Forum Discussion

siva1995j's avatar
siva1995j
Level 1
5 years ago

Can we share libraries between two netbackup domains

I have one master and 20 media servers in domain1 which are using 2 tape libraries (IBM 3573-TL, IBM ULT3580-HH7). Now I want to move 2 media servers to another master server. My question is, after moving the 2 media servers to domain2, will they still able to access domain1 tape libraries and images in those tapes?

If no, what changes i need to do in order to access those?

8.1.2
  • RiaanBadenhorst's avatar
    RiaanBadenhorst
    Level 6
    5 years ago
    Hi

    If your tape libraries can be partitioned then they can be shared between domains. Partitioning them will logically partition them and present a part to each domain.
  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    Level 6
    5 years ago

    To expand on RiaanBadenhorst 's post:

    A master server has 100% control of ALL resources - devices such as tape library, Tape drives, Tapes (media), Media Servers and backup images.

    It is impossible to share any of these across masters.

    If you partition a library to give access to a new master server, you will need to assign dedicated tape drives and new media to this partition. Any media belonging to the old master will be seen as new and will be overwritten. 
    Seeing that you have 2 tape libraries, you can remove one tape library from the original master, but you will need to properly remove devices and media servers. All tapes with valid images will need to be removed from the library and ownership assigned to remaining media servers. 

    A media server can only have one master/EMM server. So, it will only have access to backup images on it's current (new) master.
    When you move a media server to a new master, it can no longer access images or tapes on the old master. 

    'Domain split' can be done with catalog manipulation tools - this is a paid-for consulting exercise. 

    • Marianne's avatar
      Marianne
      Level 6
      5 years ago
      I have explained what is involved to do Domain split over here:
      https://vox.veritas.com/t5/NetBackup/Modify-images-in-order-to-point-new-master-server/td-p/873679

      What you want to accomplish is called a domain split.
      Only trained catman consultants can do this.
      Even to an experienced consultant, domain split is the most complex catalog manipulation and requires a lot of pre-work.

      You firstly need to group the media servers with their clients - all clients that will move to the new master server, will need to ONLY backup to the media servers that will move to the new master server.
      All clients that will stay with old master server, must only backup to media servers that will stay behind.

      Something like this:
      Group1: Client1, Client2, Client3, ClientX, ClientZ - will stay in existing environment on Media1 Media2 Media3.
      Group2: Client4, Client5, ClientY, etc will move with Media4 Media5 Media6 to new master.
      List images for clients in Group1 that reside on media servers that will be in Group2. (bpimmedia )
      Duplicate those images to Group1 media servers. Expire images on Group2 media servers.
      Do the same for Group2 clients.
      You need a good knowledge of NBU commands such as bpimmedia, bpduplicate and bpexpdate as mistakes can be costly and cannot be reversed.
      You also need to ensure that there is sufficient space on Appliances.
      You should not duplicate (or backup) images for 1 client to more than one Appliance - you lose global dedupe if images reside on multiple media servers.

      The steps above is not part of a standard catman engagement, but if you engage with an experienced consultant, they may add additional consulting hours to assist.

      Once the clients are split along media servers, your environment is ready for domain split using catman tools.
      The catman tools will transfer images, and other DBs from Master1 to Master2 and perform that database name change on Master2.
      Group1 media servers is then removed from Master2 and the same for Master1.

      If you do it any other way, you will have no support from Veritas.

      Domain split is also part of this Article:

      DOCUMENTATION: How to migrate the NetBackup catalog information from one platform to another (UNIX to Windows or vice versa), rename a Master Server, cluster an existing Master Server, or merge multiple NetBackup domains.
      http://www.veritas.com/docs/000026956