Netbackup appliance New disk shelf Add

[Dgo]

Hello All,

We have NBU Domain with Windows 2012R2 Master(7.7.x) and NBU Appliance 5230 as MSDP media server(40TB).

Above setup is running for the past 1 year and recently we procured new Disk shelf (xxTB) to add to the existing appliance.

I would appreciate if anyone  can comment if i am missing anything below;

1. Rack mount the New disk shelf(xx TB)

2. Connect the SAS cables from new Disk shelf (2*SAS IN)  to the existing Appliance disk shelf (2* SAS out ports)

3. Power ON New disk shelf and wait for 10-20 mins to let initialize the disk shelf completely.

4. Login to Appliance -GUI and add the new disks from the shelf to the Appliance available space. (any technote or link)

5. Expand existing MSDP to the required size (space used from new disk shelf also)

Query:

1. Do i need to take any downtime for my existing Appliance+Disk shelf or backup services?

2. Is it safe to expand MSDP space from GUI (plz reply if any supported Techlink is available for MSDP space expansion)

[Marianne]

Have a look at this post in NBU Appliance forum : https://www.veritas.com/community/forums/appliance-v2611-documentation-missing-steps-add-expansion-shelf-operational-appliance

[Dgo]

Hi Marianne,

Thanks for your reply..also gone through the link. It does not have clear information which I need.

I understand that there may be no clear documentation on the connecting additional disk shelf to the operational NBU Appliance but atleast a suggestion would be great from your side.

Hope, you or someone may atleast share their experience on below queries;

Query:

1. Do i need to take any downtime for my existing Appliance+Disk shelf or backup services?  (Please note, we have already Appliance+Disk shelf and this is another disk shelf we procured)

2. Is it safe to expand MSDP space from GUI (plz reply if any supported Techlink is available for MSDP space expansion)

Dgo.

[Mark_Solutions]

When ever i have added a disk shelf i have taken the whole system down first as we are plugging in SAS cables here - so i like to work on the safe side and this also ensure the bus is fully scanned too.

One connected and everything powered up and initialised (and i have seen it down both ways .. header first or shelves first but shelves first was the "official way") then I have always done the rest from the CLISH

Manage - Storage - Show

will show everything and you will see that the header and all shelves get a name such as unit_0, unit_1 etc.

Identify the name of the new shelf and use, for example

add unit_2

Once added in use

resize deduplicatin 72 TB

It is safe to do the resize from the GUI

There is no downtime needed after the initial power up .. the resize can happen on the fly.

This tech note does cover that it should be powered down first .. then shelves powered up then header.... it also shows what can happen ... and i have experienced this!:

http://www.veritas.com/docs/000018447

[Dgo]

Thanks Mark for sharing your experience, this will surely help.

How much time, appliance+shelf+ new shelf took to come up Online? ,

Does appliance require any rebuild activity like RAID 6 Disks or deduplication pool test as part of internal sanity check or reboot (since we do it after such a long time)?, Or It is just the normal boot?

[Mark_Solutions · Accepted solution]

It is just like a normal boot .. and a few minutes after that to do the commands.

When done from the CLISH it runs the NetBackup update too so it automatically updates the disk pool size in NetBackup.

Its preformance will be down for a day or so as Volume manager spans the dedupe volume onto the new shelf but it does give you it all for immediate use

[Will_Restore]

Symantec NetBackup™ 52xx Appliance Hardware Installation and Initial Configuration Guide says

"When you add a storage shelf to an operational system, it is not necessary to shut down the appliance server or any existing storage shelves"

https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.DOC7642

( I'm rather surprised but that's what it says )