NetBackup
Encyclopedia
Veritas
NetBackup is an enterprise level heterogeneous backup
and recovery suite. It provides cross-platform backup functionality to a large variety of Windows
, UNIX
and Linux
operating systems.
It is set up with a central master server
that manages both media servers (containing the backup media) and clients. Core server platforms are, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX
, Tru64, Linux
and Windows
.
Multiple NetBackup environments can be managed by NetBackup OpsCenter, which is bundled with the NetBackup 7.0 distribution, which replaces the NetBackup Operations Manager (NOM) component used in previous versions. NetBackup comes with support for many hardware devices like tape drives, tape libraries
, disk units, and supports, amongst many others, hot backups for major database products like Oracle
, can natively backup and restore the virtual machines of major virtualization products like VMware Infrastructure
, can use Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP
), and has tape vaulting
. NetBackup also enables LAN-free
and server-free backups
in SAN
fabric environments.
VERITAS Software
Veritas Software Corp. was an international software company that was founded in 1983 as Tolerant Systems, renamed Veritas Software Corp. in 1989, and merged with Symantec in 2005. It was headquartered in Mountain View, California...
NetBackup is an enterprise level heterogeneous backup
Backup
In information technology, a backup or the process of backing up is making copies of data which may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup....
and recovery suite. It provides cross-platform backup functionality to a large variety of Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating systems.
It is set up with a central master server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
that manages both media servers (containing the backup media) and clients. Core server platforms are, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX
AIX operating system
AIX AIX AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive, pronounced "a i ex" is a series of proprietary Unix operating systems developed and sold by IBM for several of its computer platforms...
, Tru64, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
.
Multiple NetBackup environments can be managed by NetBackup OpsCenter, which is bundled with the NetBackup 7.0 distribution, which replaces the NetBackup Operations Manager (NOM) component used in previous versions. NetBackup comes with support for many hardware devices like tape drives, tape libraries
Tape library
In computer storage, a tape library, sometimes called a tape silo, tape robot or tape jukebox, is a storage device which contains one or more tape drives, a number of slots to hold tape cartridges, a barcode reader to identify tape cartridges and an automated method for loading tapes...
, disk units, and supports, amongst many others, hot backups for major database products like Oracle
Oracle database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
, can natively backup and restore the virtual machines of major virtualization products like VMware Infrastructure
VMware Infrastructure
VMware Infrastructure 3 is a suite of computer hardware virtualization products from VMware, Inc. . The suite includes:* VMware ESX Server version 3* VMware ESXi version 3.x...
, can use Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP
NDMP
NDMP, or Network Data Management Protocol, is a protocol invented by the NetApp and Legato companies, meant to transport data between NAS devices and backup devices...
), and has tape vaulting
Off-site Data Protection
In computing, off-site data protection, or vaulting, is the strategy of sending critical data out of the main location as part of a disaster recovery plan. Data is usually transported off-site using removable storage media such as magnetic tape or optical storage...
. NetBackup also enables LAN-free
LAN-free backup
A LAN-free backup is a backup of server data to a shared, central storage device without sending the data over the local area network . It is usually achieved by using a storage area network ....
and server-free backups
Server-free backup
IBM introduced Server-Free backup with IBM Tivoli Storage Manager 5.1 in 2002 for Windows 2000 servers only.*Server-Free backup functionality were included in IBM Tivoli Storage Manager version 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3, but not in 5.4 or later, but are supported in 5.4 and later.Server-Free data...
in SAN
Storage area network
A storage area network is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage. SANs are primarily used to make storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes, accessible to servers so that the devices appear like locally attached devices...
fabric environments.
