Backup Admins daily tasks to manage Symantec Netbackup Server

Daily tasks of Backup Admins

In this article I would like to share what Symantec consulting recommends that Netbackup Administrator perform the following tasks to ensure a properly funtioning Netbackup domain.

This information has been taken from from Symantec Netbackup Configuration Report document.

Monitor all NetBackup daemons are running on the master and all media servers. This can be monitored from the Console > Activity Monitor >Daemons.
Monitor all NetBackup processes are running on the master and all media servers. This can be done from the Console > Activity Monitor > Processes tab.
Monitor all backup jobs and investigate any failed jobs. This can be done from the Console > Activity Monitor > Jobs tab.
Monitor the health of all backup devices. This can be done from the Console > Media and Device Management > Device Monitor
If the drives are in a down or unknown state, investigate the causes through system logs or Event Viewer logs. Downed drives can be upped from Console > Media and Device Management > Device Monitor > select one or multiple drives > Actions > select Up Drive.
If the drives are in an unknown state, reset the drive to NetBackups known state from Console > Media and Device Management > Device Monitor > select one or more device > Actions > Reset Drive.
Resolve any pending tape mount requests for restores or backups. When NetBackup cannot automatically service a tape mount request due to a particular media not being available, operator action is required to complete the request. This can be seen from Console > Device and Media Management > Device Monitor > Drives Tab. After the requested media is inserted into an available drive, from the Actions > select Assign Request.
Monitor availability of Media in the scratch pool for the daily backup operations. This can be done from the Console > Media and Device Management > Media and selecting the Scratch Pool.
Pre-labeling media will speed up mounting of tapes during backups. To pre-label tapes, from the Console > Media and Device Management > Media > select the volumes to be labeled on the right pane > Actions > select Label and check “Verify media label before operation”.
Monitor for Frozen and inactive media. This can be done from Console > NetBackup Management > Reports > Tape Reports > Tape Summary. A frozen media is unavailable for backups and never expires. To unfreeze the media, from the Console > Media and Device Management > Media > select the media to be unfreezed and Actions > Unfreeze.
Monitor the NetBackup Problems Reports or All Log Enteries reports for NetBackup Errors. This can be done from Console > NetBackup Management > Reports > Problems or All Log Entries. The Troubleshooter can be launched by selecting a particular line in the reports pane and right clicking to get additional menu items as shown below. Troubleshooter provides explanation and tips for resolutions of the problems.

Monitor the disk space for NetBackup Catalogs and log files. If necessary add additional space before the file system gets full.
Periodically run the check_coverage script from the /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies directory to verify that there are no gaps in client file system backups.

Performance metrics of Symantec Netbackup Server

Symantec consulting recommends the following metrics be tracked on a regular basis to ensure an optimally performing NetBackup infrastructure.

Master Server:

CPU load: Recommend that it be less than 80% throughout the backup window.
Memory usage: Less than 90% usage all through the backup window.
Catalog Disk Space: Less than 90% full.
Daily Backup Volumes: Trends point to impending problems with the capacity of the infrastructure.
Backup Jobs outside the window: Points to schedule adjustments.
Backup Failures: Recommend less than 5%.
Backup Failure Code Trends: Points to other environmental problems in the enterprise.
Media in the scratch pool: Recommended to have at least twice the number of media required for a weekly full.
Restore Start Times: Points to tape drive resource contentions.