Veritas Netbackup Backup Concepts; Storage Units; Veritas Netbackup Classes - VERITAS NetBackup White Paper

VERITAS NetBackup Backup Concepts

The following sections explain the basic concepts involved in backup operations.

Storage Units

VERITAS NetBackup associates all storage devices and media with logical storage units. As used by NetBackup, the term
storage unit refers to a logical entity that includes one or more physical storage devices that are of a specific type and media
density and attach to a specific host. There are three categories of storage units:
• Directly attached standalone or robotic media storage units that contain tape or optical devices and are managed by
the VERITAS NetBackup Media Manager.
• Remote standalone or robotic storage units controlled by the VERITAS NetBackup Media Manager via Network Data
Management Protocol (NDMP).
• Disk file system storage units consisting of a designated directory in the file system that will receive the backup or
archive data.
During configuration, the administrator first completes any necessary device and media configuration and then groups all
devices and media into appropriate VERITAS NetBackup storage units. For example, on a specific host, a Hewlett-Packard
optical disk library could be in one storage unit and a ATL tape library could be in another.
During backups and restores, VERITAS NetBackup specifies the media required and Media Manager automatically finds it and
mounts it in a device within an available storage unit.
The storage unit concept makes it easier to configure backups because the administrator can simply assign the storage unit
with the type of storage needed for a client backup, rather than worry about specific devices. It also provides a virtual
approach to backup storage because if more storage of that type is needed, it will be automatically and transparently utilized
after being added to the Media Manager and VERITAS NetBackup configurations (see the Media Manager Scratch Pool
section below).

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. Classes are sometimes referred to as policies.
The major advantage offered by VERITAS NetBackup classes is that the administrator can group clients into classes and then
configure backups for the entire group, rather than one client at a time. In addition, since a client can belong to more than
one class, the administrator can establish different schedules for different files on the same client or assign a client to one
class for automatic backups and another for user-directed backups and archives.
When new clients are installed, they can be added to an existing class or the administrator can define new classes for new
clients on a one-by-one basis. An easy way to create a new class is simply to clone and modify an existing one.
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