Various Net Backup Media Managers example essay topic

Situational Analysis Enterprise Backup Solution This document was prepared to analyze the backup infrastructure, and prepare an action plan, for the Ridgefield location. Content 1 Situation Analysis 32 Objective 33 Situation Fact 34 Options 44.1 Option # 1: Veritas Netbackup 44.2 Option # 2: Legato Networker 54.3 Option #3: Commvault Galaxy 74.4 Enterprise Backup Solution - Evaluation Analysis 84.5 Summary of options available 114.6 Updated analysis of Legato Networker subsequent to inclusion of Visual Storage Resource Migrator and Alpha stor 115 Recommendation 171 Situation Analysis This document was prepared to analyze the current backup environment and prepare an action plan, for the Ridgefield location regarding the incorporation an Enterprise Backup Solution. 2 Objective Our objective is to determine the best course of action regarding the selection and implementation of an Enterprise Backup Solution. 3 Situation Fact The current network environment has been outgrown the ability of Veritas Backup Exec, the backup software platform used by BI Ridgefield- Production Services, in terms of amount of data being backed up, functionality, and reliability. At the time of its initial purchase approximately six years ago (with Backup Exec 7. x), the server infrastructure consisted of approximately 80 clients with one TB of data captured on a weekly full backup. This small-business level backup solution provided a good fit for the environment and served the company's data protection needs well.

Accordingly, we continued to leverage Backup Exec 8. x - 9. x in our organization as the network infrastructure expanded though out the years. The server environment has now grown to the point where there are 370 servers with approximately 16 Terabytes of data captured on a weekly full backup. In light of this, meeting the established backup / restore service agreement is becoming increasingly challenging. Some of the functionality / features required to address this challenge includes: -The ability to direct multiple streams of data to one media device simultaneously (Multiplexing). -A provision for re-starting backup jobs from the point at which they failed (Checkpointing). -Descriptive reporting on backup media content.

-Automation of Media Duplication and Vaulting tasks. -Compete compatibility with SANs and NAS support As a result, Production Services has evaluated a number of solutions from the leading backup software manufacturers. The final list was narrowed down to three competitors we thought could best meet our outlined requirements. They are: Veritas Net Backup, Legato Networker, and Commvault Galaxy. The tables below list the details of the evaluations. 4 Options The reviews of the three options are listed in the following table: 4.1 Option # 1: Veritas NetBackup Option Table # 1: Pros Cons Administrative / management tasks performed from a centralized location.

(Familiar Microsoft Management Console style interface). Provides the ability to browse resources through Graphical User Interface when creating backup and restore jobs, reducing the possibility of typographical errors. Provides straightforward media management. Multiple media erased, moved and exported at once. Existing Backup Exec 9.1 tape media can be imported / read in Net Backup. Eliminates need to keep Backup Exec media servers in environment.

Remote agents can be deployed remotely to many servers at once. Only requires one agent install for all applications (SQL, Oracle. Sybase). One can view real-time alert and job status (Byte Count, Rate, Files backed up, Errors, etc). There is also a troubleshooter option to provide error explanations and recommended actions. Limited Grooming capability.

The application requires Storage Migrator component for advanced features. Pre and post job scripted commands are difficult to implement into job. Synthetic backups allow for quick client backups restore from a single backup image. This is essentially the process of combining multiple incremental / differential backups into one image. Robust backup / restore performance with the use of streams and multiplexing.

Up to 32 streams per drive supported. Disk to tape staging for increased backup performance. Inline tape copy is also supported (write to multiple media simultaneously). Restarting a backup job can be from the point of failure is accomplished with the Checkpoint feature. Log purge subsequent to a SQL full recovery backup can be performed Net Backup can also invoke RMAN for Oracle on-line backups. Open File Option (Veritas Snapshot Provider) is included with product.

