Backup to NAS over dedicated NIC

[OLDnTIRED]

I have 2 Win2003 servers, serverA is our file server and serverB is setup as a NAS with 4 x TB drives used strictly for backup purposes. Besides remote management serverB is only used for backups. ServerA is multi-homed with one NIC servicing the domain users on a class A 10.x.x.x IP with the default gateway set and “register this connection in DNS” set as well. The other NIC on serverA is using a class C 192.168.0.101 without a default gateway and without the “register this connection in DNS” checked.
ServerB is also multi-homed the same as serverA.
We also created entries in each hosts file on the servers pointing to each other. When I open a command prompt and ping the NETBIOS name of serverB from serverA the ping reply shows using the class C NIC which is what I expected.
However this is what I do not understand, during a backup with Backup Exec 11d when I monitor network performance using Task Manager on serverA it shows both NICs however it shows the Class A NIC as being used for the backup which is not what I want to happen. Is there a bug in the network monitoring on win2003 servers? I have yet to load up a packet monitoring package and start monitoring at that level and I would rather not have to. Has anyone here had the same experience?
Thanks for the help!

[RahulG]

You can use the network and security option in teh backup exec to run backup via specified Nic .
You can configure it from Tools| Options|Network and security
  Have look of this option and it might resolve your issue

[John_Stockard]

If I were trying to configure Backup Exec (or any backup product) to backup serverA to serverB over a dedicated NIC, here's how I would set it up (this assumes that Backup Exec is installed on serverB and it is remotely backing up serverA):

1. On both serverA and serverB, create four entries in each of their hosts file (remember that the hosts file on a Windows Server 2003 server is "C:\WINDOWS\System32\drivers\etc\hosts"):

serverA  10.x.x.x
serverA-bkp  192.168.0.101
serverB  10.x.x.x
serverB-bkp  192.168.0.102  # if this is the correct Class C IP addr for serverB's second NIC

2. In Backup Exec on serverB, configure it to backup serverA-bkp.  Do not use "serverA" as the hostname of the client that you want Backup Exec to backup.
3. Run a backup.  You should now see the backup traffic going from serverA to serverB over the dedicated 192.168.0.x network segment.

Alternatively, if Backup Exec is installed locally on serverA instead of serverB:

1. Create the hosts file entries on serverA and serverB, as listed above.
2. In Backup Exec on serverA, define your backup disk target to be \\serverB-bkp\sharename (substitute the actual name of the CIFS share in place of "sharename").  The key point in this step is to use "serverB-bkp" as the hostname in the CIFS path.
3.  Run a backup.  The backup data from serverA should now go to serverB's CIFS share over the dedicated 192.168.0.x network.

The key thing to keep in mind when you put multiple NICs in a server (regardless of the server's operating system) is that each IP address on the server should resolve to a unique hostname.  By adding a "-bkp" suffix to the hostname of each server on the dedicated 192.168.0.x backup network, you are ensuring that you can specify the exact path for the backup data to take.

[OLDnTIRED]

I did try the options to use the class C NIC in BE but any jobs that use remote agents fail because the remote computers are on the main class A network. BE is installed on serverA which just happens to be the way it was when I got here. ServerA used to backup to tape which was directly connected but the LTO drive dies and it was less expensive to build a NAS than buy a new drive.
This is my Setup.
Keep in mind I want to remove backup (writing to files) traffic off the main 100BM switch.
Domain uses a class A network schema 10.x.x.x network mask of 255.255.224.0
********************************************
ServerA main file server with BE11d installed with jobs that use the remote agent to backup folders on computers.
NIC1
IP 10.1.1.7 SM 255.255.224.0 DG 10.1.1.1

NIC2
IP 192.168.0.102 SM 255.255.255.0 DG blank

hosts file on ServerA.
192.168.0.101 ServerB
********************************************
ServerB
NIC1
IP 10.1.1.84 SM 255.255.224 DG 10.1.1.1

NIC2
IP 192.168.0.101 SM 255.255.255.0 DG blank

hosts file on ServerB
192.168.0.102 ServerA
********************************************
NIC2 on ServerA and NIC2 on ServerB are connected with a cross-over cable.
NIC1 on ServerA and NIC1 on ServerB are connected to the main network switch.
like I was saying opening a dos box on serverA and typing in "ping serverB" will result in a reply from the class C NIC which is exactly what I want.
Also a note, not sure if it means anything. In BE when I create the "backup-to-disk folder" I have to use the netbios name not the IP example \\serverB\<sharename> I tried using the IP like this \\192.168.0.101\<share name> but BE just times out.
Thanks again for the help. It maybe that BE is just not able to work the way I want it to.

