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VERITAS NetBackup White Paper

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VERITAS NetBackup
™
Release 3.4
Technical Overview

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Summary of Contents for VERITAS NetBackup

  • Page 1 VERITAS NetBackup ™ Release 3.4 Technical Overview...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Product Overview ......................... . .3 Key Features of VERITAS NetBackup ™...
  • Page 4 NetBackup for Windows NT and Windows 2000 ........

  • Page 5: Product Overview

    Storage devices can be disk, tape, or optical. The Media Manager component of VERITAS NetBackup manages the tape and optical storage and is designed so that secondary storage devices can also be shared by other VERITAS storage products, such as VERITAS Storage Migrator.

  • Page 6: Netbackup Launch Screen

    The NetBackup Master Server maintains a database (called the catalog) which records information about all backup and restore operations. A separate backup procedure is provided to protect the NetBackup catalog to facilitate recovery in case of a disk failure. VERITAS NetBackup is also closely integrated with VERITAS Storage Migrator for sites that need hierarchical storage ™...

  • Page 7: Netbackup Servers And Clients

    A master server and its associated media servers are referred to collectively as a NetBackup storage domain, and large networks may have more than one storage domain.

  • Page 8: Veritas Netbackup Global Data Manager

    NetBackup storage domains provide many advanced high availability features that ensure continuous operations in NetBackup environments. For example, if a storage unit (robotics or tape device) on any of the NetBackup servers in the storage domain goes down, the NetBackup master can automatically route the backups to another storage unit in the storage domain.
  • Page 9 The NetBackup catalog information is stored locally on each of the master servers, but catalog browsing and restore operations can be performed from the GDM console or each individual master server.

  • Page 10: Continuous Data Availability Features

    Database backup performance is critical to data availability, even in online database backup configurations. The NetBackup architecture enables multiple parallel data streams to be pushed to a NetBackup server on the local machine or across the network (see Figure 4). On systems where backup media transfer rates far exceed disk or network transfer rates, data streams from multiple disks and clients can be combined into a single stream to drive the offline media at its peak rates –...

  • Page 11: Online Oracle Database Incremental Backups

    (i.e., no pre-processing is needed to find changed data blocks as is the case with Oracle 8 RMAN). Through a VERITAS File System API, NetBackup extracts only changed data blocks and can take either differential or cumulative block level incremental backups.

  • Page 12: Automatic Rman Script Generation

    SAP R/3 tools (brbackup, brrestore, and brarchive). BACKINT then starts the required NetBackup programs, monitors the progress of each program, and reports the results back to the SAP R/3 tool upon completion. NetBackup supports SAP R/3 Oracle database backups as either raw partitions or regular files.

  • Page 13: Lotus Notes Backups

    Notes 5 environments can be backed up online or “Hot” using the NetBackup for Lotus Notes 5 agent which takes advantage of the new Lotus Notes 5 backup API. NetBackup for Lotus Notes 5 provides the following types of backups for Lotus 5 configurations: •...
  • Page 14 72 hours using a standard backup to 11 hours using the FlashBackup option. Supported file systems include Solaris running UFS or the VERITAS File System, HP-UX running Online JFS or the VERITAS File System ™...

  • Page 15: Ndmp Backups Of Network-Attached Storage (Nas)

    NDMP protocol to the NAS file server, which contains locally attached disks, tape drives, and optionally, robotics units. The NetBackup catalog maintains a complete listing of the backup image. The NAS NDMP host performs the actual NDMP backup/restore utility that runs on the NAS file server and carries out the NDMP commands from NetBackup. Large robotics devices can be shared between NAS file servers or between NetBackup master/media servers and NAS file servers.

  • Page 16: Supported Ndmp Configurations

    NDMP-to-NDMP (“NDMP client”) Backups NetBackup supports backups between NDMP hosts. Sometimes it is not cost effective to directly attach a tape drive or library to each NDMP host, especially in environments where there are many smaller NAS servers. In these situations, an “NDMP host”...

