NetBackup duplication of an Active Directory, Exchange and Sharepoint backup with Granular Restore option from disk to tape is very slow.

Problem

Duplication (via VAULT, SLP, Disk Relocation or manual bpduplicate) of an Active Directory, Exchange and Sharepoint backup with Enable Granular recovery option will take longer to complete when duplication is from disk to tape. During the duplication, NetBackup will require additional time cataloguing the Active Directory information.

Error Message

In the activity monitor, the duplication job detailed status will display the cataloguing messages.

Example:

Please note that the following example is not a complete example and may vary per machine and environment.

The time required to complete the cataloguing will vary per system and in some instances consume 30 minutes or more to complete.

Cause

When backup data is on a disk storage unit, an administrator can view and restore the (Granular) individual items listed in the Backup, Archive and Restore Graphical User Interface (GUI). To view the items, NetBackup will mount the database on disk and display the individual or granular items for restore.

When backup data is on tape, an administrator can view the individual items in Backup, Archive and Restore GUI as long as the duplication from disk to tape included the cataloguing process. If the image is on tape restoring an individual item is not possible.

When duplicating from disk to tape, the cataloguing process will dramatically increase the duplication time for granular images. The catalog images on tape provide the ability to browse for individual item however because the image is on tape, restoring individual items is not possible unless the tape image is duplicated back to disk.

If duplicating from disk to tape is taking too long and an administrator no longer requires the ability to restore individual (granular) items a feature was introduced in NetBackup 6.5.4 that stopped the cataloguing process during disk to tape duplication. The consequence of disabling the cataloguing process is the ability to browse individual (granular) information and duplicate to disk for granular recovery. The advantage of the feature is a dramatic reduction in duplication time because cataloguing is eliminated.

The new configuration variable, GRANULAR_DUP_RECURSION if set to 0, will skip the cataloguing process during duplication. In 6.5.4 the feature was enabled via a touchfile but from NetBackup 7.x onwards the feature is now available in the NetBackup Administration Console via the Host Properties of the Master Server, General Server category. The check box "Enable message-level cataloging when duplicating Exchange images that use Granular Recovery Technology" applies to MS-Exchange-Server, MS-Sharepoint and MS-Windows for Active Directory.

This feature if enabled will catalog images that use Granular Recovery during the duplication process and increase duplication time to tape.

If the feature is disabled, duplications proceed without the catalog process, and viewing individual (granular) items is not possible.

Granular-level restores can be performed only if the backup was written to a disk storage unit.

Enable granular recovery policy attribute:

With this option enabled, users can restore the individual objects that reside within a database backup image, such as:

A user account from an Active Directory database backup.

Email messages or folders from an Exchange database backup.

A document from a SharePoint database backup.

Solution

Disabling the cataloging for duplications of Active Directory, Exchange and Sharepoint backups using Granular Recovery Technology (GRT).
Unlike a duplication of a backup that uses Granular Recovery Technology (GRT) from tape to disk, duplication of the same backup from disk to tape takes extra time. NetBackup requires this extra time to catalog the granular information. An administrator can choose not to catalog the granular information so that the duplication is performed more quickly. However, once the disk copy expires the ability to browse for individual items of the duplicated image on tape no longer exists.

During the duplication process, NetBackup writes log entries periodically to show the progress of the job.

To disable the cataloging of Active Directory, Exchange and Sharepoint backup backups using Granular Recovery Technology:

1. On the master server, open the NetBackup Administration Console.

2. In the left pane, expand Host Properties.

3. Click Master Servers.

4. In the right pane, right-click the master server click Properties.

5. Click General Server.

6. Uncheck Enable message-level cataloging when duplicating Active Directory, Exchange and Sharepoint backup images that use Granular Recovery Technology.

7. Click OK.