Immutability Azure Immutability Questions

HI ​@DVP 

Please find requested information below.

1) After enabling WORM Copy on Commvault will create the Immutable copy ? Is there anything more we need to do from commvault side ?

Enabling WORM (Write Once, Read Many) Copy in Commvault will create an immutable copy of the data, ensuring that it cannot be altered or deleted until the retention period expires. Once WORM is enabled, no further action is required from the Commvault side to maintain the immutability of the data. The data will remain protected under the WORM policy settings that were configured during the setup.

https://documentation.commvault.com/2024e/expert/enabling_worm_storage_and_retention_for_cloud_storage.html
 

2) My environment is on Azure Cloud, Do we need to apply any additonal settings on Azure Blob Container (Backend Storage)?

Create a storage account and a container with version-level immutability support in Microsoft Azure Storage.

Create a lifecycle rule to clean up previous versions of the deleted objects. For more information, see Blob versioning and Optimize costs by automatically managing the data lifecycle.

Verify that the Storage Blob Data Owner role is assigned in Azure to use the WORM storage functionality.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/versioning-overview
 

3) WORM Copy can't be converted to a regular copy if customer want to revert back then will WORM COPIES fully expires?

Once a WORM (Write Once, Read Many) copy is enabled, it cannot be converted back to a regular copy. The data within a WORM copy must adhere to the retention rules set at the time of its configuration and cannot be deleted or altered until it fully meets these retention conditions. Therefore, WORM copies will only expire once the specified retention period and conditions have been fully met.

https://documentation.commvault.com/2022e/expert/configuring_worm_storage_mode_on_cloud_storage.html
 

4) Is the WORM Copy supported for Intellisnap SAP HANA DB Backups & Copy, AZURE VM Snapshot Backup, Cloud Storage Account Backup & NAS ?

Support agents:

https://documentation.commvault.com/2023e/expert/supported_agents.html
 

5) Will it increase the storage consumption considerable ? How much may be someone will help me with % wise with respect to regular deduplicated copy ?Will it impact Deduplication ratio compared to regular copy?

Enabling WORM (Write Once, Read Many) on cloud storage can potentially increase storage consumption. This is because once data is written under WORM, it cannot be deleted or altered until the retention period expires. This immutability requirement can lead to increased storage usage, especially if the data is not deduplicated or if the deduplication process is affected by the WORM settings. For more detailed information, you can refer to the documentation from the below link.

https://documentation.commvault.com/2024e/expert/enabling_worm_storage_and_retention_for_cloud_storage.html
 

6) Will WORM copy impacts on Backup/restore performance ?

Enabling WORM (Write Once, Read Many) copy on Azure cloud storage can impact backup and restore performance. The immutability requirements of WORM can lead to additional overhead during backup operations, as each write operation needs to ensure compliance with the WORM policies. This might slightly slow down the backup process. For restores, the performance impact is generally minimal, but it depends on the specific configuration and the nature of the data being restored. For more detailed insights, you can refer to the documentation from the below link.

https://documentation.commvault.com/2022e/expert/configuring_worm_storage_mode_on_cloud_storage.html
 

7) Will it conflict with external encryption ?

Could you please specify the type of external encryption you are referring to? For example, are you asking about encryption at the storage level, application level, or using a third-party tool?

8) Any know issues & Suggestions with Immutability in commvault for Azure ?

No known issues seen in Azure cloud

9) If I have storage copy with standard retention of 21 days,1 cycle and extended retentions with Weekly full to keep for 30 Days, Monthly Full to keep till 180 Days & Yearly full to Keep till 8 Years in this case what should be settings we need to keep on Azure side and What is the impact of such retention on storage Consumption in short team(1 Year) & Long-term(8Years) ?

To configure Azure Blob Storage to support the retention settings you've described, you'll need to set up Azure Immutable Blob Storage with time-based retention policies that match your extended retention periods. Here are the steps and considerations:

1. Enable Immutable Storage on Azure: Ensure that the Azure Blob Container is configured to support immutability. This is essential for enforcing WORM (Write Once, Read Many) policies.
2. Configure Time-Based Retention: Set up Azure’s time-based retention policies to match your retention periods:
- Weekly full backups: 30 days
- Monthly full backups: 180 days
- Yearly full backups: 8 years

3. Validate Overlapping Policies: Ensure that your Azure retention settings do not conflict with each other and that they align with your Commvault retention settings.

4. Monitor Storage Consumption:
- Short-term (1 Year): Expect higher storage consumption as all weekly, monthly, and yearly backups are retained. Regular monitoring and adjustments based on actual usage are recommended.
- Long-term (8 Years): While yearly backups will accumulate, older weekly and monthly backups will be pruned after their respective retention periods. This should stabilize the storage growth over the long term.

5. Cost Management: Consider using Azure’s cool and archive storage tiers for older backups to optimize costs.

6. Compliance and Audit: Regularly review the immutability and retention settings to ensure compliance with organizational and regulatory requirements.

For detailed guidance on setting up Azure Blob Storage with immutability, refer to the Azure documentation on

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/immutable-storage-overview
 

10) I heard from my friends who work on commvault with Immutability backup that DDB will be sealed and re-created frequently, Is it true and how frequently and it consumes lot of storage ?

By default, the Create new DDB every [] days option is selected for deduplication enabled storage pools which denotes the DDB seal frequency. The DDB seal frequency is set to the same number as of retention days in the associated storage pool, with a minimum of 7 days and maximum of 365 days.You can refer the below document
 

https://documentation.commvault.com/2024/expert/configuring_worm_storage_lock.html#:~:text=The%20DDB%20seal%20frequency%20is,policy%20copies%20or%20plan%20copies.

Please let me know incase of any queries.

Regards,

Karthik