VxFS Over LVM support for HP-UX FlashBackup

[hytham_fekry]

It's confusing for me if FlashBackup for HP-UX client using VxFS  FS over LVM is supported or not :

Below is quoted from snapshot client manual :

- FlashBackup supports the following I/O system components: ufs, VxFS, and Windows NTFS file systems, VxVM volumes and LVM volumes, and raw disks.
Other components (such as non-Veritas storage replicators or other non-Veritas volume managers) are not supported.
- FlashBackup on Linux supports only the VxFS file system on VxVM volumes. For Linux clients, no other file system is supported, and VxFS file systems are
not supported without VxVM volumes.

    If you have a clear official document , kindly share it with me 

[Nicolai]

It is supported, both VXFS and HP-UX LVM is in the list you provided.

Also I have tested that combination before on a previous version of Netbackup. 

I would recommend using accelerator over flashbackup. However accelerator require either MSDP eller a OST device that support "virtual synthetics".

[Marianne]

Official doc :

NBU 7.7 Snapshot Client (CL): http://www.veritas.com/docs/000025231  

For some reason I have always found this particular CL difficult to follow, but if my understanding is correct, then FlashBackup is only supported with VxFS on VxVM.

See page 140: 
FlashBackup   Local Snapshot   VxFS / VxVM

Another problem that I have is that Veritas is seemingly doing nothing w.r.t. support for current versions of Storage Foundation. Extract from above doc:

The NetBackup FlashBackup policy is not currently supported when using Storage Foundation 6 or greater volume manager.
• Filesystem layout 7, 8, 9, and 10 is not supported

[hytham_fekry]

The problem is Marriane said , it's a little bit confusing doc .

Not sure if LVM in HP-UX will be treated as Linux where only VxFS over VxVM is supported , but i [ractical experience is what matters at the end .

Customer don't currently support 10Gb interfaces in all clients . So if i used accelerator transfer media will have to be "LAN - 1G" instead of fiber  , i'm afraid this wil elminate perforamnce benefit of synthesized Full backup 

What do you think .. 

[Nicolai]

LVM on HP-UX is not the same LVM has on Linux. And you are correct on Linux you need both VxFS and VxVM

If using accelerator and client side dedupe, transfer from client would be dramatic reduced. But full classic backups are required from time to time, either if a new storage unit is being selected or the "forced rescan schedule" is due (typical every 3 month or more).  

Would a prolonged backup every 3 month be OK ?

I do not recommend using FT media server for small files. Its designed for massive amount of data. Restore of many small files will be slow.