DSA is short for "Data Server Agent". Look in Chapter 12 of the
Unix/Linux Admin guide for 7.2. It has nice diagrams of the
configuration. Basically, it packages the NDMP datastream (in NetApp's
case, the NetApp modified ufsdump) into a legato stream and sends it
across the network to the Legato server. Local drives are no longer
required

Pro's for DSA
--------------
Support for any Networker device.
No need for DDS (drives are attached to server/storage node)
Multiplexing is supported
Backup to Disk is supported
Variable block size (much faster tape performance)
No separate storage pool required (can be multiplexed with other
backups)
Using backups with qtrees, much higher parrallelization can be achieved

Con's for DSA
--------------
Can be a load on the network/nics
Requires custom configuration including tuning


I've got all the Solaris tuning if anyone needs. We use a separate VLAN
with jumbo frames over gigabit ethernet. We tweaked the TCP/IP settings
on the Sun Server (Sun V490 running Solaris 9), and are getting good
performance. The client config in Network Admin is kinda tricky (you
have to use parameters to tell Legato to use a separate NIC for
example). But once it's setup, it is pretty hands-off.


--
Matthew Huff           | One Manhattanville Rd
Director of Operations | Purchase, NY 10577
OTA LLC                | Phone: 914-460-4039 
mailto:mhuff AT ox DOT com    | Fax:   914-460-4139   
-----Original Message-----
From: John Stoffel [mailto:john.stoffel AT taec.toshiba DOT com] 
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 1:12 PM
To: Legato NetWorker discussion; Matthew Huff
Subject: Re: Index File Size?


Matthew> With Networker 7.1 you should be looking at DSA backups for the

Matthew> NetApps rather than NFS. With DSA, you can keep the drives 
Matthew> attached to your Networker Server and/or Storage Node. The 
Matthew> streams are parallel and are treated like any other NetApp 
Matthew> backup.  I would recommend a seperate VLAN and separate 
Matthew> interfaces for the backups including tweaking the backup 
Matthew> servers TCP/IP settings and running Jumbo frames, but even if 
Matthew> you don't, it should be better than NFS backups.

Interesting.  Poking around the http://software.emc.com/... stuff, I
don't see anything explicitly talking about this.  I assume this is NDMP
by another name?  

The problem I've seen with NDMP is that it barfs with restores of over a
million files, and I have users who have directories/qtrees which exceed
this level.  Annoying, yes, but not something I can do anything about. 

Matthew> DSA is built-in to Networker (although you have to have NDMP 
Matthew> client licenses).

Interesting.  Can you give us more details, such as what DSA really
stands for?  And how you're using it, if you are using it?  I'm always
looking for a better way to backup my NetApps.

Thanks,
John
    John Stoffel - Senior Staff Systems Administrator - System LSI Group
  Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. -
http://www.toshiba.com/taec
             john.stoffel AT taec.toshiba DOT com - 508-486-1087

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