WHITE PAPER

NETBACKUP AUTO IMAGE REPLICATION

CONFIGURATION WITH EMC DATA DOMAIN

This document helps to understand the steps to perform NetBackup AIR configuration with Data Domain

ABSTRACT

This white paper explains how to configure NetBackup AIR with Data Domain Boost.

The configuration includes the steps to be done in NetBackup and Data Domain.

December 2015

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Part Number H14750

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................. 4

AUDIENCE ......................................................................................................... 4

fonts used in this document ......................................................................................... 4

TERMINOLOGY .......................................................................................... 4

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS ....................................................................... 4

Supported AIR models ........................................................................................ 5

AUTO IMAGE REPLICATION SETUP OVERVIEW ......................................... 6

AUTO IMAGE REPLICATION DATA DOMAIN CONFIGURATION .................. 7

Data domain LSU creation ................................................................................... 7

Data Domain LSU association ............................................................................ 10

AUTO IMAGE REPLICATION NETBACKUP CONFIGURATION .................... 11

Defining Domain relationship for replication ......................................................... 11

Storage Lifecycle policies required for Auto Image Replication ............................... 15

BACKUP POLICY CONFIGURATION ......................................................... 16

CONCLUSION .......................................................................................... 18

REFERENCES ........................................................................................... 19

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Starting with NetBackup 7.1, a new feature to replicate backups from one NetBackup domain to another media server in one or more

NetBackup domains was introduced. This was initially called as Replication to Remote Master but has since been re-christened to

NetBackup Auto Image Replication or AIR.

Initial support for this feature was only for NetBackup managed storage (MSDP and PDDO) but has since been broadened to include

Data Domain as well using the DDBoost API. As with all features, the latest EMC® Data Domain® Boost Compatibility Guide must be

consulted prior to implementing solutions and features dependent on Data Domain Boost.

AUDIENCE

This white paper is intended for System Administrators who will configure NetBackup AIR with Data Domain. Additionally, it may

assist Architects looking to plan the deployment of the feature. A basic understanding of DDBoost and Data Domain integration with

NetBackup using DDBoost is expected.

FONTS USED IN THIS DOCUMENT

Font Name - Verdana, Size - 10 : For document contents

Font Name - Verdana, Size – 10, Italics : For documentation titles

Font Name – Courier, Size – 9 : For Commands

FONT NAME – VERDANA, SIZE – 13, BOLD : For Document Headings

FONT NAME – VERDANA, SIZE – 11, BOLD : For Document Sub Headings

TERMINOLOGY

NetBackup Managed Storage – NetBackup Managed Storage refers to either Media Server Deduplication Pool (MSDP) or PureDisk

Deduplication Pool (PDDO).

MSDP – Media Server Deduplication Pool, a NetBackup media server will host the NetBackup deduplication engine and write to

storage, either local or NAS.

PDDO – PureDisk Deduplication Option, a separate PureDisk appliance will manage the deduplication and storage.

Domain Relationship for replication – The setting/configuration that controls relationship between backup storage to determine

source and target during the replication operation in AIR.

Storage Lifecycle policies (SLP) – A SLP is a storage plan for backups that controls the number of copies, their destination and

retention. The number of copies is determined by the number of line entries in a lifecycle policy and may be created either at the

time of backup or by way of duplication or replication operations. SLP’s are used as a destination in a backup policy.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Keep in mind that AIR is meant for replicating backup data and metadata (catalog entries) from one NetBackup domain to

another NetBackup domain. One NetBackup domain is identified by one NetBackup Master server, which implies that for AIR you

need to have 2 NetBackup Master servers with the replicating Data Domains configured in each. A Master server can also

perform Media server functions so an additional Media server may not always be necessary, although would be preferred when

performing duplication operations to tape or other storage once the import has been performed at the target Master server.

Backups replicated to the target Master domain can be restored directly to clients in the target Master domain but cannot be

restored directly to the clients in the source domain. You can associate clients with the target Master domain but that needs to

be done prior or you can do a redirected restore.

