Question on Catalogs, local or CASO

[macpiano]

I backup files in one building (which is the CASO) to another building's media server using that remote server's dedupe etc. I want to make sure that if I need to do a restore that the remote media server where the files are being backed up has the catalogs for those restore jobs. I can go to that remote media server now and under the Restore selections those backed files show up. In case of a disaster in the first buidling which would destroy the servers and the backup devices that I would be able to easily get to the catalogs and do a restore. Otherwise all the trouble I'm taking to the files out of the building would be in vain.

[CraigV]

Hi,

Easiest way to check is to do a restore on that remote server.

When adding a server to a CASO, you have 3 options for your catalog and media info:

1. Decentralised on the remote server. In this case the CASO cannot delegate jobs etc. to the media server and is simply a single pane to check your media servers from.

2. Replicated where the MMS replicates the data to the CASO. In the event of MMS server failure it is an easy-enough recovery.

3. Centralised where the device and media information is located on the CASO. The downside here is if the CASO dies, your MMS servers won't run jobs until you get the CASO up and running again.

I decentralise my device/media information...but if you're initiating jobs from the CASO to the MMS, I'd look into Replicated. Otherwise centralise the information.

Like I said though, the only way to test is to actually run a restore of data to confirm the restores work.

[Joshua_Kane]

Hello:

You mentioned Dedupliction, so I am going to make an assumption that you are doing the following

1) Backing up the Server in Building A from the CASO server to the DeDuplication Folder

2) Running a Duplicate Job from the Server in Building A to the Server in Building B

If this is the case then both the catalog and the data will be local to the server in Building B.  This would ensure that you have both the Data and the catalogs and can perform a restore in the event of a disaster occurring.

[macpiano]

In my early days of dedupe I did that. Building A backed up its stuff to Building A dedupe and then duplicate job to Building B. I had major issues with the 2nd job failing so now I backup straight from Building A to dedupe folder in Building B. Correct me if I'm wrong but the process you're talking about requires the job to be setup from whatever Media server is backing up the orginal data and cannot be done from the CASO. That makes it a major pain.

[macpiano]

Cannot the CASO backup the Catalogs and shoot that job to another building?

[Joshua_Kane]

Macpiano:

If you have Backup Exec 2010 R3 and Hotfix 170962 installed then you do not have the limitation of having Server A run both the original and the duplicate.  With this hotfix we included something we branded as "Backup Exec Private Cloud Services"  This changes our Server Affinity model, and will allow you to not have the machine that ran the original backup, also be the one that has to run the duplicate job.  Complete informtion on these changes can be found in the following article TECH172464 

Let me know if that helps, and if you have any additional questions.

[macpiano]

Hooray, BE meets today's needs. I will take a look at that.

[macpiano]

I must confess that I have not been backing up my BE server stuff and have no clue where to start. Obviously I need to know how to back that up then replicate to another building.

I would like to know how to do step 2. above.

[macpiano]

Question on the Hotfix. I have installed it on the BE server and it looks like when I reinstall the remote agent from the console that it does 5 updates. Does it include this hotfix? I would hate to go to every server and then remove the old agent by hand and then push out the new one.

[AmolB]

When you push install agent or push updates from the BE console, all the new updates will 

be installed on the remote server, no need to uninstall any agent.