Master Server & catalog replication

[Toddman214]

Windows 2008r2 Standard, Master, and Media servers running NBU 7.5.0.4.

Hello all. Just looking for some input, best practices and guidance, for something I've never tried before.

Up until this point, our Master Netbackup server (a virtual box) has been replicated across town to our DR site using Veeam. We have moved away from Veeam, to SRM, for sending our VM's to the DR site, BUT we are not wanting to use SRM to replicate the Master server. Our catalog is 1.25TB and due to the change rate, they are not wanting to use SRM.

Given this information (and any other info I might need to provide), is there a preferred way to do this, supported and recommended by Symantec? Ive read about AIR, but also seen posts that is it not recommended for catalog replication.

If using AIR for this, I'm sure I'll have questions like "will the remote master server need the same name( I wouldnt thing this would work in the same environment). With a different name, will ALL cleints and media servers that have the NBU agent installed, have to contain to the name of this new master server?

If there is an article out there (which I'm already looking for), which lays this process out in details, please let me know.

Thanks all.

Todd

[RiaanBadenhorst]

Hi,

So to give you advice, please ellaborate on your DR site. Is it a hot site (with some production systems), or cold site? Would you want to continue running backups from DR if you PROD master is lost (and do you have sufficient bandwidth to do so)? Do you have any requirement for Tape out in DR? And if so, would you need to move those tapes back to PROD for any reason to restore?

Also, your catalog is way about the recommended maximum. You should seriously look at splitting your domain into multiple domains (or look at reduing your retention levels).

[Toddman214]

It is a cold site.  No, we wont continue running backups during DR. We always stop backups during DR rehearsal, to simulate the primary datacenter being gone. All I do during DR rehearsal is test the restore process, so I will need a Master server on that end with a fully replicated catalog. We do have an existing media server there as well. Restores will be of recent data, from the DataDomain at the DR site, and possibly from tape.  

[RiaanBadenhorst · Accepted solution]

In that case I would just use AIR. Production will continue running even if you're in DR doing whatever you want. AIR on DD is supported in 7.6.0.x assuming you have the correct code vesions on the DD etc.

Also, since you say you've got a DD and you're probably replicating the images already, configuring AIR will not increase the load on the WAN. Might just need to slightly change how the DD to DD setup is configured depending on what you've got setup now.