshots that you want to accumulate before BIG-IQ deletes them for space constraints.
    For example, if you specify
    25
    , then BIG-IQ the system will retain a maximum of 25 snapshots before it starts to delete older snapshots to make room for as newer snapshots are created. You can save up to 100.
  7. Define how you want the snapshots scheduled.
    Specify the interval you want BIG-IQ to create snapshots.
    For the
    Schedule Type
     setting,select
    Repeat Interval
    .
    1. Specify the
      Snapshot Frequency
      .
    2. Select a time increment.
    For example, if you set the frequency to
    6
     and
    Hours
    , BIG-IQ takes the first DCD snapshot immediately after you click
    Save & Close
    , and then takes subsequent snapshots every 6 hours.
    Specify the days of the week you want BIG-IQ to create snapshots
    For the
    Schedule Type
     setting, select
    Days of the Week
    .
    1. For the
      Days of the Week
       setting, select the days on which you want BIG-IQ to create a snapshot.
    2. For the
      Start Date
      , select the time (date, hour, minute, and AM or PM) you want the snapshot to start.
  8. Click
    Save & Close
     to save the new schedule.

Restore DCD data using snapshots

Before restoring a snapshot, make sure there's sufficient disk space in the
/var
 folder on the Data Collection Device (DCD) to which you are restoring the snapshot.
Restore the data collected from your DCD cluster in the event that more than one DCD fails, or after you upgrade BIG-IQ. When you restore data collection device (DCD) snapshots, keep in mind that during the restoration operation:
  • Down time is required because BIG-IQ and the DCD cluster are inoperable.
  • No data is retained.
  • Data from the chosen snapshot overwrites the data on the DCD. Any data collected after the chosen snapshot was created is not retained.
  1. From BIG-IQ, at the top of the screen, click
    System
    , then, on the left, click
    BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION
     and then select
    BIG-IQ Data Collection Cluster
    .
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Cluster screen opens. On this screen, you can view summary status for the Data Collection Device (DCD) cluster and access the screens that you can use to configure the DCD cluster.
    • Under
      SUMMARY
      , you can access screens detailing how much data is stored, as well as how the data is stored.
    • Under
      CONFIGURATION
      , you can access the screens that control DCD cluster performance.
  2. Under the screen name, click
    CONFIGURATION
    External Storage & Snapshots
    .
    The External Storage & Snapshots screen opens.
  3. In the External Storage & Snapshot area near the bottom of the screen, select one of the following options.
    To restore from the most recent snapshot
    Next to
    Last Snapshot/Time
    , click
    Restore Latest
    .
    To select a snapshot taken at a specific time and date
    1. Click the
      View History
       button.
    2. Choose the snapshot you want to restore, and click
      Restore
      .

Delete a DCD snapshot

If you determine that there are issues with a specific snapshot, you can delete it so that you cannot accidentally restore to it in the future.
  1. From BIG-IQ, at the top of the screen, click
    System
    , then, on the left, click
    BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION
     and then select
    BIG-IQ Data Collection Cluster
    .
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Cluster screen opens. On this screen, you can view summary status for the Data Collection Device (DCD) cluster and access the screens that you can use to configure the DCD cluster.
    • Under
      SUMMARY
      , you can access screens detailing how much data is stored, as well as how the data is stored.
    • Under
      CONFIGURATION
      , you can access the screens that control DCD cluster performance.
  2. Under the screen name, click
    CONFIGURATION
    External Storage & Snapshots
    .
    The External Storage & Snapshots screen opens.
  3. Near the bottom of the screen, click the
    View History
     button.
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Snapshots screen opens.
  5. Select the check box for the snapshot you want to delete, and click
    Delete
    .
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