Protecting the catalog in highly available environments
The NetBackup catalog contains information about both existing backups and the backup policy, including what gets backed up when and to where and how long the backup is kept for. As such the catalog is a single point of failure and needs to be protected. Using the RAID storage provides some protection against storage failure. Replication can also protect against storage failure and site loss. Regular backups of the catalog can protect against corruption and accidental data loss.
See Table: NetBackup catalog protection in highly available environments. discusses the various methods for protecting NetBackup catalogs.
Table: NetBackup catalog protection in highly available environments
Protection Method | Description |
|---|---|
Catalog backups | The catalog backup protects the NetBackup catalog on the primary server against both hardware failure and data corruption and catalog backups should be made on a regular basis, ideally at least daily. The catalog backup is policy-based so it has all of the scheduling flexibility of a regular backup policy. As the policy allows for incremental backups, catalog backup times for large catalogs can be significantly reduced. However it should be noted that recovery from incremental backups can take longer due to the need to restore. Catalog backups written to tape use media from the Catalog Backup volume pool only. For more information, refer to the NetBackup Administrator's Guide, Volume I. |
Catalog replication | Catalog replication is the process of creating and managing duplicate versions of a catalog database. Catalog replication copies a database and synchronizes a set of replicas so that the changes that are made to one replica are reflected in all the others. Replicating the catalog to a standby primary server at the disaster recovery or alternate site ensures rapid catalog recovery at the disaster recovery site. Continuous replication ensures that the catalog is as up to date as the replication link allows. Note: Replication does not protect against catalog corruption or accidentally deleting or expiring images. You must make regular scheduled catalog backups. |
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