Windows 2003 Server backups use Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service. Fully supports VMWare ESX / GSX Virtual Server host / instance backups. The application requires Bare Metal Recovery component for OS and System State recovery. This is an additional cost item.

Comprehensive reporting which includes: Media = ServerResource report Server = Media needed for recovery report Vaulting tasks can be set up to automatically duplicate data, create reports, and eject tapes for archiving. Master server implementation in a clustered configuration provides fault tolerance. 4.2 Option # 2: Legato Networker Option Table # 2: Ease of management / administration has been added through the incorporation of the Networker Management Console user interface version 7.1. The application also includes enhancement of Media Management through the Networker Management Console version 7.1.

The application can simultaneously erase, move and export Multiple media De-centralized Management Structure. Use of Networker Administration Console, Networker Management Console, and Networker User interfaces to manage operations. Does not show real-time rate, percentage complete, or current file / directory being backed up in activity monitor. There is no ability to Browse when setting up backup or restore jobs. No built in reports for: Media = ServerResource report or Server = Media needed for recovery report.

We evaluated Visual Storage Resource Migrator for this additional functionality and this type of report was still not included. Networker agent cannot be pushed to remote clients. Clients have to be visited to locally install agent. Checkpointing provides ability to restart / resume jobs. Re-runs only the save sets that failed from the point at which they failed without having to create new separate backup jobs. Save Set Consolidation combines multiple incremental backups into one full backup image.

Backups using Save Set Consolidation consume less network bandwidth and decrease the impact on the application host. With the use of streams and parallelism, more rapid backup performance can be achieved. Cannot write to multiple media simultaneously (In-line tape copy). Requires Open File Manager for open file backups.

This is an additional cost component. Uses ASR recovery for Windows 2003 Server Disaster Recovery. Uses SMTP to send logs and alerts vial e-mail. Uses Volume Shadow Copy Services for Window 2003 Snapshots. Grooming cannot be performed to meet our requirements with the base Networker Product. As a result, EMC provided Visual Storage Resource Migrator at no additional cost.

While this product can do certain types of grooming, Net Worker still does not provide the type of grooming we require. In order to groom data-based on modified and accessed dates, Net Worker must first move them to an alternate data directory. While this does not seem like a large issue at first, we must think about the potential volume of the data to be groomed (sometimes upwards of 1 TB) and the additional storage that will need to be purchased as a result. Inability to purge SQL transaction logs subsequent to full backup. Vaulting tasks can be set up to automatically, duplicate data, create reports, and eject tapes for offsite storage using Alpha Stor.

This product was added by EMC at no additional cost. Net Backup is a very intuitive tool that provides a great deal of additional functionality with respect to tape life cycle management. Master Server can be clustered for fault tolerance Can leverage with existing Legato Networker implementation in the UNIX environment. 4.3 Option #3: Commvault Galaxy The Web management console appears and acts the same as the Media Server management console. This allows for same functionality in both places.

(Java based). Difficult to monitor jobs. Does not show real-time rate, percentage complete, or current file / directory being backed up in activity monitor Difficult media management. Can only erase one tape at a time. Non-intuitive GUI. Duplication of options at many levels makes job management difficult Fast backup performance with the use of Streams and Multiplexing.

Up to 32 streams per drive can be configured. Agent is pushed from CD. Requires separate agents for every application (SQL, Oracle, Sybase, etc). Inability to perform SQL transaction log purge subsequent to full database backup. Checkpoint feature. Able to restart from point of backup failure rather than re-running entire job.

Uses SMTP to send alerts and errors via e-mail. Requires quick recovery option for OS / System State restore. Can be clustered for fault tolerance Limited reporting capabilities. No reports for: Media = ServerResource Server = Media needed for recovery 4.4 Enterprise Backup Solution - Evaluation Analysis IT [To what does 'it' refer?

