VERITAS NetBackup DataCenter 3.4.1
NetBackup DataCenter comes in a box that contains four CD-ROMs and eight printed manuals. I consulted the Installation Guide and the System Administrator's Guide while installing and configuring NetBackup Server for Microsoft Windows NT on my backup server. The installation was simple—except that I needed to enter long license keys for each option I wanted to enable. As VERITAS's support personnel recommended, I installed the most current patch to update the software to version 3.4.1. The patch installation was simple, but I had to repeat it on each NetBackup DataCenter client and the backup server.
After the installation, the Getting Started Wizard helped me configure my storage device, volumes, and catalog backup, as well as create a backup policy. These steps provided the groundwork for implementing a successful backup and recovery scheme. The program automatically discovered the robot and drives but couldn't determine the type of installed drives. I needed to manually specify the drive type; however, the software doesn't list LTO tape drives as an option. A VERITAS representative told me I could use DLT as a substitute in my tests.
You can install Windows clients remotely from the CD-ROM: I was able to easily push-install the client software to networked Windows machines. I installed the SQL Server Agent from my SQL Server machines' local CD-ROM drives. The SQL Server Agent installation was fast, but configuring the agent took more effort than the other products did. The agent relies on an ODBC data source for backup and restore operations. To accommodate automated SQL Server backups, you need to generate a script, which NetBackup DataCenter's scheduling component will later execute.
NetBackup Administration
The NetBackup Administration tool, which Figure 4 shows, is a graphical menu from which you can open separate administration windows for the product's various components. You can display the tool as a window, a toolbar, or a system tray icon.
I had already visited the Storage Unit Management and Media and Device Management interfaces as I walked through the Getting Started Wizard. In the Storage Unit Management interface, you add and remove storage devices and configure operational parameters. In the Media and Device Management interface, you configure backup devices and the media they use. Overall, NetBackup DataCenter offers excellent, highly automated media-management and device-management facilities that support an extensive list of hardware vendors.
Backup
To configure and manage backup jobs, you access the Backup Policy Management interface. Policies, which the software refers to as classes, define the rules for backing up one or more member clients. Each class has four components: General Attributes, Client List, File List, and Schedules. The General Attributes section lets you specify the type of clients that you want to back up, the class's priority, and the storage unit you want to use for the backup. The Schedules section lets you launch manual backups and schedule automatic jobs. You can configure a scheduled job to target a specific storage device, thereby overriding the device that you specified in General Attributes. After I set appropriate classes for the various systems in my test environment, I scheduled a few backup jobs, then ran the remainder manually by right-clicking the class icon and choosing Manual Backup from the resulting menu.
Data Recovery
You can initiate data restoration from the client side or the server side. To perform a Windows file-system restore from the backup server, I opened the Backup, Archive, and Restore interface on the backup server and specified the remote clients that I wanted to use as the targets for the restore. The software supports individual table restores for SQL Server 6.5 and filegroup-level restores for SQL Server 7.0, as well as partial-database restores for SQL Server 2000. NetBackup DataCenter also provides full point-in-time restoration capabilities. The processes for performing file-system and SQL Server restores are intuitive and highly functional.
Performance
NetBackup DataCenter offers extensive provisions for load balancing between servers, clients, classes, and devices. Bandwidth limiting, class preference, and multiplexing for backup devices are a few of the many configurable options that you can use to maximize performance and minimize resource utilization. The System Administrator's Guide illustrates how to use these settings. For my tests, I didn't alter the default parameters, and I experienced good backup throughput but noticed subpar restore performance.
Thorough Enterprise Functionality
Although the separate windows for each operation can quickly clutter the desktop, NetBackup DataCenter's interface is easy to use. To ensure backup integrity, you'll find all the information you need in the Activity Monitor, the detailed logging, and the Reports utility (although the Activity Monitor's progress bar is often inaccurate). NetBackup DataCenter seamlessly worked with the tape library and never required that I manually move a tape. The SQL Server client was somewhat difficult to configure, but some of this difficulty is attributable to the product's learning curve: I accomplished subsequent installations more quickly. The necessity to individually target all clients and servers for the patch installation was manageable, but intelligent management of patch distribution to clients would save administrators time and effort. Overall, NetBackup DataCenter offers a powerful and thorough set of features and options that will help you keep your data safe.
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