Catalog Replication Using AIR

[Abhijit_Srivast]

Hi All ,

I have a NBU environment where I have couple of masters servers . I have configured DD4500 ( Boost ) ( 10GBe + 8GB FC ) on both sites .

DD Replication by SLPs' is ought to be configured through SLP and I also intend to do the replication of NBU Catalog so that both master servers are sware of both the data centres .

I know , still assuming , that DD Replication through SLP is catalog aware but still there are Monthly and Yearly fulls which are happening on tapes through tape libraries .

#1 Do I need SLP for Catalor replication ?

#2 Do I need AIR for Catalog Replication ?

#3 Do I need a catalog replication ?

PS : NBU Hot catalog backup on tapes will be configured for both the sites for DR File Based Catalog Recovery .

[sdo · Accepted solution]

#1 Do I need SLP for Catalog replication ?

any replication of any backup between NetBackup 'domains' (i.e. master servers) will require SLPs on both sides.

#2 Do I need AIR for Catalog Replication ?

You need AIR to replicate between NetBackup 'domains', so yes.

#3 Do I need a catalog replication ?

If I can, I would do it.

However, it's one thing to replicate, it's another to think ahead and plan around how you would recover that image, and think... is it really useful?  i.e. ask yourself what it is a catalog of?  If both NetBackup domains each contain every image, then I don't really see a need to replicate the catalog image backups between each domain.

If all of your backups are on MSDP and you have a site fire that wipes out master-A and MSDP-A (and the disk pool storage), then having an off-site copy of catalog backup of master-A isn't going to be of much use, because there's no data to reference.

However, if you have, or expect to, accumulate lots of tape media that go off-site from site-A then having a copy of the catalog backup from master-A, copied by AIR, to master-B might be a good idea - and recovery of master-A would involve - building master-A, reverse import of catalog-A back from master-B, recover catalog-A on master-A.

[Will_Restore]

Don't mean to hijack this thread, we had Symantec rep tell us that AIR will allow us to replicate to remote site and tapes can be cut there.  Is that not possible?  Is AIR just catalog metadata and not the full image?

[sdo]

Oops - not sure how I implied anything like that...

...don't worry, a successfully replicated image ... is a complete copy of the backup image (and it should be de-duped at the receive side), but yes, it should most definitely be restorable from.

[sdo]

Tapes can definitely be cut from any replicated images.  So if you wanted to duplicate the catalog backup image from master-A on to tape in domain-B, then yes, of course.

Tapes cannot be cut from the contents of another master's catalog backup image - remember, a catalog backup of master-A, is just another backup image, and the receiving master-B does NOT merge the catalog database which is inside the catalog backup image from master-A into it's own master-B's catalog database.  Master-B just sees the catalog backup image from master-A (which is a catalog backup image of master-A) as just another image from a client named master-A in domain-A.

HTH

[Will_Restore]

Thanks, answers my concern and hopefully Abhijit_Srivastava too.