Veritas NetBackup™ Replication Director Solutions Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.3.0.1, 8.3, 8.2, 8.1)
  1. Introduction
    1.  
      About NetBackup Replication Director
    2.  
      About the roles of the Replication Director plug-ins
    3.  
      Software required to use Replication Director
    4.  
      NetBackup configuration for Replication Director
    5.  
      Tools for troubleshooting Replication Director
  2. Additional configuration topics
    1.  
      Configuring the NetBackup Client Service
    2.  
      NetBackup naming conventions
    3.  
      How to configure a multi-NIC environment
  3. Creating a NetBackup storage server for snapshot replication
    1.  
      Creating a NetBackup storage server for snapshot replication
    2.  
      Updating an OpenStorage storage server to reflect plug-in updates
    3.  
      Adding the storage server credentials to a NetBackup server
  4. Configuring disk pools for snapshot and replication
    1. About disk pools for snapshots and snapshot replication
      1.  
        About disk volumes for snapshots and snapshot replication
    2.  
      Creating disk pools for snapshot replication
    3.  
      Updating disk pools after volumes are added, are deleted, or are changed
    4.  
      Updating an OpenStorage disk pool to reflect plug-in updates
    5.  
      How to resolve snapshot disk volume changes
    6. Using bpstsinfo to view the replication topology of a device
      1.  
        NetApp storage server sample bpstsinfo output
  5. Configuring storage units and storage unit groups for snapshots and snapshot replication
    1.  
      Creating storage units for a Replication Director configuration
    2.  
      Creating storage unit groups for snapshots
  6. Configuring storage lifecycle policies for snapshots and snapshot replication
    1.  
      About configuring storage lifecycle policies for snapshots and snapshot replication
    2.  
      Creating a storage lifecycle policy for snapshots and snapshot replication
    3. Operation types in a storage lifecycle policy
      1. Snapshot operation in an SLP
        1.  
          Primary snapshot storage unit
        2.  
          Primary + Replication source snapshot storage unit
        3.  
          Replication source + Replication target snapshot storage unit
        4.  
          Replication target snapshot storage unit
        5.  
          Replication source + Replication target + Mirror snapshot storage unit
        6.  
          Replication target + Mirror snapshot storage unit
      2.  
        Replication operation in an SLP
      3. Index From Snapshot operation in an SLP
        1.  
          Determining where and when the Index From Snapshot operation occurs
        2.  
          Pre-requisites for indexing for an NDMP policy
        3.  
          Configuring indexing for an NDMP policy
      4.  
        Backup From Snapshot operation in an SLP
      5.  
        Duplication operation in an SLP
    4. Retention types for storage lifecycle policy operations
      1.  
        Expire after copy retention type for SLP operations
      2.  
        Fixed retention type for SLP operations
      3.  
        Maximum snapshot limit retention type for SLP operations
      4.  
        Mirror retention type for SLP operations
      5.  
        Target retention type for SLP operations
  7. Configuring backup policies for snapshots and snapshot replication
    1.  
      About configuring a backup policy for Replication Director
    2.  
      Configuring an NDMP policy to protect a NAS host
    3.  
      Configuring a Standard or MS-Windows policy to protect clients using NDMP with Data Mover
    4.  
      Configuring a Standard or MS-Windows policy to protect NAS volumes or SAN-connected devices
    5. About NDMP support for Replication Director
      1.  
        Limitations of Replication Director with NDMP
      2.  
        Authorizing NetBackup access to a NAS (NDMP) host
      3.  
        ALL_FILESYSTEMS and VOLUME_EXCLUDE_LIST directives
      4.  
        Configuring an NDMP policy in a multi-network environment
  8. Restoring from a snapshot
    1.  
      About restores from array-based snapshots
    2.  
      Restoring files and folders from an array-based snapshot
    3. About restores from array-based snapshots of virtual machines
      1.  
        Restoring files from array-based snapshots of virtual machines
    4.  
      Using OpsCenter to restore from array-based snapshots
    5.  
      How NetApp performs a volume-level rollback restore
    6.  
      Restoring (rolling back) from an array-based snapshot
  9. OpsCenter reporting
    1.  
      Veritas OpsCenter reporting
    2.  
      Configuring an alert for OpenStorage events
    3.  
      Storage lifecycle policy reporting
    4.  
      Disk pool monitoring
    5.  
      Monitoring snapshot replication jobs
    6.  
      Reporting on storage units, storage unit groups, and storage lifecycle policies
  10. Using NetApp disk arrays with Replication Director
    1.  
      Using NetApp disk arrays with Replication Director
    2. Supported NetApp topologies
      1.  
        NetApp topologies that Replication Director does not support
    3. Using NetApp Data ONTAP 7-mode with Replication Director
      1.  
        Configuration overview: NetApp 7-Mode with Replication Director
      2.  
        Licenses required for NetApp Data ONTAP 7-Mode with Replication Director
      3.  
        Software required to use NetApp Data ONTAP 7-Mode with Replication Director
      4. About using NetApp SAN-connected storage with Replication Director
        1.  
          Using SnapDrive for iSCSI setup on Windows
        2.  
          SAN-connected storage limitations
      5.  
        If the OnCommand Unified Manager root or administrator password has changed
      6.  
        Considerations when configuring an OnCommand Unified Manager as a NetBackup storage server
      7.  
        Importing existing NetApp relationships for NetBackup control
      8.  
        Enabling Unicode and language settings on NetApp disk arrays
    4. Using NetApp Clustered Data ONTAP with Replication Director
      1.  
        Configuration overview: NetApp Clustered Data ONTAP with Replication Director
      2.  
        Licenses required for NetApp Clustered Data ONTAP with Replication Director
      3.  
        Software required to use NetApp Clustered Data ONTAP with Replication Director
      4.  
        Configuring Replication Director to work with Clustered Data ONTAP
      5.  
        About creating backup policies for Clustered Data ONTAP with Replication Director
      6.  
        Protecting volumes with nested junctions for Clustered Data ONTAP
      7.  
        Limitations to using Clustered Data ONTAP with Replication Director
  11. Using Oracle with Replication Director
    1.  
      Requirements for Oracle support
    2. About Oracle support for Replication Director
      1.  
        Configuring an Oracle Intelligent Policy
      2.  
        Configuring a script- or template-based Oracle policy
  12. Using Virtual Machines with Replication Director
    1.  
      Requirements for virtual machine support
    2. About virtual machines and Replication Director
      1.  
        Notes on Replication Director for virtual machines
      2.  
        Configuring a policy for virtual machines to use Replication Director
      3.  
        About jobs in the Activity Monitor that use Replication Director for virtual machines
  13. Terminology
    1.  
      Replication terminology

