I have a different way of handling that requirement.

 

 

The only other justification I can think of for using an external scheduler, is, when there are batch processing operations against, say, Oracle databases,  which need to run during your backup window. Using the same batch processing application, you can add a backup to the chain. This is a very specific situation - backups of Oracle databases and batch processing against said databases which need to occur during the same backup window.

We toyed with the idea, but in the end, we pushed back on the apps folks to fix their apps, so chains would run quicker and run either before our backups begin, or after they complete. We are currently considering hardware-based snapshot capability and array-based replication, which will give our apps folks back some time for chains to run.

--Steve



Curtis Preston wrote:

While I agree with Justin’s response, I really don’t like using external schedulers for NetBackup unless absolutely necessary.  The only real requirement I can think of that would force me to an external scheduler is multi-host dependencies, because external schedulers are really good at that.  

 

I’ve seen the following justifications:

1. I want a backup job to run exactly at 3 AM.
1. You can do that with NBU, good windows, and dedicated resources.
2. I want to tell all my jobs exactly when to run.

1. Why?  Stop over engineering your backup environment.  Let go and let Symantec. ;)  You’ll be amazed at how well run a NBU environment can be if you just give all your backups the same window, the same resources, and just set priorities.  It’s a beautiful thing and requires VERY little maintenance.
2. An external scheduler is already hooked into our overall reporting mechanism.

1. Lousy excuse to cripple the NBU scheduler.  Spend the time necessary to hook NBU into your overall reporting mechanism.

 

Short of the one valid reason I’ve seen (multi-host dependencies), you’ll never approach the level of resource utilization and efficiency that the NetBackup scheduler can give you by using an external scheduler.  For example, while NBU can have thousands of queued jobs waiting for resource (to make sure that something is always using the tape drives) without consuming any additional resources, doing that with an external scheduler is impossible.

 

 

Have you guys ever used an external scheduler?

I'm trying to figure out if that impacts Policy Prioritization or not.

Since our backups aren't scheduled thru NetBackup (there are schedules, but no windows) does prioritization come into play or no?

 

We're running 5.1 MP6.

TIA,
Kate

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