Sun Cluster HA for NetBackup Overview

The Sun Cluster HA for NetBackup product consists of a VERITAS NetBackup master server, VERITAS NetBackup slave servers, VERITAS NetBackup clients, and the Sun Cluster HA for NetBackup data service.

The NetBackup master server acts as the centralized administration and scheduling server. Each cluster can have only one NetBackup master server.

Typically, in non-clustered systems, the node running the master server is connected to the devices used for making and storing backups. However, in the Sun Cluster environment, the backup devices must be attached to slave servers rather than master servers, and neither backup devices nor slave servers can be included in the cluster. The master server communicates with slave servers through connections to the public network.

The NetBackup slave servers are the machines that actually perform the backups. A cluster can employ zero or more slave servers. Workload can be distributed between multiple slave servers.

NetBackup clients are processes that run on nodes inside or outside the cluster. The NetBackup clients transfer local data from the machine to be backed up to the master and slave servers.

The product also includes a NetBackup media manager, which consists of daemons that interface with the backup devices. The daemons exist outside the control of Sun Cluster.

Installation Notes

Note the following considerations before installing VERITAS NetBackup and Sun Cluster HA for NetBackup. The configuration limitations are illustrated in Figure 14-1.

• VERITAS NetBackup is a single-instance data service. You cannot run more than one instance of VERITAS NetBackup per cluster.

• NetBackup master servers must be installed in a cluster.

• NetBackup clients can exist inside or outside a cluster.

• NetBackup slave servers and backup devices (tape libraries, optical readers, and so on) cannot be included in any cluster.

• The shared disk associated with the NetBackup master server should be large enough to accommodate the NetBackup administrative files and logs that accumulate over time. The size of the administrative files and logs depends upon the amount of backup activity required for your configuration.

• Do not add entries for the NetBackup startup and shutdown scripts (S77netbackup and K77netbackup) to any rc script on any cluster node. The NetBackup startup and shutdown scripts must be insulated from cluster node startups and shutdowns.

Supported Configurations

The following figure illustrates the supported configurations for Sun Cluster HA for NetBackup.

The NetBackup master server must be included in a cluster. NetBackup clients can be configured inside or outside a cluster. Backup devices can be attached only to slave servers, and neither can be included in a cluster.

Communication between NetBackup components occurs only through connections to the public network. In the case of a failover or switchover, the components under cluster control fail over or switch over to their backup nodes.

Figure 14-1 Sun Cluster HA for NetBackup Supported Configurations