  • Page 17: Emc Symmetrix Split Mirror Backups

    Library sharing between NetBackup and NDMP Hosts NetBackup can share a tape library between the NetBackup server and one or more NDMP NAS servers, or just between the NDMP NAS servers themselves. For more information, see the “Media Manager Library Sharing” section.

  • Page 18: Veritas Netbackup Backup Concepts

    VERITAS NetBackup Classes An important feature of VERITAS NetBackup is the capability to configure backup classes. A class consists of one or more clients that have similar backup needs. Every VERITAS NetBackup client must belong to at least one class and often belongs to more than one.
  • Page 19 The properties that the administrator configures for each class include: • Client List — lists the set of clients in the class. When a new client is added to VERITAS NetBackup, the administrator can simply add the client’s host name to the appropriate class and the client software can optionally be installed automatically over the network.

  • Page 20: Scheduling

    Scheduling Each VERITAS NetBackup class has a set of schedules to control its backups and archives. These schedules are part of the class definition and each schedule for a class affects the entire list of clients and files in that class.

  • Page 21: Database Backup Methods

    The default retention periods range from one week (Level 0) to infinite (Level 9); however, the retention periods may be set to any specific value by the NetBackup administrator. The retention level also denotes a schedule’s priority within the class, with Level 9 schedules having the highest priority and Level 0 the lowest.

  • Page 22: The Basic Backup Process

    The Media Manager manages the storage devices and media. Figure 14: NetBackup online database backup. Because VERITAS NetBackup spans backup images across multiple tapes or disks, it can back up very large database files with any of the above methods.

  • Page 23: Multiplexing Backups

    Figure 15: Backup data flow. In all cases, the client generates the backup image as a data stream using TCP/IP sockets and sends it to either the VERITAS NetBackup master or media server. The receiving server directs the data stream to the appropriate attached storage device.

  • Page 24: Automatic Multi-Streaming Clients

    Figure 16: Multiplexed backups. Automatic Multi-Streaming Clients A single NetBackup backup class can automatically create multiple simultaneous client backup sessions and dramatically increase the performance of the backup. Parallel backup sessions are initiated based on client system mount points or individual entries (explicit or via wildcards) in the NetBackup class file list.

  • Page 25: Checkpoint/Restart Of Backup Sessions

    Once service is resumed, the backup will restart the failed stream rather than restarting the entire backup job. Checkpoints may be set at file system mount points or at file and/or directory paths as defined in the NetBackup class “file list”...

  • Page 26: Restore Concepts

    When restoring files backed up to magnetic disk, VERITAS NetBackup finds the image path stored in its file database during the backup operation, and sends the requested portions of the image to the client. The disk manager handles the actual reading of backed up data from the disk file.

  • Page 27: Restoring To Alternative Clients

    The administrator on the master server can also direct files from the master server to any client. Server Independent Restores NetBackup supports restores using a NetBackup server other than the server used to write the backup. This provides easier access to data for restores in multi-server environments, and better failover and disaster recovery capabilities.

  • Page 28: Server-Independent Restores In Disaster Recovery Scenarios

    Figure 21: Server-independent restores. • Two or more servers are sharing a robot, each with connected drives. When a restore is requested, one of the servers is temporarily inaccessible. Under direction of the master server, any available server in the storage domain can be used to restore the file.

  • Page 29: True Image Recovery

    3. At the remote site, load the NetBackup catalog and media database from the tape created in step (1) above via a NetBackup-supplied utility and load the tapes into the library or tape drives at the remote site.

  • Page 30: Backup/Restore Of Moved Directories And Files

    The true image scheme utilized by NetBackup avoids creating large backup catalogs typical of competitive true image backup offerings by keeping older true image catalogs on tape rather than all on disk. Backup/Restore of Moved Directories and Files Moved, renamed, or newly installed files and directories are detected and backed up during incremental backup operations by comparing the new file and directory names relative to those contained in the previous full or incremental backup.

