Hi Sean, my view is that there isn't a straight forward answer. It depends on the resources (e.g. DNS on backup LAN, etc) and the reasons behind each preference.

For my environment, we try to utilise as much as possible the backup LAN resources (e.g. NICs, switches, etc) and hence we have the hostname of the private backup LAN configured for servers and clients. And we use hosts file to direct the backup traffic via backup LAN.


>
> Will there be any backup and restore problem if all
> the NetBackup Servers and Clients use the Private
> Backup LAN for communication and transmit backup
> data? (especially for database, Microsoft Exchange,
> Lotus Notes ... etc.)

For restoration of SQL db using agent, you need to specify the db's instance name (part of the normal procedure) which is normally the hostname of the public LAN.
For MS Exchange agent restoration, you need to change the clientname to public LAN's hostname at the restore GUI during restoration.


> Is it recommended to use the hostname of the Private
> Backup LAN (xxxx_yy_bk) instead of the hostname of
> the Public LAN?
>
refer to the above.

Hope this help.

Sean,

We use a backup network and it works flawlessly. We don't descriminate the clients we put on that network by function (SQL, Exchange, etc.), but rather by size of the backup. We have Exchange servers and SQL server on the backup network (though we don't use the SQL agent).

We split the traffic off with 4 NIC's on each of our media servers.

1) Production NIC on any general/public network
2) Backup NIC #1 - In DNS it's MEDIASERVER#-BKP1
3) Backup NIC #2 - In DNS it's MEDIASERVER#-BKP2
4) This we typically use for clients that are potentially behind a firewall from the public networks. This way we don't have to direct backup traffic over the firewall.

In general, we use the backup network for clients over 150GB. This eliminates the hops over multiple networks and also doesn't degrade the network performance on any of those network.

In the end, no problems. You need to make sure to set it up in NBU to use the alternate name in DNS (XXX-BKP1), but that's just a one time setup!

Hope that helps!

Lance

Sean,

Netbackup does not care what card data is transmitted on. Netbackup does require TCP/IP to talk to clients, make sure you have a route set between the two choosen subnets and youl be good to go.

The setup you mention is a common practice.


JD

Hi Chia,

Thank you for your reply.

> For restoration of SQL db using agent, you need to
> specify the db's instance name (part of the normal
> procedure) which is normally the hostname of the
> public LAN.
> For MS Exchange agent restoration, you need to change
> the clientname to public LAN's hostname at the
> restore GUI during restoration.

If using or changing the clientname to public LAN's hostname, then the data will be restored via public LAN. Could I use the private LAN to restore data (for example using REQUIRED_INTERFACE at bp.conf) ?

Thank you.

Hi Lance,

Thank you for your reply.

> We split the traffic off with 4 NIC's on each of our
> media servers.
>
> 1) Production NIC on any general/public network
> 2) Backup NIC #1 - In DNS it's MEDIASERVER#-BKP1
> 3) Backup NIC #2 - In DNS it's MEDIASERVER#-BKP2
> 4) This we typically use for clients that are
> potentially behind a firewall from the public
> networks. This way we don't have to direct backup
> traffic over the firewall.

There will be many network interface cards being used. Will the NetBackup being confused by the differrent networks and hostnames?

Your implementation is good and cater of many different scenario.

Thank you.

It won't be confused as long as you set the client name up with the alternate DNS name (-bkp). Also, those backup NIC's won't need default gateways, just and IP address and subnet. It's a beautiful thing getting backup traffic off of production networks!

That great mate, keeping the backup traffic off the production NIC's is a great solutin to a better yeild, for example if on the master server we have two NIC cards defind on the host file as

192.168.22.1 master-serv loghost
192.168.11.1 master-bkp1
192.168.11.2 master-bkp2

with the NIC configured with the specific ip's, you can actually make the client point ot any of the ip's with the respective hostname for the backups to happen, just add the list to the clients host file and the bp.conf or in windows server settings tab in the registry.

Define the gateway and the route on the client and the master to reach thier respective destinations.

Chaio

Ankur Kumar

Sean,
This topic is covered in the sysadmin guide.

