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 datacenter can back up to a disaster recovery site.
One-to-many model	A single production datacenter 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 datacenters 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 an event occurs	Event description
1	The originating primary 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 the original domain to the target domain.
2	The target primary server (Domain 2)	The storage server in the target domain recognizes that a replication event has occurred. It notifies the NetBackup primary server in the target domain.
3	The target primary server (Domain 2)	NetBackup imports the image immediately, based on an SLP that contains an import operation.
4	The target primary 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.

Figure: Typical A.I.R. setup

Configuring Auto Image Replication (A.I.R.)

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 primary server for A.I.R.

Open the web UI.
At the top right, click Settings > Global security.
Select the Trusted primary servers tab.
Click Add.
Enter the remote primary server name.
On the Validate CA tab, click Next to confirm the entry.
On the Verify CA fingerprint tab, review and click Next.
On the Select authentication method tab, select one of the following:
- Select Specify authentication token of the trusted primary server and enter the token in the token field.
- Select Specify credentials of the trusted primary server and enter the username and password.
Repeat these steps in the target domain. Use the source primary server name as the primary 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 NetBackup web UI to configure the MSDP storage server, disk pool, and storage unit.

Deploying the certificate at the storage server of the source domain

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 the target NetBackup primary server:

Windows:

install_path\NetBackup\bin
\nbcertcmd -getCACertificate -server target_primary_server

UNIX:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin
/nbcertcmd -getCACertificate -server target_primary_server

On the source MSDP storage server, run the following command to get the certificate generated by target NetBackup primary server:

Windows:

install_path\NetBackup\bin
\nbcertcmd -getCertificate 
-server target_primary_server -token token_string

UNIX:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin
/nbcertcmd -getCertificate 
-server target_primary_server -token token_string

Setting up the MSDP replication target

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. Set up the replication target at the source domain.

To set up the replication target

On the primary 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 Replication 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 username and password are the credentials that are used to configure the MSDP server in the target domain.

Configuring a storage lifecycle policy (SLP) for A.I.R.

To run a target A.I.R., you need to create an SLP at both the source domain and the target domain. Follow the procedures in Table: To configure an SLP.

Table: To configure an SLP

At target domain:	Open the web UI. On the left, click Storage > Storage lifecycle policies. Enter the storage lifecycle policy name and select the data classification. Click Add. From the Operation list, select Import. For the Destination storage, select the storage unit of the target MSDP storage server. Click Create to complete the SLP creation.
At source domain:	Open the web UI. On the left, click Storage > Storage lifecycle policies. Enter the storage lifecycle policy name and select data classification. Click Add. From the Operation list, select Backup. For the Destination storage, select the storage unit of the target MSDP storage server. Click Create option to complete the SLP creation.
Create a backup policy to perform a backup and run the SLP.	At the source domain, create a backup and use the SLP as the 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.

About Auto Image Replication (A.I.R.)

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