Compression will make the db smaller and will result in a shorter backup tim. However, you can get a more dramatic change by doing one or both of the following:
DOCUMENTATION: Catalog backups performed using the bpbackupdb command are taking excessive amounts of time
http://support.veritas.com/docs/279908
Details:
Manuals:
VERITAS NetBackup 5.0 Commands for Windows, p. 30
VERITAS NetBackup 5.0 Commands for UNIX, p. 30
VERITAS NetBackup 5.1 Commands for Windows, p.30
VERITAS NetBackup 5.1 Commands for UNIX, p. 27
Modification Type: Supplement
Modification:
Unlike regular backups, which use bpbkar and bptm, the bpbackupdb command does not use any of the buffer tuning parameters. As such, if any tweaks have been used to adjust buffer settings, these performance enhancements will not be used by bpbackupdb.
Two suggestions for working around this bpbackupdb performance limitation:
1. Implement the "Multiple-Tape Catalog Backups" configuration as outlined on page 217 of the NetBackup 5.1 System Administrator Guide for UNIX Volume I (see Related Documents below)
This configuration has the effect of minimizing the amount of catalog data being backed up via the bpbackupdb command. Only the master server's client backups are captured with the bpbackupdb command, and the rest of the catalog is backed up via a policy backup of the master server.
2. Implement the "Catalog Archiving" feature as outlined on page 230 of the NetBackup 5.1 System Administrator's Guide For Unix Volume I (see Related Documents below)
This has the same effect as suggestion 1 (the .f files end up being captured via a user-initiated policy backup) while also drastically reducing the amount of data that bpbackupdb reads from the NetBackup images directory structure.
The disadvantage of either method is that another step is added to the catalog recovery process.
