Hey Patti,
We used to have our backup server clustered (in our environment backup server
runs on Solaris 10, Storage Node with tape library attached runs Solaris 10,
Storage nodes in production data centers have DataDomain boost devices attached
are virtualized on ESX running windows 2K8 R2 - if you want more information I
can give more detail), but I have to say that the clustering software generally
caused more problems than it solved - having said that we never had to fail our
server over to the passive node due to hardware failure. Currently we are
running our backup server in a "non global zone" which I guess is just a
virtualized guest - it means that we can fail the server node over to another
physical server in case of hardware failure .... the virtual (ESX) storage
nodes work great ...
The only nodes on physical servers that we have in the environment are the
storage nodes attached to our tape library
You would also need to check the networker cluster installation guide, at least
with 7.6.x there were some restrictions around what you could and couldn't do
in a clusters environment (ie couldn't run clustered in a non-global zone)
There appear to be some changes in Networker 8 that would suggest that
virtualizing the backup server is becoming a more attractive option (bearing in
mind the caveats around having more layers of technology underpinning your Data
Protection environment - but a similar argument could be made for the
clustering software).
I'm not sure what the restrictions around clustering and directly attached tape
libraries is, but it's something that you would still want to avoid in a
virtualized environment
Having said that, isn't the most likely single point of failure going to be
your tape library?
Mat
-----Original Message-----
From: EMC NetWorker discussion [mailto:NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU] On
Behalf Of Clark, Patricia A.
Sent: Friday, 14 September 2012 5:00 AM
To: NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Subject: [Networker] Thoughts on enterprise redundancy in the networker realm
Hello networker-ites,
I've been on networker hiatus since November and I'm not quite back in the
saddle. I have a project on the drawing board that will be starting with 500
TB and heading up to the PB range over the next few years. The tape library is
a SpectraLogic T950, already on hand and expected to be expanded. Networker is
the defacto backup software. These are the only items that are firm. I've
been asked about redundancy for the backup server, aka failover. Other than
configuring the server to have redundant components, I've never considered a
server failover scenario before. The concern is not for disaster/recovery.
It's only for always being able to backup and/or recover data with no
significant down time. So, has anyone had anything like this in a cluster
and/or load balancer? I've only worked with single server setups, not even an
additional storage node. If there is a good reading source that is recommended
I'd appreciate that too.
Patti Clark
UNIX/Linux Administrator
Research and Development Systems Support Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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