NDMP Backup Formats and Types

The NDMP protocol does not specify a backup data format. The appliance supports three backup types corresponding to different implementations and on-tape formats. DMAs can select a backup type using the following values for the NDMP environment variable TYPE:

Table 3-24 NDMP Backup Formats and Types

Backup Type	Details
dump	File-based for filesystems only. Supports file history and direct access recovery (DAR).
tar	File-based for filesystems only. Supports file history and direct access recovery (DAR).
zfs	Share-based for both filesystems and volumes. Does not support file history or direct access recovery (DAR), but may be faster for some datasets. Only supported with NDMPv4.

There is no standard NDMP data stream format, so backup streams generated on the appliance can only be restored on Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance systems running compatible software. Future versions of appliance software can generally restore streams backed up from older versions of the software, but the reverse is not necessarily true. For example, the "zfs" backup type was new in 2010.Q3, and systems running 2010.Q1 or earlier cannot restore backup streams created using type "zfs" under 2010.Q3.