> Hi Folks ! 
> I would like to hear about the duplication policies you have 
> configured.
> I 
> am setting up a Netbackup system in a mid-range 
> environment(3.5TB full 
> backup). What I have found is that the duplication process is 
> really a 
> overhead. I would rather eject my original tapes and send em 
> offsite. I 
> really need to know whether it is feasible to duplicate. I am not sure
> how 
> huge enterprise does the duplication(where in they often run out of
> resource 
> for backup at first place). 

I make duplicates for off-site storage, rather than just sending off the
originals, for a couple of reasons:

a. I want to have current backups on-site for our frequent restore requests.

b. I have about 18 media servers, and since tapes don't share between media
servers, if I didn't duplicate, I've have to send off at least 18 tapes.
Using duplication, I can take the latest full backups from all the servers
and fit them on about 6 tapes, so a lot fewer tapes need to be stored
off-site.

I do my duplications with a big shell script that locates the latest full
backup for each client and duplicates them to a special media pool, then
ejects them. Hint: use 
-altreadhost on bpduplicate to keep the backups from having to run around on
the network.

                                                - Bluejay Adametz

Definition: Furbula n. The designated chewing area on a dog's back.