AIR does not support replicating Synthetic backups. This is a NetBackup/AIR limitation.

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Replication operations must be between supported versions of NetBackup, which if not done will lead to data loss. Please consult

NetBackup documentation (Symantec NetBackup™ Administrator's Guide, Volume I and Veritas NetBackup ™ Enterprise Server

and Server Hardware Compatibility List) for versions that are supported for performing AIR

The source NetBackup Master server and Data Domain do not need visibility/connectivity with the Master server or Data Domain

in the target domain. AIR replication operation takes place between Data Domain appliances and they replicate the backup data

and metadata. The Data Domain appliance at the target domain will notify the target Master server once the replication

operation completes. The target Master server will perform an Import operation immediately after it receives this notification,

condition to the SLP being configured on the target Master.

Data Domain appliances must not be configured in both the source and target NetBackup server for performing AIR operations.

Each Data Domain appliance will serve the NetBackup domain in which it is configured and will only need to replicate to the

partner Data Domain in the target Master server. The replication operation between the Data Domains does not require them to

be configured, and in fact must not be configured in both the Master servers.

AIR replication takes place over the LAN/IP network. It is possible that Data Domain has been configured using DDBoost over FC

in each Master server but the replication operation between the Data Domains will always happen over LAN/IP.

It is possible to define a replication network between the Data Domains. Please refer to the EMC® Data Domain® Boost for

Symantec NetBackup OpenStorage whitepaper for further reading on how this can be done.

Supported AIR models

It is possible to replicate backups to storage in more than one NetBackup domain using one of the following models.

One-to-one model – A single NetBackup Master replicates to exactly one other Master server, possible to a disaster recovery

site. The replicated copy has the same retention as the source backup. To change the retention, duplication can be performed at

the Target Master and the duplicate copy can have its own retention specified.

One-to-many model – A single NetBackup Master replicates to multiple Master servers. In this configuration, all replications

happen in parallel i.e. simultaneously. If one of the replication fails then all fail. All copies have the same target retention. To

achieve different target retention in each Master server, either have multiple source copies or perform a cascaded AIR.

Many-to-one model – Multiple Master servers, possibly remote offices replicate to a single central Master server.

Many-to-many – Multiple Master servers, possibly remote sites, replicate to multiple Master servers, possible a central

datacenter and one or more DR sites.

A special case of one-to-many model is cascaded AIR. In a cascaded AIR model, we are accomplishing the same set of copies as in a

one-to-many model but the difference lies in how and when the copies get created. Copies, unlike the traditional one-to-many

model, are created by setting up SLP’s in each domain to anticipate or accept the originating image, import it and the replicate it

again to the next target Master server. In cascaded AIR, if Domain 1 is where the backup copy is created then it replicates the image

to Domain 2 which in turn imports and replicates it to Domain 3 and so on. This means that unlike a regular one-to-many model,

copies are not created simultaneously but instead sequentially. Please note that AIR with DDBoost is configured at the Data Domain

LSU level and only one-to-one mapping of LSU’s can be done. If one-to-many model is desired then either doing optimized

duplication in the Source domain needs to be done from one LSU to a second one or cascaded AIR will need to be leveraged.

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Figure 1. Cascaded AIR

AUTO IMAGE REPLICATION SETUP OVERVIEW

The table below describes an overview of the setup process required for AIR to be configured along with the actions that are

required.

Table 1. Auto Image Replication setup overview in NetBackup

STEP ACTION DESCRIPTION

1 Configure the storage servers Configure the Data Domain in each Master server as a Storage Server of type

‘DataDomain’.

2 Configure disk pools Configure Disk Pools for the LSU’s in the Data Domain that were added as a

Storage Server in each Master server.

3 Configure storage units Configure a Storage Unit for the disk pool created in each Master server.

4 Define domain relationship for

NetBackup Domains

Define the relationship between the Data Domains to specify the source and target

Data Domains and corresponding LSU’s. Please refer the section on ‘Defining

Domain relationship for replication’.

