Centralized Data Collector
A centralized Data Collector can collect data from all backup products. You can also include other enterprise objects, such as storage arrays, SAN switches, Compute, and Cloud assets for a Centralized Data Collector. A centralized Data Collector resides on a separate Windows or Linux Server and remotely connects to NetBackup Primaries using Secure Shell Protocol (SSH), Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), or via REST APIs.
If you are collecting data from Veritas Backup Exec, third-party Data Protection Vendors, Storage Arrays, SAN switches and cloud assets, then you must choose a centralized Data Collector. Note that there can be situations where you can also use a centralized Data Collector to collect from NetBackup, but Cohesity typically recommends using a distributed Data Collector for NetBackup and a centralized Data Collector for all other subsystems you are collecting the data from.
NetBackup security hardening, such as implementing Multifactor Authentication and using a non-privileged service account, adds complexity and additional configuration steps, leveraging the centralized Data Collector for NetBackup collections. There are also additional networking / firewall considerations with a centralized Data Collector for NetBackup.
You can have a mix of distributed and centralized Data Collectors. In the illustration below, a centralized Data Collector is installed in a data center and it collects data from many different subsystems.
A single instance of a centralized Data Collector can support any number of enterprise objects. However, each environment has its own unique deployment configuration requirements, so it is important to understand where the Data Collector software must be installed to determine how many Data Collectors must be installed and which servers are best suited for the deployment. It is also important to understand that you might want a combination of distributed and centralized Data Collectors, particularly if you are collecting data from other third-party subsystems. A distributed Data Collector embedded by default on a NetBackup Primary Server can only be used to collect data from NetBackup or Veritas Alta Data Protection.
Whether you need to install the Data Collector software depends on the NetBackup version and whether NetBackup is clustered. For NetBackup 10.1.1 or later, the distributed Data Collector binary is already pre-installed provided it is not deployed in a clustered environment. You have the option to configure the data collector to point to NetBackup IT Analytics or Alta View. Note that from NetBackup 10.4 onwards, Data Collector is optional to install. If you are planning to use NetBackup IT Analytics or Alta View, you must opt to install Data Collector while installing/upgrading NetBackup. But if you did not install the Data Collector initially, and later decided to use Alta, then you must install it manually.
For clustered NetBackup Primary Servers or NetBackup Primary Servers on a NetBackup release prior to 10.1.1, a Data Collector is not installed by default and the Data Collector binaries must be manually installed.