  • Page 31: Netbackup For Windows Nt And Windows 2000

    NetBackup for Windows NT and Windows 2000 NetBackup is available for Windows NT and Windows 2000 as both a server and client. The NetBackup client software for NT/2000 provides backup and disaster recovery services for mission critical NT/2000 systems, including NTFS and FAT file system types, Microsoft SQL Server databases, and Microsoft Exchange application environments.

  • Page 32: Virus Scanning

    NetBackup creates along with the Windows NT/2000 CD. They are used to rebuild the Windows system and initiate a remote (over the network) recovery of the entire server. The NetBackup client is contained on one of the prepared floppy disks or the prepared CD from which the whole system can be restored from the boot media and the backup image.

  • Page 33: Security

    The VERITAS NetBackup server, not the user, chooses the secondary storage media. In addition, Media Manager only allows VERITAS NetBackup to have access to these volumes, and imposes access control to protect the backed up files from unauthorized viewing or use by other applications.

  • Page 34: Encryption

    Encryption NetBackup protects critical data from unauthorized access and tampering while in transit as well as when it is resident on backup media. NetBackup performs the data encryption on the client, transfers the data across the network and stores it on tape in the encrypted format.

  • Page 35: Device And Media Management

    The term volume as used in VERITAS NetBackup refers to the physical storage media on which VERITAS NetBackup stores its backups, such as a tape or optical disk. The Device Manager controls the actual mounting of volumes on the tape or optical storage devices in response to requests from VERITAS NetBackup or others.

  • Page 36: Shared Storage Option (Drive Sharing)

    NetBackup servers are defined as shared drives by the system administrator. Drives not designated as shared drives are dedicated to a single server. All of the shared drives are available to any of the NetBackup servers in the SAN.

  • Page 37: Sharing Tape Libraries

    VERITAS Media Manager, included with NetBackup, provides the capability for multiple backup servers to share a multi-drive tape library. One NetBackup server acts as the “robotics controller,” and other NetBackup servers request tape mount and dismount services from the robotics controller. In this configuration, each NetBackup server maintains dedicated data paths to maximize performance without sacrificing the cost effectiveness and economies of scale of large tape libraries.

  • Page 38: Managing Robot Inventory

    Libraries attached to a “NDMP media server” (direct-attached to the NAS NDMP host) can also be shared between multiple NDMP NAS servers and one or more NetBackup servers, as shown in Figure 28 below. Drive sharing is not supported for NDMP NAS hosts.

  • Page 39: Scratch Pools

    If VERITAS NetBackup suspects a media failure (usually due to repeated write failures) it suspends use of that volume. Similarly, it will shut down a storage device if a drive fails. In either case, VERITAS NetBackup logs the reason for the action in the error database and notifies an operator to correct the problem.

  • Page 40: Verifying Media

    NetBackup server must share a library with the Network Appliance NDMP host, or the Network Appliance NDMP host tapes must be transferred to a library attached to a NetBackup server. See the “Sharing Large Robotics Libraries” section above for more information on library sharing between NetBackup servers and NDMP hosts.

  • Page 41: Administration And Use

    Administration and Use VERITAS NetBackup and Media Manager provide a comprehensive and logically designed set of interfaces that make it easy to perform all required administration, backup, or restore tasks. There are GUI (graphical user interface), menu-driven, and command line versions of most interfaces.
  • Page 42 Figure 30 is a screen from the VERITAS NetBackup Windows administrator interface. The administrator uses this particular screen to view, modify, or add backup schedules to the VERITAS NetBackup configuration. Double-clicking on any of the schedules in the right hand window enables the administrator to modify a pre-existing schedule in a logical and easy-to-use format.

  • Page 43: User Interfaces

    Figure 32: NetBackup user interface. Figure 33 shows a typical user interface screen for VERITAS NetBackup users. This example shows the restore screen where users can scroll through the list of backed up or archived files and select those to be restored on the client disk. A menu version of this interface provides the same functionality from a character-based terminal.

  • Page 44: Installation

    Windows NT/2000 clients are installed from an NT Domain or AD server or CD. PC and Macintosh client software is quickly and easily installed on each client via CD. It is also possible to install the software so LAN file servers can share NetBackup program files with its clients.

  • Page 45: Configuration

    • Register media for use as volumes by Media Manager • Define the type and density of devices that will be in the storage units • Define VERITAS NetBackup classes including: • Clients in each class • Files to back up on the clients •...

  • Page 46: Activity Monitoring

    VERITAS NetBackup provides many standard reports and logs to verify the completion of backup operations. In addition, users and administrators can set up additional logs if a site requires them. VERITAS NetBackup can also be configured to notify users and administrators via electronic mail of an operation’s success or failure.

  • Page 47: Progress Logs

    Over 200 distinct error codes help speed any problem resolution that may be necessary. In most cases, informational messages in the VERITAS NetBackup reports give detailed description of what led to an error. A Troubleshooting Guide provides analysis and suggests corrective actions that can be taken to correct error conditions.

  • Page 48: Internal Databases

    VERITAS NetBackup and Media Manager provide interactive online access to all of the internal database information needed to manage its operations efficiently. There are four NetBackup databases: configuration, file, error, and media. The media database is the only type not stored on the master server. Each server with a storage unit has a media database.

  • Page 49: Summary

    Summary VERITAS NetBackup brings the same level of storage management support to the world of open systems as is found in traditional centralized mainframe installations. It is possible to fully automate file backup and archive schedules across entire networks. Client users are more productive because they no longer need to spend time backing up their own files. Administrators and operators no longer need to support user-directed restores.

  • Page 50: Appendix A: Answers To Common Questions

    VERITAS has measured from 1 MB per second for backup and restore on a single Exabyte 8500XL drive, all the way up to 1 TB/hr on a hot Oracle Database backup (to 24 STK Redwood drives). This just illustrates how much performance can vary, depending on the network and computing environment.
  • Page 51 If you group your client workstations by network location, this could balance networks of differing capabilities. Does VERITAS NetBackup work simply and easily with a single tape drive if no robotic peripherals are available in the network? VERITAS NetBackup, working in conjunction with Media Manager, provides an operator interface that tracks the status and mount requests for a stand-alone tape drive.
  • Page 52 In addition, client data security is enhanced if VERITAS NetBackup is installed on secure clients that are not required to trust the server to log in as root.

  • Page 53: Appendix B: Glossary

    Performed to protect data from system failures and accidental loss (see “archive”). backup image: the collection of data VERITAS NetBackup saves for a client during each backup or archive operation, including all the associated files, directories, and catalog information.
  • Page 54 VERITAS NetBackup, a logical entity that includes one or more storage devices that are of a specific type and media density and attach to a specific host.

  • Page 55: Appendix C: Client Backup Coverage Utility

    Currently, this report is only supported for UNIX clients. The Class Hardware/OS Report displays hardware and operating system information for clients. The Hosts Report indicates which hosts are in a NetBackup class on the server. The new check_coverage script can be found in /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies.
  • Page 56 k a n g a S u n 4 / S o l a r i s 2 . 6 * p i g l e t S u n 4 / S o l a r i s 2 . 6 p o o h S u n 4 / S o l a r i s 2 .
  • Page 57 © Copyright 2000 VERITAS Software Corporation. All rights reserved. VERITA S, VERITAS SOFTWARE, the VERITAS logo, Business Without Interruption, VERITA S, The Data A vailability Company, VERITAS Backup Exec, VERITAS NetBackup, VERITAS NetBackup BusinesServer, VERITAS NetBackup FlashBackup, VERITAS Storage Migrator, VERITAS Global Data Manager, VERITAS Cluster Server, and VERITAS File System are trademarks or registered trademarks of VERITAS Software Corporation in the U.S.

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