About multiple media servers with one primary server
A protection domain refers collectively to the NetBackup primary server, its NetBackup media servers, and its NetBackup clients. In a group of NetBackup servers, a client can have backups directed to any device on any server in the group.
Set up a NetBackup protection domain as follows:
One primary server, which controls all backup scheduling.
Multiple media servers, which write the backup images to disk or removable media. They can have peripheral devices to provide additional storage.
Multiple protected NetBackup clients, which send their data to the media servers.
A common alternative strategy is to install extra peripherals on the clients that produce large amounts of data. The primary server directs the data from the client to the client's peripherals, which reduces network traffic because the data does not traverse the network. This strategy also distributes the backup load between the primary and the media servers.
The following are important factors to remember about primary and media servers:
There can be only one primary server in a group.
A NetBackup primary server is a media server for itself but cannot be a media server for another primary server.
Figure: Catalog location using multiple media servers shows where software is installed and where the NetBackup catalogs are located (by default).
Install NetBackup server software on each NetBackup server that has a peripheral that you want to include in a storage unit. The NetBackup installation program has choices for primary and media server installation.
The primary server is the default location for the NetBackup catalogs. The catalogs include the media and the volume database. The volume database contains the media usage information and the volume information that are used during the backups.
Storage servers and disk volumes are monitored for connectivity and capacity using one of the media servers that is credentialed to access the storage device. Resource connectivity state changes are recorded in bperror -disk reports. If storage resources become unavailable, new jobs are not scheduled until this connectivity path is re-confirmed through the previously selected media server.
If the problem exists only between the selected media server and storage, a new path is not automatically selected. You need to change the NetBackup configuration to use a different media server.
To force the storage server to use a different media server, the following commands can be executed from the problematic media server:
tpconfig -delete -storage_server <storage server> -stype <storage type> -sts_user_id <userid>
bpstsinfo -resyncREM -servername <primary server name>
To perform the change using the NetBackup Administration Console
- Select Credentials > Storage Servers.
- Right-click on the storage server name and select Change.
- Deselect the problematic media server.
- Execute the following command on the storage server:
bpstsinfo -resyncREM -servername <primary server name>