How does NetBackup resolve SQL Server host and instance names?
Normally SQL Server identifies its installations with a combination that includes the name of the host on which the installation resides plus an instance name. If you omit the instance name then NetBackup assumes that the installation is the default installation on the host. For example, a single host may contain several SQL Server installations, such as, TIGER, TIGER\ACCOUNTING, and TIGER\WAREHOUSE. A clustered instance of SQL Server resides jointly on multiple hosts and is identified with a virtual name.
When you use SQL Server Intelligent Policies, backups are cataloged as follows:
| Environment | Catalog name | Example |
|---|---|---|
Instances or databases | Host name that is registered in instance management Usually NetBackup discovers an instance automatically and you register the instance with the NetBackup client name. | sqlhost1 |
SQL Server cluster | Virtual name of SQL Server | virtsql |
Multi-NIC | Private interface name of SQL Server host | sqlhost1-NB |
SQL Server cluster in a multi-NIC environment | Private interface name of the virtual SQL Server | virtsql-NB |
| Environment | Catalog name | Example |
|---|---|---|
Instances or databases | NetBackup client name Usually, host name on which SQL Server resides or the host's NetBIOS name. May also be the IP name (for example, | sqlhost1 |
SQL Server cluster | Virtual name of SQL Server | virtsql |
Multi-NIC | Private interface name of SQL Server host | sqlhost1-NB |
SQL Server cluster in a multi-NIC environment | Private interface name of the virtual SQL Server | virtsql-NB |
SQL Server Availability Group (AG) | Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) | sql-ag-cluster.mycompany.com |
In most cases when you browse for backup images using the NetBackup Microsoft SQL Client, you only need to specify the name. This setting appears in the Backup History Options dialog box.
NetBackup then displays the backup images for all of the instances on that host. However, to ensure that NetBackup displays the backup images you want, consider the following special cases:
Backups on a network interface that do not have the same name as the host name (such as tiger1 or tiger.apexworks.com)
In this case, the backup images are stored under the network interface name and not the NetBIOS name. To retrieve these images, see the following instructions:
See Performing restores of SQL Server when you have multiple NICs.
Backups from a UNIX (or Linux) server
This scenario may present a problem because UNIX names are case-sensitive, whereas Windows names are not. In this case, NetBackup tries to retrieve the backup images by specifying the client name with all upper case characters or all lower case characters. If the UNIX client name has mixed uppercase and lowercase characters, you must provide the client name in the box field.
SQL Host: TIGER
Source Client: Tiger
The NetBackup client name is a qualified domain name. The SQL Server host name or registered host name (Intelligent Policies) is the NetBIOS name.
To retrieve backup images specify the as the NetBIOS name and the as the fully qualified domain name.
SQL Host: Tiger
Source Client: tiger.apexworks.com
The NetBackup client name is an IP address. The SQL Server host name or registered host name (Intelligent Policies) is the NetBIOS name.
To retrieve backup images specify the as the NetBIOS name and the as the IP address:
SQL Host: Tiger
Source Client: 10.80.136.68
Backups of a SQL Server cluster
This scenario does not present an issue because the images are stored under the cluster name. For the specify the virtual name of the SQL Server and use the default value for the .