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Can 2 NB environment access the same tape library/drives and disk storage ?

perez_cmz
Level 6

I ask because I am in the process of building a new 7.5 environment, parallel to our existing 7.1 environment.

The 7.1 environment contains a shared/global master server, with our own local media servers (4). The local 7.1 media servers access a local IBM tape library and Data Domain 860

The new 7.5 environment will be completely local (1 master, 4 media servers). As part of my testing in this new environment, I want to be able to test backing up to the tape libraries and data domain.

So can the new 7.5 environment access the same tape libraries and data domain as the 7.1 environment, without effecting any of the backups in the 7.1 environments ?

10 REPLIES 10

mph999
Level 6
Employee Accredited

I can't see how you could share a library as there can only be one robot control host.

I wouldn't recommend it anyway, as there is too high a risk of overwring live tapes.

Disk, possible, as NBU would know which images belong to 'it' and would leave anything else alone, but again, i wouldn't risk this personally.  I've seen too many of these sorts of things go wrong.

Martin

 

Marianne
Moderator
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To share the same tape libraries you would need a single EMM database.

As far as I am aware NBU does not support one EMM with multiple masters.

If your library supports partitioning, you could split of media and tape drives into different logical partitions.

StefanosM
Level 6
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since now netbackup supports multiple masters with the same EMM database. But I do not recommend it to you. And if you read the manual, all masters that sharing EMM database must be at the same version.

It is complex and most important, the next major netbackup release (8.0) will drop this future.

Better to go with library partitioning, as Marianne suggests. IBM supports partitioning to all there libraries (with two drives and up), as far as I know. And for DD is not a problem to handle more than one backup domains.

 

Nicolai
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You can use Oracle ACSLS to share Oracle libraries.

mph999
Level 6
Employee Accredited

Hmm, adding to the posts that mention multiple masters on a single EMM server, I don't think a single EMM server with multiple masters is supported anymore, it used to be but I think it was dropped, or will be dropped in the future.

EDIT  - ahh, just seen that it will be dopped at NBU 8 as per the post above.

M

perez_cmz
Level 6

Thank you everyone for this helpful information.

Does Symantec have any documentation suggesting against sharing library and disk between 2 masters (different versions) ?

I'd just like to have something to show my peers/management from Symantec. Thanks again everyone.

Marianne
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With different NBU versions, your only choice is to partition the library.

There will be no Symantec documentation for this feature as NBU has no knowledge of shared hardware. 
The hardware partitioning makes it look like physical different devices at OS and NBU level.

You will have to manually separate media between the two masters.

If you need to split the current NBU master to separate images and media between the 2 masters, you will need assistance from a Consulting partner.
See http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH31385

Ray_Esperanzate
Level 4

With regards to the DataDomain question, how are you utilizing the DataDomain ? Are you writing to it using CIFS/NFS as Basic Disk STUs on NBU ?  Or are you using DDBOOST ?  VTL ?

 

If you are using them as basic disk, you can create a new share and point your new environment to it.  

If you are using DDBoost, you can create a separate ddboost storage unit for the new environment.

If you are using VTL, you can setup a new library and configure that in your new environment.

As far as "sharing" goes, are you talking about the new environment seeing the data that the old environment backed up ?  If so, then no, you can't do that.  But if you mean sharing the same units, but having the backups segregated, then yes.  

 

 

perez_cmz
Level 6

I just want to be able to access my tape libraries and data domain from the new nbu for testing.

Once testing is completed, only the new nbu environment will access the libraries and data domain.

Is there a temporary solution to be able to perform the testing ?

Ray_Esperanzate
Level 4

What type of testing are you going to be performing ?  If it is just a matter of functionality, you can do what i stated above with the DataDomain as you are basically setting up a different location for backups to go to that will not impact your current backups.  

 

 

As far as the library goes, there is no way to guarantee that both environments won't step on each other, which is why you will need to setup some sort of partitioning (if possible for your library).