Data Protector Catalyst best practices (HPE StoreOnce)

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Catalyst best practices
• Ensure that the media servers where Catalyst low bandwidth backup is to be deployed are sized accordingly; otherwise, the implementation will not work well.
• As with other device types, the best deduplication ratios are achieved when similar data types are sent to the same device.
• Best throughput is achieved with multiple streams, the actual number per device/appliance varies by model. Because Catalyst stores can be acting as a backup target and inbound replication target the maximum value applies to the two target types combined (although inbound copy jobs would not normally run at the same time as backups).
• Although Catalyst copy is controlled by the backup software, the copy blackout window overrides the backup software scheduling. Check for conflicts.
• The first Catalyst low bandwidth backup will take longer than subsequent low bandwidth backups because a seeding process has to take place.
• If you are implementing multi-hop or one-to-many Catalyst copies, remember that these copies happen serially not in parallel.
• Ensure the backup clean-up scripts that regularly check for expired Catalyst Items run at a frequency that avoids using excessive storage to hold expired backups (every 24 hours is recommended).
• There are several specific tuning parameters dependent on backup application implementation.



Data Protector Catalyst best practices

1. Best practice is to keep similar data in the same Catalyst store. For example: dedicate a B6200 Catalyst store to Oracle backups and have a different Catalyst store for SQL server.

2. The more streams that can be supplied concurrently to a Catalyst store, the better the throughput—for best throughput 16 streams is about the maximum you can send before contention for resources happens within a single catalysts store. The source data selection will dictate how many streams are sent in a particular backup specification. If data is selected for backup from multiple mount points, each mount point will have a disk agent started. It is also possible to use the backup specifications to select multiple directory selections for backup to produce multiple streams.

3. Multiplexing cannot be configured within Data Protector 7 with Catalyst devices. (This is known as ‘Concurrency’ within Data Protector.)

4. It is necessary to select source data correctly for multiple streams. For example: for Filesystem backup separate mount points, drive letters or directory selections are required.

5. Backup servers running multiple streams and deduplication must be sized appropriately.

6. Use the HP Storage sizing tool—this is calibrated with the latest test results from HP R&D and will take into consideration data retention, data change and growth. It will also size any WAN links or show the bandwidth savings when using Catalyst.

7. Use the implicit gateway and use source-side deduplication if the source data is located on the server running the DP media agent.

8. Use the explicit gateway and server-side deduplication for individual server settings and when source data may be located on other servers and object copy functionality is required.

9. When setting up the gateway, remember that the implicit gateway (source-side deduplication) has a default limit of 2 streams per client. This will apply to all media servers using this gateway. The advanced setting for each explicit gateway also has a setting that allows you to specify the maximum number of streams.

10. When load balancing is selected at backup job run time, there is also a limit on streams and this overrides the gateway limit. If the gateway stream limit is set to 6 and load balancing is set at 5 (default), then only 5 streams will be possible for a job specification. The default setting may be modified. Load balancing is not recommended to two different StoreOnce Catalyst stores.

11. Expired backups are deleted from the StoreOnce Catalyst store at intervals specified by the global options file—default 24 hours.

12. Exporting backup media from a Catalyst store will leave ‘orphaned’ items in the Catalyst store—avoid doing this.

13. Use the Data Protector Object Copy function to move Catalyst data to another device—typically offsite.

14. Always select an explicit server-side gateway for backups that require duplicating to another site. Because of the virtual nature of the source-side (implicit) gateway it is not possible to use for duplication; destination server-side (implicit) gateways are ‘grayed’ out. If you select a source-side implicit gateway for backup, jobs will fail unless the object copy job is remapped to use the explicit gateways.

15. The HP Data Protector Object Copy function supports either post backup or scheduled deduplication, depending on customer requirements. Interactive mode is generally reserved for one-offs and testing only.

16. Object copy to tape is referred to as a ‘copy’ as distinct from a Catalyst copy which is ‘replication’.

17. HP StoreOnce Catalyst does not use Active Directory services for access control.

18. In a Disaster Recovery situation a StoreOnce Catalyst user is likely to have backup copies on multiple sites, and possibly to tape as well—all copies have entries in the IDB (internal database). Best Practice is to back up the IDB and then replicate offsite.

19. If the original cell manager is lost, a new one can be created and then updated with the Cell Manager IDB. However, it will be necessary to ‘import’ the Catalyst items for the relevant store.

20. To import Catalyst stores to a new Cell Manager proceed as follows:

− With a new cell manager configure the B2D device which is intact on the DR site. The original cell manager has been ‘lost’ in the disaster.

− Obtain a list of StoreOnce Catalyst objects in the store using the following command:
(commands in \Program Files\Omniback\bin)
omnib2dinfo.exe –list_objects –type OS –host << IP address or VIF of the B6200 service set>> -name <<storename>>
NOTE: The storename is the name of the store on the StoreOnce Backup system and not the DP name.

− Update the repository for each Catalyst object, using the Store name given in DP7. omnimm -add_slots <<Store name in DP7>> <<catalyst object name>>
Catalyst Object names are typically of the form e74d2262_502255d2_06b8_0004.

− Either use the GUI to import the catalog data or the command:
omnimm -import <<logical StoreOnce device>> - slot SlotID.