If a pronoun is used without first identifying for what it stands, the reader might be confused. (28) ] System / Technology Analysis System or technology list (Blue) Analysis Requirements (Yellow) Veritas Net Backup Legato Networker Commvault Galaxy Hardware / Software/Installation 1 OS requirements Windows 2000/2003 Windows 2000/2003 Windows 2000/20032 Leverage existing hardware Yes; However, will require processor and memory upgrades Yes; However, will require processor and memory upgrades Yes; However, will require processor and memory upgrades 3 Multi-Vendor Support Yes, STK, Brocade Yes, STK, Brocade Yes, STK, Brocade 4 SQL / Installation N / A N / A Yes 5 Automatic Device Discovery Yes Yes Yes 6 Media discovery Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 7 Master Server setup Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 8 Media server setup Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 9 Master server failure / recovery Cluster aware Cluster aware Cluster aware 10 Media server failure / recovery Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward Job Management 1 Centralized Management Console Yes, MMC Style No, Uses Networker Administrative console and Networker Management Console Yes, Java-based 2 Job Creation Straight Forward Mostly Straight Forward Mostly Straight Forward 3 Policy setup Straight Forward Mostly Straight Forward Mostly Straight Forward 4 Remote system discovery Yes No No 5 Remote system agent installation Yes No Yes 6 Remote system resource selection Yes No No 7 Ability to browse network resources when creating a backup or restore task Yes No No 8 Redirection of files during restore Straight Forward Difficult Difficult 9 Alignment with policy / schedule Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult 10 Viewing of scheduled tasks Straight Forward Mostly Straight Forward Difficult 11 Viewing of active tasks Straight Forward Mostly Straight Forward Difficult 12 Viewing of completed tasks Straight Forward Mostly Straight Forward Difficult 13 Manual start of scheduled tasks Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult 14 One time run of a task Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult 15 Grooming of a server Yes, Can be scripted using BP ARCHIVE command in base product. Not in base product. Limited in Visual SRM. Must first move data to additional folder before deleting.

No 16 Pause / Resume of Job Yes Yes Yes Media Management 1 Viewing of available media Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult 2 Viewing of used media Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult 3 Viewing of offsite media Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult 4 Viewing of retired media Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult 5 Manual recycling of media Straight Forward Mostly Straight Forward Difficult 6 Cataloging of media Straight Forward Mostly Straight Forward Difficult 7 Setup of media sets / pools Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 8 Retention for media Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 9 Move data between media sets / pools Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward Alert management 1 Viewing of active alerts Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult 2 Clearing of active alerts Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult 3 Viewing of alert history Straight Forward Straight Forward Difficult Remote agent installation / use 1 SQL 7 /2000 Yes: 1 Agent for all Yes: Separate Agents Yes: Separate Agents 2 Oracle 7 / 8 / 9 i Yes: 1 Agent for all Yes: Separate Agents Yes: Separate Agents 3 Exchange 5.5 Yes: 1 Agent for all Yes: Separate Agents Yes: Separate Agents 4 Exchange 2003 Yes: 1 Agent for all Yes: Separate Agents Yes: Separate Agents 5 Linux Yes: 1 Agent for all Yes: Separate Agents Yes: Separate Agents 6 Windows NT 4.0 Yes: 1 Agent for all Yes: Separate Agents Yes: Separate Agents 7 Windows 2000 Yes: 1 Agent for all Yes: Separate Agents Yes: Separate Agents 8 Windows 2003 Yes: 1 Agent for all Yes: Separate Agents Yes: Separate Agents Backup Scenarios 1 Standard file backup Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 2 OS backup Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 3 System State backup Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 4 SQL backup Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 5 Oracle backup Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 6 Exchange backup Straight Forward Straight Forward Straight Forward 7 Open File backup Yes: Included in base product No - Requires St. Bernard Open File Manager No - Requires Open File Option 8 IDR backup No - Requires Bare Metal Recovery Option No - Requires Network Recovery Manager No - Requires Quick Recovery Option 9 Backup - to - Disk Yes Yes Yes 10 Disk - to - Tape staging Yes Yes Yes 11 Inline Tape Copy (Write to two media simultaneously) Yes No No 12 Synthetic Backups / Save Set Consolidation Yes Yes Yes Recovery Scenarios 1 Standard file recovery Yes Yes Yes 2 OS recovery No - Requires Bare Metal Recovery Option Yes - Limited No - Requires Quick Recovery Option 3 SQL recovery Yes Yes Yes 4 Oracle recovery Yes Yes Yes 5 Exchange recovery Yes Yes Yes 6 IDR recovery No - Requires Bare Metal Recovery Option No - Requires Network Recovery Manager No - Requires Quick Recovery Option 7 VMWare Host recovery Yes Yes Yes 8 VM Server recovery Yes Yes Yes Reporting 1 Job Success / Failure Yes Yes Yes 2 Media retention Yes Yes Yes 3 Media vaulting Yes Yes Yes 4 Media = Serverresource Yes No No 5 Server = Media needed for recovery Yes No No Other items to review 1 Checkpoint Yes Yes Yes 2 Device fail over Yes Yes Yes 3 Job fail over Yes Yes No 4 SQL Transaction log purge subsequent to full backup Yes No No 5 Read existing Backup Exec media Yes No No 6 Multiplexing / Parallelism Yes Yes Yes 7 Support for NAS / SAN Yes, EMC, HP, Netapp. NDMP capable. Yes, EMC, HP, Netapp. NDMP capable. Yes, EMC, HP, Netapp. NDMP capable.

