Parts of the NetBackup catalog
The NetBackup catalog resides on the NetBackup master server. It manages and controls access to the following types of data:
Image metadata (information about backup images and copies (image header files)).
Backup content data (information about the folders, files, and the objects in a backup (.f files)).
NetBackup backup policies.
NetBackup licensing data.
The NetBackup error log.
The client database.
Cloud configuration files.
The catalog consists of the following parts:
Relational database files.
NetBackup uses the SQL Anywhere Relational Database Management System to store information in the NetBackup database (NBDB). The metadata includes information about the data that has been backed up, and about where the data is stored.
The image database.
The image database contains information about the data that has been backed up.
NetBackup configuration files.
The configuration files (databases.conf and server.conf) are flat files that contain instructions for the SQL Anywhere daemon.
NetBackup is sensitive to the location of the master server components. Running any part of NetBackup (the binaries, the logs, the database, the images) on a network share (NFS, for example) can affect performance of even normal operations.
NetBackup can be CIFS-mounted on SAN or NAS storage as long as the average I/O service times remain less than 20 milliseconds.
The storage must also meet certain conditions to ensure the Sybase requirement for data integrity:
The order of file writes must be guaranteed.
When a write request is issued, the write must complete to the physical storage. The write request must not merely be buffered when the SAN or the NAS returns from the write call.
See the following article for more information:
