Appendix A: Answers To Common Questions - VERITAS NetBackup White Paper

Appendix A
Frequently Asked Questions
Does VERITAS NetBackup provide full automation for backup and restore operations without operator
intervention?
Yes. Operational involvement is not required if peripherals are configured and the needed media is online. Backups are
performed by a scheduler process (not cron) based on administrator-specified schedules.
Users can restore files on demand through any of three interfaces – graphical, full-screen menu, or command line – by
perusing lists of backed up files and selecting which ones they want to restore. This selection is by file or directory name,
and does not require any knowledge of the media involved. The server determines this automatically as part of the
restoration process.
Does VERITAS NetBackup have the ability to restart a failed backup?
With frequency-based scheduling, automated backups begin within a specified period or backup window. VERITAS
NetBackup performs a specified number retries during the time that the backup window is open. The number of retries is
a configurable option.
Do you provide media bar code support?
We support bar codes on robotic devices that contain bar code readers.
Which network protocols does VERITAS NetBackup support?
VERITAS NetBackup uses TCP/IP for transporting data.
Does VERITAS NetBackup allow users to exclude files from being backed up?
Yes. Each user may establish his or her own exclude list of client files to skip.
Does VERITAS NetBackup allow for backups spanning tapes and tape devices?
With VERITAS NetBackup an individual tape or optical disk may contain multiple backups, and an individual backup may
span multiple tapes or disks.
Does VERITAS NetBackup have the ability to create duplicate tape sets?
An optional feature of NetBackup called the Vault Extension allows making a second copy of media containing VERITAS
NetBackup images fast and easy.
What is the measured performance of both backup and restore operations for entire file systems with NetBackup?
There are many important variables that affect performance, such as network load, client and server capabilities, file
system characteristics, file size, and the number and type of peripherals configured.
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.
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