Networker

Re: [Networker] NetWorker 7.2 vs NetWorker 7.1.3

2005-03-29 10:35:19
Subject: Re: [Networker] NetWorker 7.2 vs NetWorker 7.1.3
From: Stan Horwitz <stan AT TEMPLE DOT EDU>
To: NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 10:32:18 -0500
On Tue, 29 Mar 2005, Vince Howard wrote:

>NetWorker Host: NetWorker 7.1.1_rtm.Build.277 running under Solaris 2.9
>
>Hi,
>
>Can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for on the NetWorker
>archives, so...
>
>We have just received the Media Pack for NetWorker v7.2, but before
>installing it I wanted to check something.  I seem to remember
>discussions on this list where it was claimed that v7.1.3. is a later
>release, chronologically, than v7.2 and that v7.1.3 has more bug fixes
>in it.
>
>Can anyone confirm (or deny) that this is the case?
>
>Is it worth installing v7.2 - I tried installing 7.1.2 a while ago but
>it caused problems on some Windows clients.

Which NetWorker version is best for you depends on your site requirements.
You did not give any indication regarding what your site's backup needs
and requirements are and next to nothing about your NetWorker server
configuration. As such, I can only use generalities here.

NetWorker 7.1.3 has more fixes applied to it than version 7.2, but those
additional fixes may not be relevant at your site. You should read the
release notes for 7.1.3 and 7.2 and then decide which version most closely
fits your site's requirements after consulting with your management.

We run NetWorker 7.1.3 Power Edition on a Sun Solaris 9 server for our
central site backup needs. We backup a few TB per night across 153 clients
(Solaris, Tru64 Unix, Windows 2000/XP/2003/NT, Linux, and Mac OS X). We
use the Open File Manager on some clients and the MS SQL module on a few
clients, five NDMP clients, plus one Exchange server. Our NetWorker server
has a gigantic Sony PetaSite with nine Sony S-AIT drives connected to it
via fibre channel to handle backups of our largest clients. For our small
clients, we have a Solaris 9 storage node which has a Qualstar tape
library with 12 Sony AIT-2 drives in it. We expect to easily double our
nightly backup volume over the next few months, which is the reason why we
installed the Sony PetaSite last August.

My approach to enterprise-wide backup technology is very simple. My goal
is to make sure it all works well, make sure I understand it reasonably
well, and make sure I am confident enough in it to sleep well at night.
All those requirements are met by 7.1.3 and the hardware we have so I am
in no rush to move to version 7.2, although I do plan to head in that
direction by the end of this calendar year, probably when we expand the
capacity of our tape library.

I am not about to switch to 7.2 until at least 7.2.1 is available.  This
is because there are no features in 7.2 that I can use at this time that
are not already available in 7.1.3. I like to take the approach of "if it
ain't broke, don't fix it" as far as computer technology is concerned. I
have done experiments with NetWorker 7.2 on a laptop just for testing
purposes, but I will not upgrade our production server to it at this time,
and this is a discussion I have had with my management on several
ocassions because there is one particular feature in 7.2 one of my
colleagues is chomping at the bit to get.

Specifically, NetWorker 7.2 will allow us to recover individual mailboxes
on our Mirapoint email servers, which are backed up via NDMP. I have
delayed upgrading to 7.2 because its too new AND more importantly, because
we do not have enough disk capacity on our NetWorker server to handle the
increased client file index growth that will result from using that
feature.

Additionally, I am looking forward to the new way version 7.2 handles tape
NDMP devices. For now though, neither of those two features is worth
risking my sleep to use right now, even if we did have enough disk space
to house the larger CFI data. Fortunately, management here agrees.

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