5 Configure Storage Lifecycle

Policies

Configure necessary SLP’s on the source and target Master servers. Please refer

the sections on ‘SLP’s require for AIR’

6 Configure and run Backup

Policies in the source domain

The Backup policies whose backups need replicating should have their parameter

‘Policy Storage’ to point to the SLP just configured.

Note that Step1-3 is expected to have already been performed in a normal Data Domain integrated with NetBackup environment.

Step 4 technically is done in Data Domain but the footprint of that configuration must be visible in NetBackup to ensure a successful

configuration.

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Table 2. Auto Image Replication Setup overview in Data Domain

STEP ACTION DESCRIPTION

1 Configure additional LSU for

AIR

Create an additional LSU in Data Domain for incoming AIR data.

2 Configure DDBoost LSU

associations

Configure associations between LSU’s in the source and target Data Domain to

define the AIR replication pair. In NetBackup terms, this is what referred to as

defining Domain relationship.

AUTO IMAGE REPLICATION DATA DOMAIN CONFIGURATION

Data domain LSU creation

Although AIR is setup within NetBackup between Master servers, the association i.e. the AIR domain relationship is actually between

Data Domain LSU’s. In a typical AIR configuration, it would be ideal to have a separate LSU for the backup data and incoming AIR

data. This helps with segregating the disk pools and storage units in NetBackup and also ensures consistent reporting. Create the

additional LSU at the target Data Domain which is integrated with the target Master server.

Figure 2. LSU’s for AIR (One-to-one)

The next example shows a One-to-one but bi-directional AIR replication.

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Figure 3. LSU’s for AIR (one-to-one bidirectional)

The next example shows the LSU’s for a Many-to-one config. In a Many-to-one configuration, create an additional LSU for each

NetBackup domain that will replicate in to the target Data Domain. Keep in mind that this is because in Data Domain, LSU

associations can have only one target.

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Figure 4. LSU’s for AIR (many-to-one)

Starting with DDOS 5.5, care must be taken to ensure that the user account created for DDBoost configuration must be given access

to the newly create LSU’s. Do not create another user account for the new LSU’s. The storage server for Data Domain that will be or

is already created will only be able to use one set of credentials. Use either the existing DDBoost user account or ensure the same

account is used for all LSU’s that will be used at the target domain.

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Figure 5. LSU permission settings

Data Domain LSU association

The next step is to create an association at both the source and the destination. This is accomplished by executing the ‘ddboost

association’ command set.

sysadmin@source-ddr# ddboost association create <source-lsu> replicate-to dest-ddr <dest-lsu>

DDBoost association created

sysadmin@source-ddr# ddboost association show

Local Storage Unit Direction Remote Host Remote Storage Unit

------------------ -------------- -------------------- -------------------

<source-lsu> replicate-to dest-ddr <dest-lsu>

------------------ -------------- -------------------- -------------------

The command also needs to be executed on the destination Data Domain but with parameters changed to reflect incoming Data

Domain information.

sysadmin@dest-ddr# ddboost association create <dest-lsu> replicate-from source-ddr <source-lsu>

DDBoost association created

sysadmin@dest-ddr# ddboost association show

Local Storage Unit Direction Remote Host Remote Storage Unit

------------------ -------------- -------------------- -------------------

<dest-lsu> replicate-from source-ddr <source-lsu>

------------------ -------------- -------------------- -------------------

Note that you will not see any information in DDEM/DDSM regarding DDBoost associations.

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AUTO IMAGE REPLICATION NETBACKUP CONFIGURATION

Defining Domain relationship for replication

As mentioned earlier, this is technically not a step to be performed in NetBackup since the storage is Open Storage vendor managed.

The important point to look for is whether the footprint of the configuration that was done in Data Domain is visible in NetBackup. If

not then a refresh needs to be done to ensure NetBackup’s EMM database is updated.

