Veritas NetBackup™ Administrator's Guide, Volume II

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.0)
  1. NetBackup licensing models and the nbdeployutil utility
    1.  
      About ways to gather and analyze licensing reporting
    2. About NetBackup licensing models
      1.  
        About the traditional licensing model
      2. About the capacity licensing model
        1.  
          How capacity licensing uses Front-end Terabytes
    3. nbdeployutil utility options
      1.  
        Scheduling capacity licensing reports
      2.  
        Generating licensing reports manually
    4. Creating and viewing the licensing report
      1.  
        Report tab descriptions
    5. After creating a traditional licensing report
      1.  
        Verify the Summary tab
      2.  
        Complete the Hosts tab
      3.  
        Resolve the NDMP tab
      4.  
        Update the Virtual Servers tab
      5.  
        Confirm the Drives tab
      6.  
        Final steps
    6. After creating a capacity licensing report
      1.  
        Verify the completeness of the inputs
      2.  
        Eliminate redundant data due to client aliases and multiple IP addresses
      3.  
        Examine the Itemization tab for flagged conditions in the Accuracy column
      4.  
        Verify correct grouping and summation of multistreamed backup images
    7. Reconciling the capacity licensing report results
      1.  
        Locate full backups for clients
      2.  
        Review compressed image information
      3.  
        Eliminate redundant counting of clients
      4.  
        Determine the effect of multistreamed backups
      5.  
        Confirm the accuracy of any database backups
      6.  
        Locate full backups for snapshot images
  2. Additional configuration
    1.  
      About multiple NetBackup master servers
    2.  
      About multiple media servers with one master server
    3.  
      About direct I/O for backups on Windows
    4. About dynamic host name and IP addressing
      1.  
        About setting up dynamic IP addresses and host names
      2.  
        Configuring the NetBackup master server
      3.  
        bpclient commands that control client entries
      4.  
        Configuring dynamic NetBackup clients
    5. About busy file processing on UNIX clients
      1.  
        Configuring busy file processing on UNIX
      2.  
        Modifying bp.conf to configure busy file processing on UNIX
      3.  
        bp.conf file entries on UNIX
      4.  
        How NetBackup creates and uses action files on UNIX
      5.  
        About the logs directory on UNIX
      6.  
        Recommended changes for modifying bpend_notify_busy on UNIX
    6.  
      About specifying the locale of the NetBackup installation
    7. About the Shared Storage Option
      1.  
        About Shared Storage Option components
      2.  
        About reserving or releasing shared devices
      3.  
        How to share robotic libraries without using the Shared Storage Option
      4.  
        Shared Storage Option terms and concepts
      5.  
        About the Shared Storage Option license
      6.  
        About Shared Storage Option prerequisites
      7.  
        About hardware configuration guidelines
      8.  
        About installing and configuring drivers
      9.  
        Verifying the connectivity
      10. About configuring the Shared Storage Option in NetBackup
        1.  
          About configuring SSO in NetBackup
        2.  
          Configuring Shared Storage Option devices in NetBackup
        3.  
          About adding Shared Storage Option configuration options
        4.  
          About configuring NetBackup storage units and backup policies
      11.  
        Verifying your Shared Storage Option configuration
      12.  
        Device Monitor and Shared Storage Option
      13. Viewing SSO summary reports
        1.  
          Shared Storage Option summary reports
      14.  
        Operating system assistance
      15.  
        Common configuration issues with Shared Storage Option
      16.  
        Frequently asked questions about Shared Storage Option
    8. About the vm.conf configuration file
      1.  
        ACS_mediatype entry in vm.conf
      2.  
        ACS_SEL_SOCKET entry in vm.conf
      3.  
        ACS_CSI_HOSTPORT entry in vm.conf (on UNIX)
      4.  
        ACS_SSI_HOSTNAME entry in vm.conf
      5.  
        ACS_SSI_INET_PORT entry in vm.conf (on UNIX)
      6.  
        ACS_SSI_SOCKET entry in vm.conf
      7.  
        ACS_TCP_RPCSERVICE / ACS_UDP_RPCSERVICE entry in vm.conf (on UNIX)
      8.  
        ADJ_LSM entry in vm.conf
      9.  
        API_BARCODE_RULES entry in vm.conf
      10.  
        AUTHORIZATION_REQUIRED entry in vm.conf
      11.  
        AUTO_PATH_CORRECTION entry in vm.conf
      12.  
        AUTO_UPDATE_ROBOT entry in vm.conf
      13.  
        AVRD_PEND_DELAY entry in vm.conf
      14.  
        AVRD_SCAN_DELAY entry in vm.conf
      15.  
        CLEAN_REQUEST_TIMEOUT entry in vm.conf
      16.  
        CLIENT_PORT_WINDOW entry in vm.conf
      17.  
        CLUSTER_NAME entry in vm.conf
      18.  
        CONNECT_OPTIONS entry in vm.conf
      19.  
        DAS_CLIENT entry in vm.conf
      20.  
        DAYS_TO_KEEP_LOGS entry in vm.conf
      21.  
        EMM_RETRY_COUNT entry in vm.conf
      22.  
        EMM_CONNECT_TIMOUT entry in vm.conf
      23.  
        EMM_REQUEST_TIMOUT entry in vm.conf
      24.  
        ENABLE_ROBOT_AUTH entry in vm.conf
      25.  
        INVENTORY_FILTER entry in vm.conf
      26.  
        MAP_ID entry in vm.conf
      27.  
        MAP_CONTINUE_TIMEOUT entry in vm.conf
      28.  
        MEDIA_ID_BARCODE_CHARS entry in vm.conf
      29.  
        MEDIA_ID_PREFIX entry in vm.conf
      30.  
        MM_SERVER_NAME entry in vm.conf
      31.  
        PREFERRED_GROUP entry in vm.conf
      32.  
        PREVENT_MEDIA_REMOVAL entry in vm.conf
      33.  
        RANDOM_PORTS entry in vm.conf
      34.  
        REQUIRED_INTERFACE entry in vm.conf
      35.  
        SERVER entry in vm.conf
      36.  
        SSO_DA_REREGISTER_INTERVAL entry in vm.conf
      37.  
        SSO_DA_RETRY_TIMEOUT entry in vm.conf
      38.  
        SSO_HOST_NAME entry in vm.conf
      39.  
        TLH_mediatype entry in vm.conf
      40.  
        TLM_mediatype entry in vm.conf
      41.  
        VERBOSE entry in vm.conf
      42.  
        Example vm.conf file
      43.  
        How to access media and devices on other hosts
      44.  
        Host name precedence in the vm.conf file
  3. Holds Management
    1.  
      About Holds Management
    2.  
      Creating a hold
    3.  
      Viewing hold details
    4.  
      Adding a backup image to an existing hold
    5.  
      Releasing a hold
  4. Menu user interfaces on UNIX
    1.  
      About menu user interfaces
    2. About the tpconfig device configuration utility
      1.  
        About the tpconfig utility menu
      2.  
        Starting the tpconfig device configuration utility
      3.  
        Adding robots
      4.  
        Adding drives
      5.  
        Updating a robot configuration
      6.  
        Updating a drive configuration
      7.  
        Deleting a robot
      8.  
        Deleting a drive
      9.  
        Configuring drive paths
      10.  
        Configuring host credentials
      11.  
        Displaying and writing the device configuration
    3. About the NetBackup Disk Configuration Utility
      1.  
        Managing OpenStorage servers and disk pools
      2.  
        Managing global disk attributes
  5. Reference topics
    1. Host name rules
      1.  
        How NetBackup uses host names
      2.  
        Updating NetBackup after changing the host name
      3.  
        Special considerations for Domain Name Service (DNS)
    2. About reading backup images with nbtar or tar32.exe
      1.  
        Restoring files with non-NetBackup restore utilities (on UNIX)
      2.  
        Considerations for file restoration with non-NetBackup restore utilities (on UNIX)
      3.  
        About the files that restores generate
    3. Factors that affect backup time
      1.  
        Total amount of data to back up
      2.  
        Transfer rate
    4.  
      Methods for determining the NetBackup transfer rate
    5. NetBackup notify scripts
      1.  
        backup_notify script
      2.  
        backup_exit_notify script
      3.  
        bpstart_notify script (UNIX clients)
      4.  
        bpstart_notify.bat script (Windows clients)
      5.  
        bpend_notify script (UNIX clients)
      6.  
        bpend_notify.bat script (Windows clients)
      7.  
        bpend_notify_busy script (UNIX clients)
      8.  
        diskfull_notify script
      9.  
        drive_mount_notify script (on UNIX)
      10.  
        drive_unmount_notify script (on UNIX)
      11.  
        mail_dr_info script
      12.  
        media_deassign_notify script
      13.  
        nbmail.cmd script (on Windows)
      14.  
        parent_end_notify script
      15.  
        parent_start_notify script
      16.  
        pending_request_notify script
      17.  
        restore_notify script
      18.  
        session_notify script
      19.  
        session_start_notify script
      20.  
        shared_drive_notify script
      21.  
        userreq_notify script
    6. Media and device management best practices
      1.  
        Media management best practices
      2.  
        Device management best practices
      3.  
        Media and device performance and troubleshooting
    7. About TapeAlert
      1.  
        About TapeAlert cleaning (reactive cleaning)
      2.  
        About TapeAlert and frequency-based cleaning
      3.  
        About TapeAlert requirements
      4.  
        TapeAlert logs and codes
    8. About tape drive cleaning
      1.  
        About library-based cleaning
      2.  
        About frequency-based cleaning
      3.  
        About operator-initiated cleaning
      4.  
        About using a cleaning tape
    9.  
      How NetBackup selects drives
    10. How NetBackup reserves drives
      1. About SCSI persistent reserve
        1.  
          About SCSI persistent reserve commands
        2.  
          About SCSI persistent reserve conflicts
      2. About the SPC-2 SCSI reserve process
        1.  
          About SPC-2 SCSI reserve commands
        2.  
          About SCSI reservation conflicts
        3.  
          About forcing a release of an unavailable HBA's SPC-2 reservation
        4.  
          Breaking a reservation
      3.  
        About SCSI reserve requirements
      4.  
        About SCSI reserve limitations
      5.  
        About SCSI reservation logging
      6.  
        About SCSI reserve operating system limitations on Windows
      7. About checking for data loss
        1.  
          About possible data loss causes
      8. About checking for tape and driver configuration errors
        1.  
          About common configuration problems
      9.  
        About configuring SCSI reserve
    11. How NetBackup selects media
      1. About selecting media in robots
        1.  
          About spanning media with automatic media selection
      2. About selecting media in standalone drives
        1.  
          About selecting media by using standalone drive extensions
        2.  
          About disabling standalone drive extensions
        3.  
          About spanning media
        4.  
          About leaving standalone drives in the ready state
    12.  
      Volume pool and volume group examples
    13.  
      Media formats
    14.  
      Media and device management processes
    15. About Tape I/O commands on UNIX
      1.  
        About requesting tapes
      2.  
        About reading and writing tape files
      3.  
        About removing tape files