Use Specified Network Interface
The Use Specified Network Interface property specifies the network interface that NetBackup uses when connecting to another NetBackup client or server. A NetBackup client or server can have more than one network interface. To force NetBackup connections to be made on a specific network interface, use this entry to specify the network host name of that interface. By default, the operating system determines the one to use.
Example 1 - Client with multiple network interfaces.
Assume a NetBackup client with two network interfaces:
◆ One network interface is for the regular network. The host name for the regular interface is fred.
◆ One network interface is for the backup network. The host name for the backup
interface is fred_nb.
The NetBackup client name setting on both the client and server is fred_nb. When client fred starts a backup, restore, or list operation, the request goes out on the fred_nb interface and over the backup network. This assumes that fred and the network are set up to do so. If this configuration is not in place, fred can send the request out on the fred interface and over the regular network. The server receives the request from client fred_nb with host name fred and refuses it because the host and client names do not match.
One way to solve this problem is to set up the master server to allow redirected restores for client fred. This allows the server to accept the request, but leaves NetBackup traffic on the regular network.
A better solution is to set Use Specified Network Interface on fred to fred_nb. Now, all backup, restore, and list requests use the fred_nb interface, the server receives requests from client fred_nb with host name fred_nb, and everything works as intended.

Example 2 - Server with multiple network interfaces.
Assume a NetBackup server with two network interfaces:
◆ One network interface is for the regular network. The host name for the regular interface is barney.
◆ One network interface is for the backup network The host name for the backup interface is barney_nb
The server list on all NetBackup servers and clients have an entry for barney_nb. When barney connects to a client for a backup, the request ideally goes out on the barney_nb interface and over the backup network. This assumes that barney and the network are set up to do so. If this configuration is not in place, barney can send the
request out on the barney interface and over the regular network. The client now receives the request from barney rather than barney_nb and refuses it as coming from an invalid server.
One way to solve this problem is to add an entry for barney to the server list on the client. The client now accepts requests from barney, but NetBackup traffic continues on the regular network.
A better solution is to set Use Specified Network Interface on barney to barney_nb. Now, when barney connects to a client, the connection is always through the barney_nb
interface and everything works as intended.Message was edited by:
Bob Stump

> If using or changing the clientname to public LAN's
> hostname, then the data will be restored via public
> LAN. Could I use the private LAN to restore data (for
> example using REQUIRED_INTERFACE at bp.conf) ?
>

Last time when trying on NBU4.5 with Exchange 5.5 it doesn't work. Hasn't try on NBU5 or 6 yet and Exchange 2k3 yet.

I wonder can anyone share the experience of having Exchange to be backed up and restore successfully (both db & mailboxes) via private backup LAN. With my limited knowledge on Exchange, the constraint I encountered was that when using NB Exchange ahgent, the NBU's client name need to be the Exchange's instance name which is tied to the hostname and this in turn restricte the backup & restore to be performed via production LAN.

Hi guys,

I am moving to a similar setup...

NBU 6.0 MP4 on AIX 5.3, mostly Wintel clients, some AIX & Redhat

Now :

Master/media server has 1 NIC on VLAN 1
Clients are on either of 2 VLANS
Backups from VLAN 2 are slow

Future :

Master/media server has 1 NIC on VLAN 1
Master/media server has 1 NIC (either physical or trunked) on VLAN 2
Clients are on either of 2 VLANS

We do not intend to add additional NICS to clients yet
We intend to add a 2nd DNS entry for the 2nd master NIC & point VLAN 2 clients to that
We have no requirement for client suffixes yet
We do not intend to use host file entries
We intend to upgarde to 6.5.x in the next few months

Questions...

What are your latest experiences / gottchas with this scenario
How are backup & restore processes effected?
Why would I use hosts files (I see no need if I use a 2nd A-record in DNS)?
How does the catalog behave?
How does exchange behave?
If I add a 2nd NIC to the clients in the future, will exchange still be a headache? (ie Bobs issue not fixed so far)

thx
Rich

the routing will be OK, the shortest way to the client is the NIC in the VLAN, so this way will be used.
Since you are using the same name for the clients as before, the catalog will be no problem - netbackup won't even notice any change.
Exchange shouldn't be a problem, because you are still using the "right" hostname.
You are right about the hosts file, it is not necessary in your setup.
Be sure to add the name of the second NIC in your backup server to the bp.conf of your clients or you will get status 59. If you have it added, just activate the nic and the backups (and restores of old data too) will take the new way for VLAN2.

Original thread is 3 years old
a lot has changed in 3 years - why bring up this old thread?