Corporate History of NetBackup
- In 1987, Chrysler Corporation engaged Control Data CorporationControl Data CorporationControl Data Corporation was a supercomputer firm. For most of the 1960s, it built the fastest computers in the world by far, only losing that crown in the 1970s after Seymour Cray left the company to found Cray Research, Inc....
to write a backup software solution. A small group of engineers (Rick Barrer, Rosemary Bayer, Paul Tuckfield and Craig Wilson) wrote the software. Other Control Data customers later adopted it for their own needs. - In 1990, Control Data formed the Automated Workstation Backup System business unit. The first version of AWBUS supported two tape drives in a single robotic carousel with the SGISilicon GraphicsSilicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
IRIXIRIXIRIX is a computer operating system developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to run natively on their 32- and 64-bit MIPS architecture workstations and servers. It was based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. IRIX was the first operating system to include the XFS file system.The last major version...
operating system. - In 1993, Control Data renamed the product to BackupPlus 1.0 (this is why many NetBackup commands have a 'bp' prefix). Software improvements included support for media Volume Management and Server Migration/Hierarchical Storage Management.
- In late 1993, Openvision acquired the product and Control Data’s Storage Management 12-person team. This is why, on UNIX platforms, NetBackup installs into /usr/openv. During this time, Open Vision renamed Backup Plus to NetBackup.
- On May 6, 1997 Veritas acquired Openvision, including absorption of the NetBackup product line.
- In 2005 SymantecSymantecSymantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...
acquired Veritas and NetBackup became a Symantec product. Also at that time, Symantec released NetBackup 6.0, the 30th version of the software.
Major features of NetBackup
- Data Deduplication
- Client or server-side deduplication via integration with the PureDiskPureDiskSymantec PureDisk is a data deduplication product, initially sold as a software installation and now as an appliance....
data deduplicationData deduplicationIn computing, data deduplication is a specialized data compression technique for eliminating coarse-grained redundant data. The technique is used to improve storage utilization and can also be applied to network data transfers to reduce the number of bytes that must be sent across a link...
engine
- Client or server-side deduplication via integration with the PureDisk
- Security
- Data Encryption
- Access Control
- Performance
- Synthetic Backups
- Disk StagingDisk stagingDisk staging is using disks as an additional, temporary stage of backup process before finally storing backup to tape. Backups stay on disk typically for a day or a week, before being copied to tape in a background process and deleted afterwards....
- Checkpoint restart
- MultiplexedMultiplexingThe multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which may be a physical transmission medium. The multiplexing divides the capacity of the low-level communication channel into several higher-level logical channels, one for each message signal or data stream to be transferred...
Backup - Multi-streamed Backup
- Inline Copy
- Online NetBackup catalog backup
- Management and Reporting
- Web-based management reporting (VERITAS NetBackup Operations Manager)
- Tape volume, drive and library viewing
- Error message identification, categorization and troubleshooting
- Media Management
- Enterprise Media Manager
- Automatic robotic/tape drive configuration
- Broad tape device support
- Heterogeneous Support
- Broad platform support
- Bare-metal restoreBare-metal restoreBare-metal restore is a technique in the field of data recovery and restoration where the backed up data is available in a form which allows one to restore a computer system from "bare metal", i.e...
- Support for leading networking topologies
- Advanced software and hardware snapshotSnapshot (computer storage)In computer systems, a snapshot is the state of a system at a particular point in time. The term was coined as an analogy to that in photography. It can refer to an actual copy of the state of a system or to a capability provided by certain systems....
support - NetBackup RealTime
Major releases
- 7.1 was released in February, 2011
- 7.0 was released in February, 2010
- 6.5 was released in August, 2007
- 6.0 was released in October, 2005 (30th release)
- 5.0 was released in December, 2003
- 4.5 was released in 2002
- 3.4 was released in June, 2000
- 3.0 was released in November, 1997
- 2.0 was released in June, 1996 (12th release)
- 1.6 was released in 1994 and the NetBackup name was coined
External links
- Backup and Recovery Peer-to-Peer Open Support Website!
- Symantec The new owner of Veritas.
- http://www.symantec.com/connect/symantec-blogs/netting-out-netbackup Official NetBackup Blog
- NetBackup Howto Unofficial NetBackup blog site offering a dozen "howto" tips on the product
- Veritas-bu, a mailing list for NetBackup users.
- NetBackup FAQ/Wiki, a NetBackup FAQ page.
- Symantec Operations Readiness Tools (SORT)
- NetBackup documentation
- NetBackup documentation at Sun MicrosystemsSun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
- Netbackup/ Oracle RMAN Integration