Alternative A: dedicated robot for Vault processing
In a multi-robot environment, dedicate one robot strictly for vault processing. The media in this robot contains only the duplicate backup copies that are to be ejected and sent to the off-site vault. This configuration works best in a storage area network (SAN) environment where all media servers have direct access to the vault robot. That way the duplication step does not send data over the network.
Two ways to achieve this configuration are as follows:
Use a NetBackup policy to create multiple original backup images concurrently. Write the first backup image (the primary backup) to a storage unit that is not in the Vault robot. Write one of the other originals to the Vault robot and assign it to the off-site volume pool. Configure a Vault profile to eject all media in that vault's off-site volume pool. This configuration requires that all robots that are used be connected to the same NetBackup media server.
Use Vault to duplicate images. Backup images are duplicated from all other robots to the Vault robot. Use one of the following alternatives to configure Vault to perform duplication:
On the Duplication tab of the Profile dialog box, do not select or . For each backup image, the media server that performed the backup also performs the duplication. All media servers send duplication data to the Destination Storage Unit media server. If the Destination Storage Unit media server is not the same as the media server that performed the backup, the data is sent over the network.
On the Duplication tab of the Vault Profile dialog box, specify the destination storage unit's media server as the Alternate Read Server but do not select . If the alternate read server also has access to all of the backup robots, no data is sent over the network.
On the Choose Backups tab of the Profile dialog box, specify All Media Servers in the list. On the Duplication tab, select , select , then create an entry for each media server in your environment. To avoid sending duplication data over the network, for each media server entry specify the destination storage unit's media server as the alternate read server. That server must have access to all the robots that hold the source images so they will be duplicated. Ensure that the total number of write drives that are specified in the Write Drives column for each entry does not exceed the number of drives in the Vault robot.
If you use this alternative, do not use storage unit in your backup policies unless only your Vault storage units are set to . Using for other storage units may cause images not intended for off-site storage to be written to the Vault robot. You can achieve the same behavior provided by storage unit by configuring your backup policies to use a storage unit group that includes all storage units except for the vault robot's. Note: if you use storage unit groups you cannot make multiple copies simultaneously.
Note:
Alternate read servers apply to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.
Advantage | This configuration is most convenient for the operator, who can eject and inject tapes from only one robot, simplifying the tape rotation process. |
Disadvantage | In a complex environment, this alternative can be difficult to configure if you want to avoid sending duplication data over the network. |