About Auto Image Replication (A.I.R.)
The backups that are generated in one NetBackup domain can be replicated to storage in one or more target NetBackup domains. This process is referred to as Auto Image Replication (A.I.R.).
Table: Supported A.I.R. models
Model | Description |
|---|---|
One-to-one model | A single production data center can back up to a disaster recovery site. |
One-to-many model | A single production data center can back up to multiple disaster recovery sites. |
Many-to-one model | Remote offices in multiple domains can back up to a storage device in a single domain. |
Many-to-many model | Remote data centers in multiple domains can back up multiple disaster recovery sites. |
NetBackup supports the following storage types for A.I.R.:
Media Server Deduplication Pool (MSDP)
An OpenStorage disk appliance that supports replication
NetBackup uses storage lifecycle policies (SLP) in the source domain and the target domain to manage A.I.R. operations. The following table is a process overview of A.I.R., generally describing the events in the originating and target domains.
Table: Process overview of A.I.R.
Event | Domain in which event occurs | Event description |
|---|---|---|
1 | The originating master server (Domain 1) | Clients are backed up according to a backup policy that indicates a storage lifecycle policy as the policy storage selection. After the backup, images are replicated from original domain to the target domain. |
2 | The target master server (Domain 2) | The storage server in the target domain recognizes that a replication event has occurred. It notifies the NetBackup master server in the target domain. |
3 | The target master server (Domain 2) | NetBackup imports the image immediately, based on an SLP that contains an import operation. |
4 | The target master server (Domain 2) | After the image is imported into the target domain, NetBackup continues to manage the copies in that domain. |
Figure: Typical A.I.R. setup is a typical A.I.R. setup that shows an image that is replicated from one source domain to one target domain.
NetBackup provides the ability to establish a trust relationship between replication domains. A trust relationship is optional for an MSDP as the target storage.
The following items describe how a trust relationship affects A.I.R.:
No trust relationship - NetBackup replicates to all defined target storage servers. You cannot select a specific host or hosts as a target.
Trust relationship - You can select a subset of your trusted domains as a target for replication. NetBackup only replicates to the specified domains rather than to all configured replication targets. This type of A.I.R. is known as targeted A.I.R.
To set up a master server for A.I.R.
- On the master server of the source domain, open the NetBackup Administration Console, select NetBackup Management > Host Properties > Master Servers.
- Double-click on the master server. In the Master Server Properties dialog box, in the left pane, click on Servers.
- Select the Trusted Master Servers tab.
- Click Add.
- Add the name of the master server for the target domain in the Trusted Master Server field.
- Click Validate Certificate Authority.
- Use one of the following methods for authentication:
Select Specify authentication token of the trusted master server and then enter the token in the Token field.
To create a token, review the Creating authorization tokens section in the NetBackup Security and Encryption Guide
Select Specify credentials of the trusted master server and then enter a User name and Password in the fields.
- Click OK to complete the setup.
- Repeat these steps in the target domain. Use the source master server name as the master server name in the Validate Certificate Authority field.
- Configure storage server at both source domain and target domain.
The image is replicated from one storage server in the source domain to one storage server in the target domain. The image is needed to configure the MSDP at the source domain and the target domain. Use the Java GUI to configure the MSDP storage server, disk pool, and storage unit.
MSDP supports secure communications between two media servers from two different NetBackup domains. The secure communication is set up when you run A.I.R.. The two media servers must use the same CA to do the certificate security check. The source MSDP server uses the Certificate Authority (CA) of the target NetBackup domain and the certificate that the target NetBackup domain authorized. You must manually deploy CA and the certificate on the source MSDP server before using A.I.R..
To configure the NetBackup CA and a NetBackup host ID-based certificate
- On the source MSDP storage server, run the following command to get the NetBackup CA from target NetBackup master server:
Windows:
install_path\NetBackup\bin \nbcertcmd -getCACertificate -server target_master_serverUNIX:
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin /nbcertcmd -getCACertificate -server target_master_server
- On the source MSDP storage server, run the following command to get the certificate generated by target NetBackup master server:
Windows:
install_path\NetBackup\bin \nbcertcmd -getCertificate -server target_master_server -token token_stringUNIX:
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin /nbcertcmd -getCertificate -server target_master_server -token token_string
Images are replicated from source domain MSDP storage server to target domain MSDP storage server. The target MSDP server is the replication target of the source MSDP server. Use the Java GUI at the source domain to setup the replication target.
To set up the replication target
- On the master server of the source domain, open the NetBackup Administration Console, select Media and Device Management > Credentials > Storage Servers.
- Double-click on the source domain MSDP server.
- In the Replicaiton tab, click on Add. Fill in the required information.
The Target storage server name is the host name of the MSDP storage server in the target domain. The User name and Password is the credential used to configure the MSDP server in target domain.
To run a target A.I.R., you need to create an SLP at both the source domain and the target domain. Use Java GUI to create an import SLP.
Follow the procedures in Table: To configure an SLP to configure the SLP.
Table: To configure an SLP
At target domain: |
|
At source domain: |
|
Create a backup policy to perform a backup and run the SLP. | At the source domain, create a backup and use the SLP as Policy storage. Run the backup and after the backup runs, the replication job at the source domain runs. After a short period of time, the import job at the target domain runs. The target domain manages the replicated image at the target storage server. |