Backing up large catalogs in NBU 7.5

[BTLOMS]

How do you backup a large catalog fast and efficiently?

Netbackup 7.5.05

I see the the folder \db\snapshot\vm\

has millions of files under it. XML files.

We have about 1800 clients, of which about 1400 are VMs.

the current catalog backup takes more than 16 hours to complete and I would like to make this faster. Backup is to disk and the SLP to tape.

thanks,

[Marianne]

Seems you may have orphaned xml files from pre-7.5.0.5?

If you are doing regular ful VM backups, these xml files should be cleaned up.
You should be able to delete old, orphaned xml files.

See http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH207524

You should also be able to add exclude list for this folder. There is no need to backup these files with Catalog backup.

[BTLOMS]

the document talks about the VM backup host and the folder is '\NetBackup\online_util\fi_cntl'

but the folder I have mentioned here is on the master server.

[BTLOMS]

also - full vm backups are done once a week.

[Mark_Solutions]

This one does include that path : http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO50648

These would be needed for restores but it looks to me (looking at an up to date system) that old one have not all been cleaned up - so somewhere along the line there looks to have been a bug that stopped them cleaning up correctly

I would guess all old ones could be cleaned up - especially as they may well be zero bytes - but my advice would be to raise a support call and get a definitive answer as previosu posts have never had a resounding answer other than to leave them there and accept them

You would need to be as up to date as possible though as i can see that we have files as new as May when we would have been on 7.5.0.3 at least i would have thought

Log a call and do keep us updated

[BTLOMS]

yep. I see files from back in April. I have logged a call. Waiting for call back.

[Mark_Solutions]

Great - there have been a couple of similar posts in the past but never a real solution - i think that the majority (if not all apart from todays) can be deleted as theye are a temporary staging area before the information is drawn into the clients own catalog location (or EMM these days).

But i wont hit my delete key just yet!

[NBdmecha]

Once you have cleaned up all the .xml files not needed take a look at the possibility of archiving the catalogue if the catalogue backups keeps taking so much time.