8 Vaulting Yes, vault option must be purchased at additional cost. It [What is 'it'? Avoid use of undefined pronouns. (28) ] is a snap in and is fully integrated with base product. Not with base product. Alpha Stor was provided by Legato at no additional cost.

This is a separate product that is not integrated into base product. Yes, vault option must be purchased at additional cost. It is a snap in and is fully integrated with base product. Support 1 Technical Support (24 X 7) Yes Yes Yes Training 1 Training for Products Yes, Certification available Yes, Certification available Yes 4.5 Summary of options available Option 1: Implement Veritas Net Backup. Option 2: Implement Legato Networker. Option 3: Implement Commvault Galaxy.

4.6 Updated analysis of Legato Networker subsequent to inclusion of Visual Storage Resource Migrator and AlphastorEMC has recently proposed to BI that Alpha Stor and Visual SRM will both be delivered free of charge, along with the Legato Net Worker product. AlphaStorThe inclusion of Alpha Stor is needed on EMC's part because vaulting type functionality is a requirement at BI. Alpha Stor is an EMC product that works with EMC Net Worker to provide a great deal of additional vaulting functionality that Net Worker lacks. Essentially, Alpha Stor is a media management product that also functions as a device resource manager for shared tape device environments.

Originally, it was designed to grant various backup products the ability to share devices. But now for the most part, all major backup vendors have their own media and device management capabilities. Because Alpha Stor is a separate product and not an option of Net Worker, it is installed, configured and managed separately. This results in increased system administration and hardware costs since Alpha Stor would need to be installed on a separate server and would involve Net Worker administrators to be trained on the new product.

Additionally, Alpha Stor may be a point of contention between various Net Worker implementations as it would be another software layer loaded on top of the backup environment. Most importantly, because the Alpha Stor server controls all the Networker servers it would present the possibility of disrupting all backup / restore services in the event it is down or unreachable. In contrast, a many of the functionality added by Alpha Stor is already available from the Net Backup core product. Net Backup's "Shared Storage Option" (SSO) provides a centralized and efficient manner to share tape devices among media managers. Likewise, Veritas' Vault option provides a robust and easy to use way of managing media onsite as well as offsite. Net Backup offers flexible vaulting schedules, in-line tape copy / duplication, and comprehensive reporting of tape media.

