Netback up Image storage for 6.5

[Valhue]

Hi

I’m new to netback up and I’m struggling to find information on the following. Storage of netback up image's we had some issue where out drive was full and cause netback up to stop working, I need to know if its possible to move these somewhere else on a SAN and if compression is possible and if this needs to be set up during the install of netback up or if it can be done after it or would it be better to have it on a separate drive on the server. my other is what are the pros and cons for compression and does netback up support NTFS compression.

Would you be able to advise if it would be better to do this on 7.1 or better from a clean install.  At the moment we are trying to upgrade to 7.1 but are having issue they Symantec are looking into.

I know its a lot but only been using net back up for a few months and been having a few issue that i need to resolve with either a tech refresh or hopefully just changing the storage of the Images .

Any help is very much appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read this

regards

Frazer

[Mark_Solutions]

Lots of questions there ....

So compression of the catalog is possible and is configured in the Master Servers Host Properties - it can be set at any time.

Personally I dont like to use it and as you are dong an upgrade at the moment and especially if you will then be going to NetBackup 7.5 I would advise against it, at least for now.

NTFS compression again is possible but i would again advise against it as the constant compression / uncompression would have a serious impact on your system

It is better to increase the size of the drive in use ... this is where the netbackup images reside - so program files\veritas\netbackup\db\images directory (if you are on Windows)

If expansion of the drive is not possible then there are two methods that can be used to move it somewhere else.

The first is done by moving one clients directory from within this location to a different location, the other is to move the entire db directory somewhere else

The method depends on the operating system of your Master Server so tell us that and i will try and provide links (though if you have Symantec on site they should be able to assist with either method as it is pretty straight forward)

As you said if the disk space containing these files drop low then NetBackup will stop working as the EMM database goes down to protect itself from corruption - I have seen issues start to arise when it hits 10% free but the official value is lower than that.

So in summary my advice is :

1. dont compress (catalog or NTFS)

2. expand the drive if possible

3. If you cannot expand then move the db directory to a drive with plenty of free space

4. Optionally just move a few clients (the ones that backup the mosts files as they will have the largest catalogs)

Hope all of this helps

[Valhue]

Hi mark

Thank you for taking the time to read and answer my questions, i know it is again thank you for the advice its really helpfull.

Symantec are not on site we been having issues upgrading from 6.5.6 to 7.1, 4 failed attempts and they are looking into why its failing at the moment.

The master server is a windows 2003 with netback up 6.5.6 on it, we can’t increase the drive size on it we would have to move it to another location across the SAN to store these on may be able to get another drive put into the server but not sure on that.

the reason need to know this is the client i work for dose not want netback up to fail again over the weekend when al the weekly back up are running, myself i would prefer a tech refresh and set up a dedicate drive on the master for it but for the moment i need to get a workaround until i can get the update to go forward and with the issue with tying to upgrade stuck with 6.5 for the moment.

Thanks again for you help and advice

regards

Frazer

[Mark_Solutions · Accepted solution]

OK .. so as it is Windows you can easliy move just a few clients or the entire db directory.

I would advise that if a drive is to be SAN based it is still mapped and mounted locally as a new drive letter

So if you catalogs are currently on C:\ we can move them to say E:\

So for one client at a time (very straight forward) : http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH135546

For the whole db directory look at the text pasted in this discussion by Martin (mph999) - based on a link i provided which seems to have dissapeared from the support site!:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/tech-note-68160-moving-netbackupdbimages-different-pa...

Do make sure you have a catalog backup taken first while no jobs are running and that NetBackup is fully down before doing either proceedure.

[Valhue]

Thank you very much you have been a awsome help.

that is what i was looking for thank you

[RLeon]

Before we know it, I'd never have created that thread...!