Index From Snapshot operation in an SLP

The Index From Snapshot operation indexes the contents of existing snapshots. When NetBackup indexes a snapshot, it creates an image catalog file in the NetBackup catalog for each snapshot. The presence of an image catalog file assists the user when a file needs to be restored from the snapshot, as described in Table: Restore operations.

The Backup From Snapshot operation also creates an image catalog file. An Index from Snapshot may not be required if a Backup From Snapshot occurs frequently enough for the restore needs in your environment. For example, if the Backup From Snapshot runs once per week but file restores are required daily, consider using the Index from Snapshot.

The actual restore of the snapshot requires that the snapshot be mounted, regardless of whether an Index from Snapshot has been performed or not.

Table: Restore operations

Type of restore

Where performed

Description

Requirements

Live browse restore

  • NetBackup Backup, Archive, and Restore interface

  • NetBackup OpsCenter Console

The user navigates the directory structure to locate and select the files for restore.

No image catalog file needs to be present in the NetBackup catalog.

During a live browse restore, NetBackup automatically mounts the snapshot so that the user can see what files it contains. Mounting and unmounting the snapshot can be time-consuming.

If an image catalog file is present, NetBackup does not mount the snapshot.

Search for restore

(Also referred to as a Simplified File Restore or an Operational Restore)

NetBackup OpsCenter Console

  • The user can search for files based on partial file name.

    Knowing the name of the client or of the policy that created the backup is not necessary.

  • Offers several filters to narrow search.

  • Search results display all the recovery points available to the user for both backups and snapshots.

The image catalog file must be present in the NetBackup catalog.

Table: Index From Snapshot operation characteristics

Characteristic

Description

Storage unit selection

The Index From Snapshot operation does not write data to a storage unit. However, a storage unit selection is needed to select the media server that to be used to access the snapshot. As a best practice, use the storage unit from the Snapshot or Replication operation that is the source for this operation.

Child of

When an Index From Snapshot operation appears in an SLP, it must be the child of a Snapshot or Replication operation.

Therefore, click on either a Snapshot or a Replication operation in the SLP when adding an Index From Snapshot operation.

See Creating a storage lifecycle policy for snapshots and snapshot replication.

Source for

While an Index From Snapshot operation cannot be the source for any operation, a Replication operation can follow it.

Hierarchy notes

The Index From Snapshot operation can consume system resources and requires that each snapshot be mounted to create the image catalog file.

See Determining where and when the Index From Snapshot operation occurs.

Job type

An Index From Snapshot operation generates an Index From Snapshot job in the Activity Monitor.

Window

An SLP window can be created for an Index From Snapshot operation.

Consider the following items before using the Index From Snapshot operation:

  • The Index From Snapshot operation is supported only in a Replication Director configuration.

  • Standard, MS-Windows, NDMP, and VMware backup policy types support the use of storage lifecycle policies that contain the Index From Snapshot operation.

    Note:

    However, a Standard or MS-Windows policy with NDMP Data Mover enabled is not supported.

  • The Index From Snapshot operation can run from a full or an incremental schedule. The file entries that are added to the image catalog file for either schedule are the full set of files since all files can be restored from that snapshot. To do so allows for the most efficient restore, however, more space is consumed in the NetBackup catalog by the image catalog file.