How NDMP works with FlexClone files and FlexClone LUNs

NDMP works at the logical level with FlexClone files and FlexClone LUNs. All FlexClone files or LUNs are backed up as separate files or LUNs.

When you use NDMP services to back up a qtree or a FlexVol volume that contains FlexClone files or FlexClone LUNs, block sharing between parent and clone entities is not preserved, and clone entities are backed up to tape as separate files or LUNs. The space saving is lost. Therefore, the tape onto which you are backing up should have sufficient space to store the expanded amount of data. When you restore, all the FlexClone files and FlexClone LUNs are restored as separate physical files and LUNs. You can enable deduplication on the volume to restore the block-sharing benefits.

Note: When FlexClone files and FlexClone LUNs are being created from an existing Snapshot copy of a FlexVol volume, you cannot back up the volume to tape until the block-sharing process, which happens in the background, is complete. If you use NDMP on the volume when the block-sharing process is in progress, the system displays a message asking you to retry the operation after some time. In such a situation, you must keep retrying the tape backup operation so that it succeeds after the block sharing is complete.

For more information about tape backup, see the Data ONTAP Data Protection Tape Backup and Recovery Guide for 7-Mode