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Backup Large amount of data

Mauroreggio
Level 2

Hi all,
i plane to use Backup Exec for backup a large amount of data.
May farm was composed from about 20 servers wich an amount of 1,2 Tb of total data to backed up (File, SQL, Exchange).
In order to plane an efficient Backup, i project to change the actual backup system and migrate to Backup Exec.
In this migration, i desire find the right "MEDIA" support for save this amount of data.
My original idea is to plane One Full Backup a Week and other six Differential Backup for the rest of the week.
I think to backed up all this amount of data first in Disk and after in Tape (Disk to Disk to Tape Backup).
I've some question in my mind.
In your experience:
- All that i plane Is a good idea? Is this a good plane for one efficient data backup?
- wich kind of "Disk Support" is better? (NAS? SUN? Server with large amount of disk space? ... others?)
- If i backup before to Disk and after to tape (offline and from the data of the first backup process) is true that i make the firs backup proces more fast?
- wich kind of Tape support is better for this large amount of data?
Thank you all.
Mauro.
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

CraigV
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited

Hi Mauro,

Good luck...not a bad way to learn how BE works with D2D2T and a Differential set for your first installation...? smiley.
That will work well, as restores from disk would always be faster than tape, along with backing up to disk. Tape being better for offsite storage.
But, to answer your questions, here we go...

1. No...not a good idea to lump everything in 1 backup job. Your full backup job of 1.2TB is going to take a while. You also mentioned you have SQL and Exchange in the mix. Around this, I would recommend the following:
  • Split SQL and Exchange off in seperate jobs, and DON'T run Advanced Open File Option (AOFO). Reason for this is that snapshot backups can, and do, interfere with the way databases get backed up. You can end up with Exchange logs that don't clear, to SQL restores where you cannot redirect to another server. So this would be your first backup job...ONLY SQL/Exchange/any other databases...no AOFO
  • Take your server System State backups and file and print/installations etc, and create a second job. DO use AOFO for this...this makes sure any open files will be backed up.
2. Which disk to use...a NAS means that any server can have direct access to it...nice to have, but unless you're running a 1GB LAN, a bit pointless. A NAS is also going to be cheaper than most other disk. Iomega have the Stor Center line (we are implementing those), and they are cheap, come with up to 8TB disk capacity, and can be protected by RAID, as well as being easy to use.
Don't bother with USB...you will get terrible backup speeds.
Something else to consider would be SAN storage...something like an EMC AX4 CLARiiON, or a small HP StorageWorks MSA2000 G2. SAN is going to be faster than local disk or NAS, but cost is an issue here. If you have the budget, go for this, as it allows for better expansion too.

3. When you back up to disk first, there is a very good chance the first backup will be quicker. Tape doesn't respond very well when it has lots of stiop-start activity, like during the backup of a file server. Backing up to disk will create a *.bkf file, and streaming a solid file off to tape is going to be very fast. Going to disk is not a bad thing first, and that is probably what every vendor would recommend, based on what you choose for #2.

4. Nothing less than LTO4, and at least an autoloader. If you can swing for a tape library and need to use 2 or more drives, go for that. I have seen various postings that LTO5 isn't going to see much of an improvement in performance, and it is also expensive. LTO4 would have a compressed capacity of 1.6TB which would be more than enough for you.

Hope this helps...

Laters!

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6 REPLIES 6

CraigV
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited

Hi Mauro,

Good luck...not a bad way to learn how BE works with D2D2T and a Differential set for your first installation...? smiley.
That will work well, as restores from disk would always be faster than tape, along with backing up to disk. Tape being better for offsite storage.
But, to answer your questions, here we go...

1. No...not a good idea to lump everything in 1 backup job. Your full backup job of 1.2TB is going to take a while. You also mentioned you have SQL and Exchange in the mix. Around this, I would recommend the following:
  • Split SQL and Exchange off in seperate jobs, and DON'T run Advanced Open File Option (AOFO). Reason for this is that snapshot backups can, and do, interfere with the way databases get backed up. You can end up with Exchange logs that don't clear, to SQL restores where you cannot redirect to another server. So this would be your first backup job...ONLY SQL/Exchange/any other databases...no AOFO
  • Take your server System State backups and file and print/installations etc, and create a second job. DO use AOFO for this...this makes sure any open files will be backed up.
2. Which disk to use...a NAS means that any server can have direct access to it...nice to have, but unless you're running a 1GB LAN, a bit pointless. A NAS is also going to be cheaper than most other disk. Iomega have the Stor Center line (we are implementing those), and they are cheap, come with up to 8TB disk capacity, and can be protected by RAID, as well as being easy to use.
Don't bother with USB...you will get terrible backup speeds.
Something else to consider would be SAN storage...something like an EMC AX4 CLARiiON, or a small HP StorageWorks MSA2000 G2. SAN is going to be faster than local disk or NAS, but cost is an issue here. If you have the budget, go for this, as it allows for better expansion too.

3. When you back up to disk first, there is a very good chance the first backup will be quicker. Tape doesn't respond very well when it has lots of stiop-start activity, like during the backup of a file server. Backing up to disk will create a *.bkf file, and streaming a solid file off to tape is going to be very fast. Going to disk is not a bad thing first, and that is probably what every vendor would recommend, based on what you choose for #2.

4. Nothing less than LTO4, and at least an autoloader. If you can swing for a tape library and need to use 2 or more drives, go for that. I have seen various postings that LTO5 isn't going to see much of an improvement in performance, and it is also expensive. LTO4 would have a compressed capacity of 1.6TB which would be more than enough for you.

Hope this helps...

Laters!

Hywel_Mallett
Level 6
Certified
I agree with Craig.

In your situation, D2D2T would seem to make sense. Using a weekly full and daily differentials/incrementals, plus the synthetic full backup option from the Advanced Disk-based Backup Option will allow you to create daily full backups on tape. You might find this a great timesaver in the event of a restore-from-scratch disaster.

Make sure you have plenty of space on your backup disks, and that you can both read from and write to them quickly. If you can afford SAN fast storage for this, then you might find that you have more options in the future should you wish to use some of the more advanced Backup Exec features (such as the Shared Storage Option).

It would be worth spending more initially and getting an autoloader, and LTO 4. That should mean you're not looking to upgrade again too quickly. Again, if you can stretch to a fiber channel autoloader, it might pay dividends in the future.

Spend some time learning how policies work (if you're not already familiar), and be prepared to configure plenty of backup selection lists, and let the policies create lots of jobs. While it might seem daunting initially, I find it much more manageable in the long run than trying to manage jobs manually.

Mauroreggio
Level 2

Thanks, all two give me more points for decide better.
Really thanks.
P.S. Is not my first installation of Backup Exec, but always i work in Small Business Enviroment, for this i desire know much more opinion and experiences before start. Sorry for my english and sorry for "sUn" instead of "sAn" :)
Mauro.

CraigV
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited

Cool Mauro...should any of it help, can you close this off with the solution?

Thanks!

teiva-boy
Level 6
Just an FYI, using a NAS is limiting as you cannot use it as a deduplication storage folder only as a B2D location.
Unless your NAS supports iSCSI targets.

It's better to get a purpose built SAN if it fits in your budget, and front end it with a NAS head, than to buy a NAS with iSCSI capabilities (unless it's a NetApp or the like)

Alternatively, you can just use a large DAS connected to the BackupExec media server...  Dell's MD3000 series scales to well over 190TB of capacity over a SAS connection.

CraigV
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited

Any news on this one...?