Alternate client backup of pass-through disks consists of the following:

• The disk array contains the data to be backed up. Another host containing NetBackup client software and Snapshot Client software must have access to the disk array. That host is the alternate client. (In this configuration, the virtual machine is called the primary client.)

• A snapshot of the data is created on the disk array and is mounted on the alternate client. The alternate client creates a backup image from the snapshot, using original path names, and streams the image to the NetBackup media server.

• The alternate client handles the backup I/O processing; the backup has little or no effect on the virtual machine. The media server reads the snapshot data from the alternate client and writes the data to storage.