REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE

Quantum ActiveScale withRubrik Cloud Data Management
Abstract
This document defines a reference architecture for a
combined solution based on Quantum ActiveScale withRubrik Cloud Data Management

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 3
Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 3
The Need for Data Protection ............................................................................................................ 3
Technology Summary ....................................................................................................................... 4
About ActiveScale ........................................................................................................................ 4
About Rubrik CDM ....................................................................................................................... 4
Reference Architecture .................................................................................................................... 5
Rubrik CDM................................................................................................................................. 5
Rubrik Cluster.............................................................................................................................. 5
Quantum ActiveScale ................................................................................................................... 6
Prerequisite.................................................................................................................................... 6
RSA Encryption Key ...................................................................................................................... 6
Configuration.................................................................................................................................. 8ActiveScale Configuration.............................................................................................................. 8Rubrik CDM Configuration............................................................................................................. 9Create an Archival Location........................................................................................................ 9
Link the Archival Location to an SLA Domain............................................................................... 13
Validation Activities ....................................................................................................................... 19
Summary...................................................................................................................................... 19
References ................................................................................................................................... 20
Version History ............................................................................................................................. 202

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

Executive Summary
Over the past years, the threat of ransomware has become one of the most worrisome threatsfacing today’s enterprise. It has become such a threat simply because it is a very lucrative endeavor
for a sophisticated criminal establishment. Targeted organizations sometimes find they have noalternative but to pay the ransom. This is the case when an organization does not properly plan forand protect themselves from an attack.
Every time an organization pays to recover its files, it is directly funding the development of theever increasing sophistication of the attack software. As a result, ransomware continues to evolve,
with more sophisticated variants and more specific targeted attacks.
Backups are the first line of defense againt ransomeware attacks. Both Quantum and Rubrik havedeveloped technologies that protect your data from loss and various types of attacks. Thisreference architecture summarizes the results obtained during the validation of Rubrik Cloud DataManagement (CDM) with Quantum ActiveScale as a fully integrated, end to end solution providing
unparalleled protection for your organizations most valuable asset, your data.

Objectives
The objectives of this paper are to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Articulate the importance of a robust backup and ransomware protection infrastructure
Present a general, scalable data protection infrastructure based on ActiveScale and CDM
Describe the components that make up the solution stackDemonstrate that ActiveScale performs as expected when configured as an archive for CDM
Articulate a reference architecture that is suitable for a combined ActiveScale/CDM solution
Demonstrate the reference architecture is valid by performing various validation activities.

The Need for Data Protection
For most organizations today, data is at the core of their business model in some form. And realtime access to that data is mandatory to operate. For these companies, data protection is critical.
Loss of access to your data, can mean loss of revenue, loss of reputation, loss of business
opportunity, even loss of the business itself.

3

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

Ransomware, malicious software designed specifically to deny you access to your data, continues
to proliferate and is costing companies millions of dollars. An organization should plan for when,
not if, a data loss event or an attack takes place. Having an immutable backup that can’t be deletedor encrypted is crucial. Being able to intelligently identify and remediate encrypted data makes
recovery efforts easier and faster while reducing data loss and downtime.
A data protection plan based on ActiveScale and CDM helps organizations protect themselves
from, and in a worst-case scenario, recovery rapidly from data loss as well as ransomware andother types of malware attacks.

Technology Summary
The table below lists the technology components that make up the <solution> referencearchitecture outlined in this document. The paragraphs that follow the table provide more detailon the function of these components in the solution.
Technology
Quantum ActiveScale
Rubrik Cloud Data ManagerVersion6.0
6.0

About ActiveScale
With data quickly becoming the most valuable asset for many enterprises and critical for businesssurvival, Quantum’s ActiveScale has emerged as a preferred platform for long term secure storage
in today’s backup and archiving environments. The ActiveScale product line delivers flexible
scalability, from a few hundred terabytes to exabytes. ActiveScale’s advanced features, such as
Integrated tape-based cold storage, patent-pending 2D Erasure Coding (2D EC), Dynamic Data
Placement and Dynamic Data Repair, reduce costs and simplify the deployment and managementof the environment today and into the future.

About Rubrik CDM
Rubrik CDN is a single, unified software platform to manage physical, virtual, and cloud data. WithCDM, enterprises can drastically simplify their data protection processes, automate workflows, andmigrate data to ActiveScale. The results are powerful: faster recoveries, easier management, noforklift upgrades, and hard dollars saved for other projects. Organizations pursuing cloud -firstpolicies can use CDM to archive protected data to ActiveScale.

4Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

Reference Architecture
Rubrik protects a variety of servers, virtual machines and applications. Virtual machines areprotected by directly taking snapshots through the hypervisor’s API. Other servers or application
are protected by installing an agent in on the host system.
As snaphots are taken, they are written to the Rubric cluster and reside on the cluster for a definedinterval. Snapshots are archived to ActiveScale either immediately or after a defined number ofdays based on SLA domain policies.

Rubrik CDM
CDM, or Cloud Data Management is the management software for the Rubrik cluster. CDM allows
an Administrator to define the policies that dictate the data protection strategy.