Additionally it can generate reports in the format acceptable to various vaulting vendors like Iron Mountain. Net Backup can also create reports for the dockworkers to pull tapes out of the tape library docks and put them into bins for offsite storage. This is end-to-end media management, and integrated and centralized inside of the core Net Backup product. Below is a matrix with a side-by-side comparison of the functionality of both products. Installation and Configuration Feature Net Backup Alpha Stor and Net Worker Comments Installation of product NA Separate Alpha Stor is installed as a separate product from NetWorker Configuration Simple, Wizard-based Complex Net Backup provides wizards for device, media configurations. Alpha Stor lists a total of 15 steps to configure itself.

There are additional steps needed to configure Net Worker to work with Alpha Stor. Administration Single GUI-based console Separate Alpha Stor and Net Worker use different GUIs for each product. In addition Net Worker uses different GUIs for different platforms like Windows and UNIX Shared Storage Option Part of Media manager (Option) Part of Alpha Stor Net Backup SSO is a licensable option Vault Option Part of Alpha Stor Vault is a licensable option of NetBackup Media Configuration Steps Once Twice The media is configured twice. Once in Alpha Stor and once in Net Worker. The products are not integrated properly Usability Feature Net Backup Alpha Stor and Net Worker Comments Separate Server No Yes Because Alpha Stor uses a separate server to store the database and manage media, it can be an added point of failure.

If the Alpha Stor server or services are unreachable, the whole backup / restore service is DOWN! GUI Java-based Web-based, UNIX and / or Windows Alpha Stor uses a web-based GUI. But Net Worker uses a platform-based GUI. All three are inconsistent with each other Administration conflicts None Possible Because Net Backup uses its own media management software, the administrator can make good choices about media and devices. Because Alpha Stor admin is usually separate,'s / he may be a point of contention for Net Worker admins. Database Synchronization NA MUST Alpha Stor and Net Worker databases need to sync " ed.

If they are not in sync, backups / restores may fail Reporting Extensive Limited Net Backup allows extensive reports about media not only when using Vault option but many valuable reports can be obtained within core product itself. Net Backup's reporting capability is unmatched in the industry Media Management When Alpha Stor is installed and configured, Net Worker has to be configured again to work with AlphaStorFeature Net Backup Alpha Stor and Net Worker Comments Onsite and Offsite Yes Yes Alpha Stor takes care of the offsite media management. Net Worker does not keep track of the location of tapes Adding Media Once Twice The media is added twice. Once into Alpha Stor and once into Net Worker. Managing media pool Once Twice Both Alpha Stor and Net Worker must manage media pools independently. The media pool if deleted from Alpha Stor has to be deleted from Net Worker again.

Robot management and inventory Core Product Alpha Stor Net Backup core product can do the robot configuration and inventory. Rotation schedule Yes Yes Alpha Stor uses a counter to reset a rotation of volume. When this counter reaches a certain value the media is rotated In Line duplication Yes No Net Backup allows for making more than 1 copy of the backup stream (up to 4), so as to reduce extraneous vaulting cycles. But vaulting can happen anytime desired by the admin Device Resource Management When Alpha Stor is configured into Net Worker environments, two distinct configurations need to be performed.

Alpha Stor controls the actual devices while presenting Net Worker with the "virtual jukeboxes" to backup on. However, while Alpha Stor controls the device and media to which the backup would go, it is the Net Worker product, which ultimately has the control over type of media to use for the backup. In all instances, it is assumed that Alpha Stor and Net Backup databases are in-sync. Alpha Stor allows the administrator to divide the backup device and media infrastructure into resource queues. It then assigns the actual drives to the resource queues.

Alpha Stor administrator also defines mount class for the devices. The Net Worker administrator uses these predefined resources to make backup requests. The Net Worker administrator has no control over which resource is used for the operation. If a resource is busy, the Net Worker administrator cannot assign the job to another resource queue without the help from the Alpha Stor administrator.

