VERITAS NetBackup

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Legato NetWorker

Legato Systems was founded in 1988 by four engineers from Sun Microsystems (Jon Kepecs, Bob Lyon, Joe Moran, and Russell Sandberg) to provide an integrated set of storage management solutions and services that simplify the administration of client/server computing. Legato has a long tradition of adopting and driving storage-specific standards. Legato was the first in the market to introduce a common tape format (OpenTape) and a common media management interface (SmartMedia), and it codeveloped the NetWork Data Management Protocol (NDMP). In the increasingly important SAN market, Legato is both a founding member and a member of the Board of Directors of the Storage Network Industry Association (SNIA) in the United States and Europe.

Legato NetWorker protects the critical business data by simplifying, centralizing, and automating backup and recovery operations across UNIX, Windows, Linux, and NetWare platforms in DAS, NAS, and SAN storage environments. Built upon open, highly scalable client/server architecture, the NetWorker product family reduces management overhead by providing 'lights out' protection of storage assets in the largest corporate data centers and the smallest satellite branch offices. Advanced indexing and media management, cluster support, high-speed parallelism, cross-platform tape interoperability, comprehensive NDMP support, backup to disk, tape cloning, archive, serverless backup, and dynamic drive sharing are among the key components that enable IT organizations to protect storage assets and minimize downtime. Database, messaging, and ERP modules deliver online protection and granular recovery. Autochanger/silo modules enable hands-free protection using a wide variety of robotic devices. Storage nodes enable load sharing and distribution of backup traffic, and LAN-free protection of servers with large data volumes. NetWorker is also tightly integrated with complementary Legato applications, such as hierarchical storage management (HSM), systems management frameworks, simplified operator administration, and Web-enabled management of multiple NetWorker servers.

Methodology of Backup

A NetWorker's scheduled backup may perform a full, incremental, consolidated, and/or level backup. A full backup (considered a level 0) consists of all files whether or not they have changed. An incremental backup backs up files that have changed since the last backup regardless of the level. However, the incremental level backups, of which there are nine, allow you to creatively architect the manner in which you wish to protect your data. The incremental levels back up files that have changed since the last lowered numbered backup. For example, a level 1 backup backs up all the files that have changed since the last full backup (considered a level 0). A level 3 backup backs up all the files that have changed since the last level 2 backup, level 1 backup, or full backup. A level 9 backs up all the files that have changed since the last level 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,or full (0) backup. A consolidated backup backs up all data that has changed since the last full backup and subsequently merges these changes with the last full backup, effectively building a synthetic full backup. NetWorker also has what is called 'skip' backup type, which skips a scheduled backup that may, for example, fall on a holiday or may be skipped if no one will be available to perform tasks such as change or add media volumes.

Principles of Recovery

NetWorker Data Recovery takes full advantage of the information stored in its client file index and media database to quickly locate files and recover them to their original location or an alternate location if desired. The two methods employed by NetWorker for recovery are as follows:

• Client File Index-Based Recovery. An end user or administrator browses the client file index using graphical tools or command-line interface (CLI) and selects individual files or directories to recover.

• Save Set Recovery. An administrator or end user recovers an entire save set to the originating client from the NetWorker GUI or CLI.

In addition to these methods, NetWorker maintains the ability to recover data that has been expired by using a utility called scanner. Scanner reads a NetWorker volume independent of the NetWorker server, making it possible to rebuild the media database and client indices in the unusual event that the NetWorker database was inaccessible.

NetWorker is designed with disaster recovery as a primary focus. If a disaster occurs-whether it is isolated to a single system, strikes the NetWorker server itself, or affects an entire site-NetWorker is able to respond quickly so that data can be restored and operations can resume in minimal time. NetWorker protects its databases by the creation of bootstraps. A bootstrap contains the site-specific information that a NetWorker server requires to recover in the case of a disaster.

Legato's AlphaStor product provides drive sharing and advanced media management for the NetWorker servers. As with other products, Legato customers often implement multiple NetWorker servers to maximize backup performance, which naturally equates to increased complexity with multiple media databases and client file indexes having multiple points of administration. AlphaStor helps to reduce this complexity by providing a single and consolidated view of all NetWorker media, as well as other storage media.

AlphaStor's advanced media management includes the following:

• A simple-to-use, browser-based interface for data center operation personnel

• On-site and off-site tape rotation management and tracking

• The ability to schedule, track, and automate movement of all media, regardless of location, based on defined policies and utilizing tape retention policies defined within NetWorker

• Ability to share tape devices and libraries across multiple NetWorker servers and storage nodes

• A consolidated view of all media and drive usage

• Consolidated reporting of tape pools and media by location

• Support for SAN environments

Much of the disaster recovery principles are contained within the functionality of AlphaStor. This is an add-on product and not included in the base product.

High Availability

There is extensive support for clustered environments, including Sun Cluster, Hewlett-Packard MCSG, IBM HACMP, Compaq TruCluster, Microsoft Cluster Services, and Legato Availability Manager. It also has the ability to cluster NetWorker Servers.

Key Differentiators

The following are the key differentiators for NetWorker:

• The core product is engineered for performance, resiliency, and scalability.

• 13,000 enterprise customers utilize NetWorker worldwide; SAP standardizes on NetWorker (12+ TB daily), Sun protects six global data centers with NetWorker, 28 separate NetWorker OEM agreements (most in industry; example: Sun Solstice Backup is NetWorker OEM).

• It is the only data protection software shipping with every IBM LTO library, and the only data protection software shipping with every Oracle 8i and 9i database.

• It enables standardization on one application to protect information in the largest data centers, the smallest branch offices, and throughout a heterogeneous global enterprise.

• Open Tape Format provides tape interoperability between UNIX, Windows, Linux, and NetWare backup platforms, increasing disaster recovery and platform migration capabilities.

• Advanced indexing architecture eliminates risk of corruption and speeds file recovery.

• Single location for index data simplifies management and increases resiliency in the event of a storage node failure.

• It provides support for over 200 tape drives, 450 library models, and a variety of tape silos.

• It provides comprehensive protection for NDMP-based Network-Attached Storage devices using UNIX, Windows, or Linux backup platforms.

• It features the ability to back up locally, via third-party copy, or , remote to UNIX-attached library, to ATL network attached library, or over SAN.

• Through Direct Access Restore (DAR), it pinpoints file location for faster file recovery of NDMP-based backups. Also featured are separate browse and retention policies and the ability to recover data without administrator assistance.

• It features native library sharing plus an option to dynamically share drives between storage nodes and NDMP NAS in SAN.

• It allows backup server, storage node, client, and application support for Linux.

• The live, serverless backup option frees applications and network from the impact of backup operations.

• You can automatically back up to disk (JBOD and RAID), clone backups on disk to tape, or stage backups to disk before moving to tape-all with one-step recovery.

• New hardware snapshot modules enable instant 'backup' and near line recovery.

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