Release 5.7 of DobiMigrate is now available and brings several new enhancements making migrations of large and complex network-attached storage (NAS) datasets easier than ever. Some of the major enhancements include:
Path Planning
When executing large-scale migrations it is critical to have a mechanism that allows the administrator to keep track of which paths have been, or are being, migrated along with those that are yet to be migrated. While conceptually simple, this is actually a daunting task with large migrations. DobiMigrate has an enhanced path planning module that allows an administrator to quickly determine the completeness of the migration. Additionally, periodic scans against the source are executed in order to discover any new content that might have been added even after the migration has started. This alerts the administrator to potential content that could be left behind. Unlike a static scripting approach, this dynamic evaluation of the source configuration ensures that all desired content from the source system will be migrated to the destination, even while migration is in flight.
Improved Short Filename (8.3) Handling
When creating files or directories with long names, or names that contain special characters, most SMB (Server Message Block) servers will typically assign an additional short name in 8.3 format. Some vendors refer to this as “M83” format with the “M” representing shorthand for “Mangled.” For example, an end user might name a file “International-Contract Compliance Audit.pdf”; the SMB server creates an additional short name, such as “Intern~1.pdf.” This is done to ensure compatibility with legacy clients that can’t handle longer names correctly. An unfortunate side effect of this behavior is that it can cause unintended name collisions on the destination system. The DobiMigrate copy engine is now enhanced to avoid these collisions, and if they do occur, they will be resolved automatically.
Non-WORM to WORM migrations
DobiMigrate has long had the ability to migrate WORM (Write Once Read Many) datasets between disparate NAS platforms. We’ve added the ability to migrate source NAS datasets with no retention or immutability settings (i.e., non-WORM) to WORM-enabled target systems. A non-WORM to WORM NAS migration will result in DobiMigrate assigning default retention values and will commit all of the migrated filesystem objects within the destination system’s WORM domain. This allows customers to provide the requisite protection for compliance data on a new NAS device when the prior device either did not offer WORM capabilities or the WORM capabilities were not in use.
Bulk Import
Version 5.6 of DobiMigrate introduced a drastically simplified import process for establishing new migration paths. While this process is highly simplified, the administrator could not include the source-target server pairings in the basic map. Rather the pairing would be established within the new migration wizard. In the 5.7 release, we have reintroduced a portion of the prior import process that allows the administrator to establish source-target server pairings in addition to the mapping of paths. By having both capabilities, the administrator can choose which level of bulk import to use in establishing a large number of migration paths.