Note: Do not attempt to change any Storage Server attributes under ‘Properties’ or ‘Replication’. These are only intended for

NetBackup Managed storage.

In NetBackup, all Data Domain LSU’s to be used with DDBoost need to be configured as a Disk Pool. If this has not been done

already, please create a Disk Pool for the newly created LSU. This can be done by running the ‘Configure Disk Pool’ wizard in the

NetBackup Admin Console.

Depending on whether the association between LSU’s was done before or after creation of the Disk Pool, the properties of the Disk

Pool may vary slightly. The image below shows the Disk Pool properties for one that was created before the association was done.

Figure 6. Disk Pool Properties

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To update the properties of the Disk Pool to reflect the newly configured association, simply click on ‘Refresh’. You will be shown an

informational message as below, just click ‘OK’ to proceed.

Figure 7. Refresh Disk Pool Properties

The Disk Pool properties should properly update with the ‘Replication’ attribute now showing as ‘Source’ in the source NetBackup

Domain.

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Figure 8. Updated Disk Pool Properties

If you are configuring the Disk Pool after the associations have been done in Data Domain, the Disk Pool wizard will reflect the

source or target attribute.

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Figure 9. Disk Pool Attribute in Disk Pool wizard

The same attributes are also viewable on the command-line using the ’bpstsinfo’ command. The one below is for a source LSU.

bpstsinfo -lsuinfo -storage_server <Source Data Domain> -stype DataDomain

LSU Info: Server Name: source-ddr LSU Name: source-lsu Allocation : STS_LSU_AT_STATIC Storage: STS_LSU_ST_NONE Description: Configuration: Media: (STS_LSUF_DISK | STS_LSUF_STORAGE_FREED | STS_LSUF_REP_ENABLED |STS_LSUF_REP_SOURCE) Save As : (STS_SA_IMAGE) Replication Sources: 0 ( ) Replication Targets: 1 ( target-ddr:dest-lsu ) Maximum Transfer: 2147483647 Block Size: 512 Allocation Size: 0 Size: 80525455360 Physical Size: 0 Bytes Used: 2285355008 Physical Bytes Used: 0 Resident Images: 0

The one below is for a target LSU.

>bpstsinfo -lsuinfo -storage_server <target Data Domain> -stype DataDomain

LSU Info: Server Name: target-ddr LSU Name: dest-lsu Allocation : STS_LSU_AT_STATIC Storage: STS_LSU_ST_NONE Description: Configuration: Media: (STS_LSUF_DISK | STS_LSUF_STORAGE_FREED | STS_LSUF_REP_ENABLED |STS_LSUF_REP_TARGET) Save As : (STS_SA_IMAGE) Replication Sources: 1 ( source-ddr:source-lsu ) Replication Targets: 0 ( ) Maximum Transfer: 2147483647

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Block Size: 512 Allocation Size: 0 Size: 80525455360 Physical Size: 0 Bytes Used: 2285355008 Physical Bytes Used: 0 Resident Images: 0

Storage Lifecycle policies required for Auto Image Replication

The SLP’s required for successful execution of Auto Image replication must meet strict requirements as outlined in the table below.

Table 3. SLP requirements for Auto Image Replication

DOMAIN SLP REQUIREMENT

Source Domain ■ The first operation must be a Backup operation to storage that NetBackup supports for

replication. Indicate the exact storage unit from the drop-down list. Do not select Any Available.

Note: The target domain must contain the same type of storage to import the image.

■ At least one operation must be a Replication operation to storage in another domain that

NetBackup supports for replication from the source storage. You can configure multiple Replication

operations in an Auto Image Replication SLP. The Replication operation settings determine whether

the backup is replicated to all replication targets in all master server domains or only to specific

replication targets.

■ The SLP must be of the same data classification as the Import SLP in Target Domain

■ The SLP must have the same name as the Import SLP in Target Domain

Target Domain ■ The first operation in the SLP must be an Import operation. NetBackup must support the

Destination storage as a target for replication from the source storage. Indicate the exact storage

unit from the drop-down list. Do not select Any Available.