[RahulG]

Did u try sepcifying the nic for the backup as I suggested before ??
 

[Ken_Putnam]

Have you tried publishing the Remote Agent to the backup network address on the media server

See the admin guide page 892

[#7]

Hello I would suggest you to configure that in the backup Exec, as mentioned in the previous suggesstions,

Click on Tools | Options | Network and security

Select the network you want backup exec to use in Network interface, Interface (drop down)

this should resolve the issue, let me know if this works for u

[OLDnTIRED]

Hi guys, yes I did try that option "Tools | Options | Network and security" however when I configured one of my jobs that uses the "remote agent" the job failed with "The Media Server was unable to connect to remote machine: <Server Name> using selected subnet: 0.0.0.0." The job can no longer find the computers on the class A network if I tell BE to only use the class C NIC. I'm just finishing the configuration listed by John and I also want to try the suggestion by Ken. I will keep you guys posted, thanks for the help so far!

[OLDnTIRED]

After configuring as per John, I can ping ServerB-bkp from ServerA and it uses the correct adaptor 192.x.x.x however serverA cannot connect to any shares on serverB-bkp and therefore BE just times out when trying to create new Backup-to-disk folders using \\serverB-bkp\<share name>.
I will keep plugging away at it.  Help is always appreciated.

[John_Stockard]

Take a look at the properties of the second NIC on serverB.  Make sure that both "Client for Microsoft Networks" and "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" is bound to and enabled on the second NIC.  If one or both of these services is disabled on the second NIC, that would account for the behavior that you're seeing (you can ping it, but Backup Exec can't attach to a CIFS share on it).

[OLDnTIRED]

Yep I checked that, both services are enabled on the NIC2 on serverB. I also moved NIC2 to the top of the connections order in advanced options under "network connections"

[John_Stockard]

What happens if you use Windows Explorer on serverA to try to browse to \\serverB-bkp\share ?  Does it time out, does it work, or does it pop up a dialog box asking for credentials?

Do you have Windows Firewall on serverB turned off?  Or at the very least, is it configured so that it's not trying to block or filter traffic on the second NIC on serverB?

[OLDnTIRED]

using a Windows Explorer  to connect to a share on serverB-bkp came up with an error "could not find server..."
BUT
I decided to do a little tinkering, I put my setup back to the original and decided to firewall NIC1 on serverB with an exception for "remote desktop" only. I left NIC2 un-checked in the firewall setup basically leaving it wide open on serverB. Low and behold the ^%#$% thing is working using NIC2. I did not want to change the connection order on serverA but I think that might have made a difference. The reason for leaving the connection order at NIC1 on top was to have network users with the most priority.
Basically I forced windows to use NIC2 for traffic between serverA and serverB.

[OLDnTIRED · Accepted solution]

ServerA, you can see the traffic on NIC2(bottom NIC)


ServerB, again NIC2 is the bottom NIC


I will run it this way for now, it works.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

[John_Stockard]

Congratulations on getting it working!

For extra performance, you could try tweaking the settings on both serverA and serverB for the second NIC so that the cross-over cable connection is using jumbo frames (an MTU higher than the default of 1500 bytes).  Just make sure you set the same value on both serverA and serverB.  This will give you a slightly better payload-to-header ratio on each of the packets that are going from serverA to serverB and might make your backups slightly faster.  But since your remote clients are backing up to serverA over a 100base-T connection, you may not see a huge increase in speed.

[OLDnTIRED]

That was my next project and thank you very much for the suggestion. I have 4 jobs that run, 2 backup files directly from the server and the other 2 are remote jobs. The majority of the data is on the file server so if I can tweak the backup time there then the other jobs can be rescheduled.
I do notice a 30 second lag to the start of a backup job where before it was instant (almost) I thing the ~30sec is where BE\OS is using NIC1 but fails then uses NIC2 and is successful. I have a copy of BE12 does it handle doing this better than 11d? If not maybe Symantec should look into adding this as a feature, I have talked to a lot of IT admin and they are tossing their tapes for a HD setup similar to what I'm using.
I'm not sure what the enterprise guys are using however the little jack-of-all-trades guys are constantly thinking outside the box just to get the job done. I would love to have a SAN for initial level1 backup  then backup that to a dedicated NAS but $ are short these days.