Rubrik Cluster
The Rubrik cluster is based on high performance appliances. The cluster is the primary storage
location for snapshots. These snapshots remain on the high performance cluster for a defined
period and are intended for rapid recovery.

5

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

Quantum ActiveScale
In this reference architecture, ActiveScale is an object storage -based permanent archive target.
Snapshot images are copied or relocated to ActiveScale based on SLA domain ploicies definedin CDM.

Prerequisite
RSA Encryption Key
CDM encrypts all network traffic. It uses an RSA key for the encryption. The RSA key is required
when defining ActiveScale as a storage location for CDM. The RSA key can be generated on any
system that has the OpenSSL toolkit (common on Linux and MacOS). Use the following steps togenerate an RSA key.
On the command line, execticute the following command:# sudo openssl genrsa -out rubrik_encryption_key.pem 2048
The above command will generate the required key and write it to a file calledrubrik_encryption_key.pem. To view the key, execute the following command:# cat rubrik_encryption_key.pem

6

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

Example:Generate KeyView KeyKey

The key is the entire contents of the file, including the -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----and -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY----- markers.

7Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

Configuration
The following paragraphs detail the configuration required for ActiveScale and CDM in thisreference architecture.

ActiveScale Configuration
There are no configuration activities required for ActiveScale. When defining ActiveScale as anarchiveal storage location, CDM will create the required buckets.

8Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

Rubrik CDM Configuration
Create an Archival Location
1. From the CDM console, under the Configuration Menu, select Archival Locations.

9Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

2. You will be directed to the Archival Locations screen. On the Archival Locations screen,
select the plus (+) menus to add ActiveScale as an Archival Location.

10

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture3. In the Add Archival Location, enter appropriate values:a. Storage Type: Object Storeb. Object Storage Vendor: S3 Compatiblec. Access Key: Your ActiveScale access key
d. Secret Key: Your ActiveScale secret keye. Host Name: The name or IP address of the ActiveScale systemf. Bucket Prefix: CDM will create a bucket in ActiveScale using this value as a prefix. In
this example, with a prefix of activescale, CDM will create a bucket named
activescale-rubrik. This field can contain lowercase letters and numbers only.

4. Scroll to the bottom of the Add Archival Location form.
a. Paste the RSA key generated in the Prerequisites section of this document
b. Click Add to create the archival location

11

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture12Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

5. The newly created archive location is now created and displays on the Archival Locations
screen.

Link the Archival Location to an SLA Domain
1. In the CDM, under the left navigation pane, expand SLA Domains and then select Local Domains.

13Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

2. You will be directed to the Local SLA Domains screen. Select the domain you wish to archiveto the newly created archival location.

14

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

3. Under the management menu, select Edit.

15

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

4. An Edit SLA Domain wizard will start. There are no changes on step 1 of the wizard. Click
Next to proceed with step 2.

16

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

5. On step 2 of the wizard, perform the following steps:
a. Enable Archiving
b. Use the Retention on Brik slider to select when to archive snapshotsc. Using the pull down menu, select the newly created archival locationd. Click Next to continue

17Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

6. There are no required changes on step 3 of the wizard. Click Update to complete thewizard.

7. CDM will now archive snapshots to ActiveScale using the schedule defined by the SLA
Domain.

18

Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

Validation Activities
CDM uses a subset of the features provided by ActiveScale. The purpose of the integration testing
is to ensure the S3 calls CDM uses for to communicate with and ActiveScale system are fully
supported. The following functionality was tested and confirmed succe ssful to validate aActiveScale/CDM integration.
•••••••••

Define ActiveScale as an archival location for CDM
Define a SLA domain that archives snapshots to that archival location
Define various servers and workstation to be protected under the SLA domain
Confirm snapshot are being taken as defined by the SLA policy
Confirm snapshots are being archived to ActiveScale as defined by the SLA policy
Delete various data sets from the systems being protected
Perform a full recovery of data from ASctiveScale
Encrypt various data sets on the systems being protected
Perform a full recovery of data from ActiveScale

Summary
CDM can be used as a backup and recovery application suited for a variety of use cases. It is
however particularly well suited as a robust ransomware protection stategy as well. CDM’s ability
to automatically detect what data needs to be restored greatly simplifies the recovery process andremoves the possibility of user error.
The validation testing performed between Quantum and Rubrik confirmed there were no
anomalous API level behaviors observed on either the ActiveScale or CDM sides. A data protection
infrastructure based on Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM is a viable and stable solution thatcan be deployed in virtually any environment.

19Quantum ActiveScale and Rubrik CDM Reference Architecture

References
The documents below were referenced to configure the software and systems for validation of thisreference architecture.
Document Title

Download URL

ActiveScale S3 API Reference Guide
ActiveScale OS Admin Guide
Rubrik CDM Version 6.0 User Guide

Link to Document
Link to Document
Available on the Rubrik
support portal
www.rubrik.com/support

Version HistoryVersion1.0
2.0

Notes
Initial Release
Updated for ActiveScale 6.0 and CDM 6.0

Date
August 2018
October 2021

©2021 Quantum Corporation. All rights reserved. | ST023 82A-v01

20