Optimized Duplication?

[RonCaplinger]

Just wondering if anyone knows if the 5200 provides duplication of the deduped data between other 5200's (a.k.a. optimized duplication).

[Gman63]

Yes. A 5200 is a Media Server Dedupe Server which can do optimized duplication between another 5200 or any other NetBackup Dedupe Storage Pool.

[teiva-boy]

There is one particular scenario where Opt Dupe doesnt work.  It's either 5000>5200 or the other way around.  One is not supported vs the other, I dont recall which.

[bartman10]

Gman63. I'm sorry but your're wrong. In a MSDP (media server dedupe pool) only one media server controlls the disk, other "media" servers are called Accelerator Servers. They accept client connections, dedupe data, then pass that data to the Media server who then writes the data to the disk it's controlling. 

Each MSDP is an "island".

Data from MSDP01 is not deduplicated agenst MSDP02. Also data backed up by a Media server to MSDP01 can't be restored by another Media server.

There is no "global" dedupe with MSDP. Don't believe me, contact your Symantec rep and ask.

For global dedupe and the ability for more than one media server to access and service the storage you'll need a PDSP (PureDisk Storage Pool)

I'm in the middle of a backup redesign going from 6.5.3 on Solairs to 7.0.1 on RHEL 5. I'm right in the middle of configuring the 85TB PDSP for storage.

I just got done going through getting my head around all of this for this upgrade and I have to say Symantecs own docs are HORID! They use the wrong terms, are confusing, and seem to be written by people who don't even know what they are talking about!

See my post near the bottom

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/netbackup-5000-specs

[AbdulRasheed · Accepted solution]

Just to put things in perspective I would like to interpret the original question. 

The fact that the post had 'optimized duplication' and the question was if it is possible to duplicate from one NB5200 to another, the answer is 'yes'. Hence GMAN63 wasn't wrong. 

You can do optimized duplications as follows.

    MSDP to MSDP

    MSDP to PDDO (PureDisk acting as a storage server for NetBackup)

Here MSDP can be on a media server or media server appliance like NB5200

PDDO can be a PureDisk storage pool or an PureDisk based appliance like NB5000, NB5020 etc. 

Hi bartman10,

  You are right in stating that MSDP cannot do deduplication across media servers. They are indeed dedupe islands. However GMAN63 answer to the question of optimized duplication from one NB5200 to another was also indeed correct.

  For a scalable global dedupe solution you need NB5000s or NB5020s. NB5200s are suitable as media servers in data centers. They can also function as a media server with dedupe for remote office use cases where the data from remote clients are backed up and deduped. Later they can be replicated (optimized duplication) to central data center which would be hosting a global dedupe pool based on NB50x0. This design uses less bandwidth as just the unique data is sent over WAN to central data center. You get local restores using the low retention images on NB5200, long term images are restored from NB50x0 over WAN. This design also makes the images at the central data center a DR hub for remote sites. 

Warm regards,

Rasheed

[Mr__Topaji]

Thank you AbdulRasheed. you've answered a very confusing set of questions