If the same individual performs these roles, it requires the user to manage two applications and user interfaces to accomplish this simple task. Net Backup takes this complexity away. Using SSO option, the Net Backup administrator has complete control over devices. Devices are shared among various Net Backup media managers. SSO is configured using the usual device configuration wizard. Net Backup also allows for special directives to be used on media managers.

These directives allow the administrator to reserve a drive only for restores, for example. If specified, one drive is always kept available for restores. Even if backup jobs are pending, restores can start using this drive. Along with backup restart capability of the Net Backup core product, this facility makes sure that restores are never held up due to backups taking place. Feature Net Backup Alpha Stor and Net Worker Comments Complexity of configuration Low High Alpha Stor is a complex product to implement. Along with Net Worker, the limitations of the products may make configuring them painful.

Special Directives Yes Yes Net Backup allows special directives like local drive only, or reserve for restore etc Core product functionality - - Net Backup offers many reports, administrative capabilities within the core product. EMC Net Worker does not provide much of it and pushes for AlphaStorAlternate interface for sharing storage Yes No Net Backup allows for separate interfaces to be used for SSO. Net Worker does not offer this functionality Visual SRM The inclusion of Visual SRM (VSRM) was required on EMC's part to meet BI Production Services-Server Technologies archive and deletion requirements. Visual SRM software is designed to provide centralized storage resource management (SRM) for multi-vendor, mid-tier storage environments; ensuring capacity is available when and where it is needed by actively managing the storage resources with powerful visualization tools. With Visual SRM, the operator can manage utilization according to thresholds set and deploy active policies to meet the demands of the critical business applications.

Some of the strengths include: o Increase capacity utilization, improve availability and automate management processes. o Reduce or eliminate server outages due to out-of-control disk space consumption. o Eliminate time-consuming processes and reduce costs-for a lower TCO. o Shorten backup windows so more work can be done in less time. o Improve capacity planning and charge back capabilities. o Focus on core business rather than storage administrative tasks. While this is an extremely powerful product with respect to file system analysis and reporting we still do not feel like this free product will get BI-Production Services-Server Technologies entirely where it needs to go. From the Enterprise Backup project perspective, we are predominantly concerned with the ability to select data efficiently, back data up, and delete data-based on last time accessed / modified and / or data ranges (referred to as grooming). This particular functionality is not included in the base Networker product. As a result, EMC has offered VSRM to help meet this requirement. This product does an extremely good job of locating data-based on modified and accessed dates however, it does not have the ability to groom a file system at the level we require it too.

In order to groom a file system VSRM requires that the data first be moved to an alternate location, after which a Networker command can be invoked to backup and ultimately delete the data. This would not be an option for us as it will require the purchase of substantial amount of additional storage to accommodate (at times we may have to groom upwards of 500 gigabytes of information). With our current backup software, Veritas Backup Exec we are able to groom without having to move the data and as such we would like to continue to operate this way. To this end, VERITAS Net Backup will allow BI to use a command known as bp archive to help backup data and delete it from primary storage without first moving it to alternate location. A file list, based on whatever characteristics defined, can be generated then bp archive can be engaged to meet BI's needs.

Of additional importance, this bp archive command is part of the base VERITAS Net Backup offering and does not require the implementation of an additional product to accommodate this task. 5 Recommendation While the inclusion of the Alpha Stor and Visual SRM products does put Net Worker a good deal closer to meeting our Vaulting and Grooming requirements it still does not provide "like" functionality with VERITAS Net Backup and will still present many issues for our IT environment. As such, the recommendation for the primary backup software of choice would still be to implement Veritas Net Backup. In summary, this software offers a centralized solution with a wide range of functionality, ease of use / management, and exemplary performance as is outlined in the above documentation. The recommendation for the secondary backup software of choice goes to Legato Networker. This software also offers a wide variety of features and functions with almost all the capabilities of Veritas Net Backup.

However, it is marred by a non-user friendly graphical interface that is less intuitive for performing everyday operations as well as some inherent shortcomings.