Storage Nodes, Remote Devices, and Multiple Network Interfaces

You can control most operations on local and remote devices, including autochangers and silos, from the Backup administration program on the server. But for some remote autochanger operations (for example, reset) you must use the nsrjb command or the jb_config program on the storage node machine. During data transfer operations, the Backup server uses remote devices the same way it uses local devices.

Backup clients at release 4.2 and later are able to use remote devices for backup, archive, and HSM (hierarchical storage management) functions. Earlier Backup clients cannot back up data to remote devices.

This section also discusses network interfaces. You can change the default network interfaces. You can also direct different clients to different network interfaces into the same storage node.

Remote Device Configuration

You configure remote standalone devices in an administration session with the controlling Backup server the same way you configure a standalone device that is connected to the Backup server. When you create each device, add a prefix to the device name that includes rd= and the storage node's hostname. For example, rd=omega:/dev/rmt/1mbn creates a device called /dev/rmt/1mbn on a storage node machine called omega. For specific instructions, see the online help for configuring devices.

There are two steps to configure a remote autochanger or silo device. First, verify that the storage node is listed in the Administrator attribute in the Server resource of the controlling server. It must have the form root@hostname, where hostname is the hostname of the storage node. Then run the jb_config program on the storage node machine to define each device in the autochanger or silo. See "jb_config" or refer to the jb_config man page for the syntax and options for this program.

When the jb_config program is completed, you can remove the storage node's hostname from the Administrator list. If you add another autochanger later, you must add the storage node's host name to the Administrator's attribute before running the jb_config program again.

Multiple Network Interfaces

If you prefer to use an interface other than the default interface, use the server network interface attribute. Enter the preferred interface in the client's server network interface attribute.

When doing a save, you can have multiple network interfaces defined on a storage node. You specify the storage node's interfaces in the Storage Nodes attribute list. This allows different clients to use different network interfaces for the same storage node.