How NetBackup reserves drives

In multiple-initiator (multiple host bus adapter) environments, device-level access protection is required to avoid unintended sharing of tape devices and possible data loss problems. (Shared Storage Option is a multiple-initiator environment.) Access protection on a tape drive prevents an HBA that is not the reservation owner from issuing commands to control the drive. SCSI access protection operates at the SCSI target level and depends on correct operation of the fiber-to-SCSI bridge or the native fiber device hardware.

The only commonly available technique for this purpose is SPC-2 SCSI reserve and release functionality. All tape drive vendors support the SPC-2 SCSI reserve method. NetBackup has used SPC-2 SCSI reserve since NetBackup 3.4.3; it is the default tape drive reservation method in NetBackup. SPC-2 SCSI reserve is effective for most NetBackup environments.

Alternatively, the new SCSI persistent reserve method may be more effective in either of the following environments because it provides device status detection and correction:

  • NetBackup media servers are in a cluster environment

    NetBackup can recover and use a reserved drive after a failover (if NetBackup owns the reservation). (With SPC-2 SCSI reserve, a drive reset usually is required because the reservation owner is inoperative.)

  • Environments where high drive availability is important

    NetBackup can resolve NetBackup drive reservation conflicts and maintain high drive availability. (SPC-2 SCSI reserve provides no method for drive status detection.)

    However, the SCSI persistent reserve method is not supported or not supported correctly by all device vendors. Therefore, analyze the environment to ensure that all of the hardware supports SCSI persistent reserve correctly.

    NetBackup lets you configure either SCSI persistent reserve or SPC-2 SCSI reserve.

The following table describes the protection options.

Table: Protection options

Option

Description

SCSI persistent reserve

Provides SCSI persistent reserve protection for SCSI devices. The devices must conform to the SCSI Primary Commands - 3 (SPC-3) standard.

SPC-2 SCSI reserve (default)

Provides SPC-2 SCSI reserve protection for SCSI devices. The devices must conform to the reserve method and release management method in the SCSI Primary Commands - 2 standard.

No protection

Other HBAs can send the commands that may cause a loss of data to the tape drives.

You can configure access protection for each NetBackup media server. The protection setting configures tape drive access protection for all tape drive paths from the media server on which the setting is configured. The media server setting for any drive path can be overridden.

SCSI reservations provide protection for NetBackup Shared Storage Option environments or any other multiple-initiator environment in which drives are shared.