Is 6.0 MP3 stable on Windows Platform?

[CheeHoong_CHONG]

Hi Gurus,
Have been using 5.0 MP3 since implementation 2years ago. Considering 6.0 MP4 beta out soon, we are thinking of upgrading to 6.0 MP3 if it is stable to address existing problems of frequent frozen medias, slow linux thruput, incorrrect NBU reports etc...Master-server on win2k sp4 and clients on win2k sp4, win2k3 sp1, redhat linux & aix 5.3 tl5. Any advise? TIA

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

Hi Chee Hoong,

If your idea is to have NB6 addressing the frozen media and slow thru-put, my opinion is that you should find the root cause and rectify them first. As for the reports, if you're referring to NBAR, NB6 provide NOM which comes free but you should evaluate first because it may still not meet your expectation althouigh there're some fancy features (which some are still unstable).

In summary, NB6 is not going to provide the extra stability (in fact it maybe reverse) and if its new features are not the driving factors, why go through the pain of upgrading? The root cause of the existing problems should be rectified unless they are identified and confirmed its due to NB5 limitation or NB6 already had them fixed.

[AKopel]

Agreed... Frozen media/slow clients would not normally be caused by NBU5.

AK

[Dennis_Strom]

I agree with the above. If you are having problems with 5.1 you will have even more problems with 6.0 mp3.

good tuning forum discussion covers a lot.
http://forums.symantec.com/discussions/thread.jspa?threadID=67607&tstart=0

When I took over my current environment I had a lot of frozen media. I cleaned my drives but then I also started replacing drives. They wear out and need replacement from time to time. I also quite unfreezing media. I got me boss to pay for new media and just started to remove frozen media. I occasionally get frozen media now but not very often.

Just wanted to add I also upgraded the firmware on my drives robots and HBA's.Message was edited by:
Dennis Strom

[CheeHoong_CHONG]

I fully agree with all above advise. However, at 5.0MP3, we could not use firmware version 53Y3 for the Dell PV-132T drives and Dell must downgrade the firmware to 37RH version each time after a drive change occurs. Otherwise, NBU cannot 'see' the new drive or robot.We advised operator to perform daily drives cleaning. Sometimes, new medias got frozen for unknown reason. As for the reports viewed under admin console, some displays contradicts one another. Furthermore, linux thruput is snail pace. If 6.0MP3 not recommended, would any other version of 6.0MP? or 5.1MP? recommended as being resonably more stable? 5.0MP3 is way too obsolete, let alone stability. Lastly, what about 5.0MP6? TIA

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

Have you consider 5.1MP5?
I'm experience Linux client running at about 15MB/s.

[CheeHoong_CHONG]

Beng,
Sure, our options open until we feel comfortable which version to upgrade to which I hope is soon. Thanks. Much appreciated.

[CheeHoong_CHONG]

I have checked with our Hong Kong office. They are using 5.1MP5 too without any problem. I am keen on this same version. Any advice to the contrary? Another reason we need to upgrade is to implement "Netbackup agent for domino" to backup our lotus notes database without needing to shutdown the application. Pre-requisite is 5.0MP6. TIA

[zippy]

CheeHong,

I would use 5.1 MP5 because its stable and is works great. Over the past year I have seen many problems with 6.0 and have not upgraded to it yet, I have tested it but have found that it a resource pig and a pain to take care of, just take a look at some of the MP descriptions and what they fix, just looking at the data makes you want to barf.

Just my two cents.

JD

[Dennis_Strom]

I manage two sites. Remote site is 5.1 mp3 and now that I have 100% control of it I do not have any problems. I have my local site that I upgraded (downgraded?) to 6.0 mp3 and I have ran into several problems that have caused failures and James in correct 6.0 is a resource hog. Knowing what I know now I would not go to 6.0, I would stay at 5.1 for as long as possible.

Having the catalog span multiple tapes is great, having bpsched not hang is great. The trade off is Netbackup now hangs and the scheduling just does not work sometimes. Now instead of bpsched hanging and not being able to kill that process I have to deal with nbproxy and nblib so I actually have twice as many problems and that does not include any of the other problems I am chasing.

Before going to 6.0 I thought Netbackup was the greatest, now I am wonding how long I have to endure this. I am confident it will be good again, but cripes.

[CheeHoong_CHONG]

James/Strom,
You certainly put 2 ticks to 5.1 for stability. For the time being, I shall stick to 5.1MP5 which our principal office is using.Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Anymore feedback from other Gurus? TIAMessage was edited by:
CheeHoong CHONG

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

Hi Chee Hoong,

As I mentioned, go for 5.1 for stablility and if there's no driving factors for version 6's features. Meanwhile, you can log a case with Symantec to check whether firmware version 53Y3 for the Dell PV-132T drives is supported in 5.1 as well as other problems (e.g. reports from admin console, etc).

Just some minor point on NB5:
- when one discovered some bug affacting both version 5 & 6, Symantec maybe more motivated to provide the fix on 6 first. I recently had a case and still trying hard to get Symantec to provide the fix on 5 instead of just 6.
- the de-support date for version 5. What I understood from Symantec is that the general practise for end-of-support of a version is 2 years after the following next major release is GA (e.g. 2 years after version 7 is GA) which I consider pretty safe but you may want to verify with Symantec again.

[CheeHoong_CHONG]

Beng,
Will do. We have the CDs for 5.1(Windows, AIX, Linux), how to get MP5 on respective platforms? Also, need to upgrade VxSS version? Thanks again.Message was edited by:
CheeHoong CHONG

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

Correction, end-of-support for 5.x is 3rd Oct'2007. Please refer the details on the following Symantec document:
http://ftp.support.veritas.com/pub/support/products/NetBackup_DataCenter/279039.pdf

As for downloading patches, Symantec just re-org the layout of support.veritas.com site, let me try out first.

Here's one of the possible steps that give more exact results:
go to http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/overview.jsp?pid=15143
click on Knowledge Base on right side of the page,
enter "patch" in the search,
check the "download" selection, uncheck others,
Select the version and platform
and click the ">" button beside.Message was edited by:
Chia Tan Beng

[DavidParker]

Chong,
You can download MP5 for whatever platform you need from the support site:
http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/knowledge_base.jsp?pid=15143

Just check the 'Downloads' search criteria and enter the appropriate version (5.1) and platform (whatever you need) and then search for Maintenance Pack.

You'll find a bunch of results depending on the platform you're selecting.

DP

[h_m]

If you are geetting frozen tapes then you really need to sort this out, and you will really need to run a consistency check on your database before you upgrade, otherwise you could get serious consequences.

NBU 6.0 MP3 seems stable in non complex environments, but if you plan to mix a NBU 6.0 master with NBU 5.x medias then you will have a lot of problems with devices and catalog backups... Also there are issues with disk staging on NBU 6.0... and also media server clsuters...

So do your homework first....

[Stumpr2]

> frequent frozen medias

Is this from Sun media servers/

[Dennis_Strom]

Bob is there something that a person should look for with frozen media on Sun boxes? should I start a new thread?

[Stumpr2]

Dennis,
Just covering all bases. There is a problem with Sun branded Emulex cards that require a Sun patch that is not included in their bundle. I was checking to see if it applies to the originator of this post. No need for another thread.
BobMessage was edited by:
Bob Stump