■ The SLP must contain at least one operation that has the Target retention specified.

■ The SLP must be of the same data classification as the SLP in Source Domain. Matching the data

classification keeps a consistent meaning to the classification and facilitates global reporting by

data classification.

■ The SLP must have the same name as the Backup/Replication SLP in Source Domain.

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Figure 10. SLP Example for Auto Image Replication

BACKUP POLICY CONFIGURATION

All backups that need replicating to the target domain are identified by the backup policy that created and sent that to the SLP in the

source domain. So, the client(s) whose backup(s) needs replicating needs to be in a backup policy with other appropriate settings

defined but importantly, under the ‘Attributes’ tab, the setting for ‘Policy Storage’ should specify the Auto Image replication SLP so

create. This is the only way NetBackup can replicate the backup data and metadata for those backups automatically. This

configuration needs to be done as early into the backup cycles as possible. Currently, NetBackup does not have a method to do Auto

Image Replication for historical backups.

Backups at the Source domain will execute as per the schedule defined in the Policy configuration. The Import jobs in the Target

Domain will trigger immediately after the replication completes in the Source domain.

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Figure 11. Replication Job completion in Source Domain

Figure 12. Replication Job Details (file list consists of Images replicated)

Figure 13. Import Job triggered in Target Domain

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Figure 14. Import Job Details (File list consists of Images imported/replicated in)

CONCLUSION

Auto Image Replication is primarily intended to provide a level of site disaster recovery by allowing selected, mission critical backups

to be copied between sites electronically. This feature can handily replace previous site disaster recovery methods, which can be

cumbersome and limited:

Physically moving media (tapes) to off-site storage.

Performing a catalog recovery at a remote site. (Does not support spoke-hub environments.)

Writing scripts to import images that have been sent by various means such as physical tape or disk replication.

In particular it is important to remember that there are limits to the amount of data that can be copied between domains. Do not use

Auto Image Replication to duplicate and replicate all of your data offsite unless you have done a thorough study and upgrade of your

storage and network bandwidth requirements in order to support such a load. When configuring Auto Image Replication it is strongly

recommended that you test the configuration using a small test backup before applying the source SLP to production backups. As

with SLPs in general, it is essential that you ramp up slowly, starting with only a portion of your backups and slowly adding more.

In addition, it is very critical to understand and determine the Source and Target Data Domain’s limits on the number of replication

In and Out streams. It is essential that these numbers are always in mind when scheduling and executing SLP operations.

Automatic Image Replication (AIR) jobs may fail in the case where the target Data Domain system has insufficient inbound opt-dupe

streams. Please refer to the OpenStorage product release notes section of the appropriate plug-in version for details and workaround

to manage the number of jobs using AIR.

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REFERENCES

• Data Domain Product Home Page : https://www.emc.com/data-protection/data-domain/index.htm

• Data Domain Boost OpenStorage Whitepaper : http://www.emc.com/collateral/software/white-papers/h7296-data-domain-boost-

openstorage-wp.pdf

• Data Domain Boost Version Compatibility Guide : https://support.emc.com/docu51631_Data-Domain-Boost-Compatibility-

Guide.pdf?language=en_US

• NetBackup 7.6 Administrator’s Guide Vol-I : https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.DOC6452

• NetBackup 7.6 OpenStorage Disk Solutions Guide : https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.DOC6464

• NetBackup 7.6 Whitepaper Best Practice for Storage Lifecycle Policies : http://clientui-

kb.symantec.com/resources/sites/BUSINESS/content/live/TECHNICAL_SOLUTION/208000/TECH208536/en_US/NetBackup%207.6%

20Whitepaper%20-%20Best%20Practice%20for%20SLPs.pdf

• Data Domain Product Home Page : https://www.emc.com/data-protection/data-domain/index.htm

• Data Domain Product Home Page : https://www.emc.com/data-protection/data-domain/index.htm