Problem
NetBackup server upgrades to 9.0 and later releases are not supported for CloudCatalyst servers.
A nbcheck utility test has been added to the install to prevent NetBackup CloudCatalyst servers from being upgraded to 9.0. The install stops if CloudCatalyst is configured on the server. The server remains unchanged and continues to run the currently installed version of NetBackup after the upgrade install is aborted.
Error Message
Upgrades are not supported when CloudCatalyst is configured.
Cause
NetBackup 8.3 and later releases include support for MSDP Direct Cloud Tiering (also known as MSDP Cloud). This new technology is superior with improved performance, reliability, usability, and flexibility over the previous CloudCatalyst product. Customers are encouraged to move to MSDP Direct Cloud Tiering to take advantage of these improvements as well as future enhancements.
Because of the improvements available with MSDP Direct Cloud Tiering, CloudCatalyst is no longer offered as an option for NetBackup 9.0 and later servers.
Solution
Users who want to continue using CloudCatalyst can do so on servers running NetBackup versions 8.1 through 8.3.0.2. Those versions are compatible with 9.0 and are supported as back-level servers for a 9.0 NetBackup master server installation. If users do need to configure a new CloudCatalyst server after the NetBackup master server has been upgraded to 9.0, they must use the command line to do so. Neither the Java GUI nor the web UI can be used in 9.0 to configure CloudCatalyst.
For NetBackup Appliance, the equivalent versions would be 3.1 through 3.3.0.2 MR2.
Migration Strategies
Multiple strategies are available for migrating from CloudCatalyst to MSDP Cloud. The best strategy for an installation depends on factors such as type of cloud storage (public vs. private, standard vs. cold (for example: AWS Glacier) storage class) and data retention requirements.
The following pages describe four strategies for migrating from CloudCatalyst to MSDP Cloud. Three of these strategies can be adopted with NetBackup 8.3 and later releases and the fourth, Direct Migration, will be made available in a future release.
Natural Expiration
This strategy works in any environment. To use this strategy, the user first configures a new 8.3 or later MSDP Cloud storage server or adds an MSDP Cloud disk pool and storage unit to an existing 8.3 or later MSDP storage server (that server must have the capacity to do so). Next, the user modifies storage lifecycle policies and backup policies to use the new MSDP Cloud storage. Once all new duplication or backup jobs write to the new MSDP Cloud storage, the images on the old CloudCatalyst storage gradually expire. After all those images have expired, the CloudCatalyst server can be retired or repurposed.
Advantages
Available with release 8.3 and later so improved performance, reliability, usability, and flexibility available in MSDP Cloud can be used now.
Can be implemented gradually using new MSDP Cloud storage servers while CloudCatalyst storage servers continue to be used.
Can be used for all environments including public cloud cold storage (for example: AWS Glacier or AWS Glacier Deep Archive).
All new data is uploaded with MSDP Cloud which uses cloud storage more efficiently than CloudCatalyst, so in the long-term total cloud storage usage and cost is reduced.
Disadvantages
Until all old CloudCatalyst images have been expired and deleted, there is some duplication of data in cloud storage between the old CloudCatalyst images and new MSDP Cloud images, so additional storage cost is incurred for public cloud. However, MSDP Cloud uses cloud storage more efficiently than CloudCatalyst, especially pre-8.2 CloudCatalyst, which should help offset the additional cost.
Requires a separate server.
CloudCatalyst servers must be maintained until all images uploaded by those servers have expired or are otherwise no longer needed.
Image Duplication
This strategy works in most environments except those using public cloud cold storage (for example: AWS Glacier or AWS Glacier Deep Archive). To use this strategy, the user first configures a new 8.3 or later MSDP Cloud storage server or adds an MSDP Cloud disk pool and storage unit to an existing 8.3 or later MSDP storage server (that server must have the capacity to do so). Next, the user modifies storage lifecycle policies and backup policies to use the new MSDP Cloud storage. Once all new duplication or backup jobs write to the new MSDP Cloud storage, existing images on the old CloudCatalyst storage are moved to the new MSDP Cloud storage using manually initiated bpduplicate commands. After all existing images have been moved from the old CloudCatalyst storage to the new MSDP Cloud storage, the CloudCatalyst server can be retired or repurposed.
Advantages
Available with release 8.3 and later so improved performance, reliability, usability, and flexibility available in MSDP Cloud can be used now.
Can be implemented gradually using new MSDP Cloud storage servers while CloudCatalyst storage servers continue to be used.
All new data and all old CloudCatalyst data are uploaded with MSDP Cloud which uses cloud storage more efficiently than CloudCatalyst, so in the long-term total cloud storage usage and cost is reduced.
Disadvantages
Public cloud cold storage environments (for example: AWS Glacier or AWS Glacier Deep Archive) support restore from the cloud but do not support duplication from the cloud, so this strategy cannot be used.
If public cloud storage is used, potentially significant data egress charges are incurred when old CloudCatalyst images are read to duplicate them to the new MSDP Cloud storage.
Additional network traffic to and from the cloud occurs when the old CloudCatalyst images are duplicated to the new MSDP Cloud storage.
Until all old CloudCatalyst images have been moved to MSDP Cloud storage, there is some duplication of data in cloud storage between the old CloudCatalyst images and new MSDP Cloud images, so additional costs are incurred for public cloud. However, MSDP Cloud uses cloud storage more efficiently than CloudCatalyst, especially pre-8.2 CloudCatalyst, which should help offset the additional cost.
Requires a separate server.
CloudCatalyst servers must be maintained until all images uploaded by those servers have been moved to the new MSDP Cloud storage or are otherwise no longer needed.
Combination
This strategy works in most environments except those using public cloud cold storage (for example: AWS Glacier or AWS Glacier Deep Archive). This strategy is a combination of the previous two strategies. To use this strategy, the user first configures a new 8.3 or later MSDP Cloud storage server or adds an MSDP Cloud disk pool and storage unit to an existing 8.3 or later MSDP storage server (that server must have the capacity to do so). Next, the user modifies storage lifecycle policies and backup policies to use the new MSDP Cloud storage. Once all new duplication or backup jobs write to the new MSDP Cloud storage, the oldest images on the old CloudCatalyst storage gradually expire. When the number of remaining unexpired images on the old CloudCatalyst storage drops below a determined threshold, those remaining images are moved to the new MSDP Cloud storage using manually initiated bpduplicate commands. After all remaining images have been moved from the old CloudCatalyst storage to the new MSDP Cloud storage, the CloudCatalyst server can be retired or repurposed.
Advantages
Available with release 8.3 and later so improved performance, reliability, usability, and flexibility available in MSDP Cloud can be used now.
Can be implemented gradually using new MSDP Cloud storage servers while CloudCatalyst storage servers continue to be used.
All new data and all old CloudCatalyst data are uploaded with MSDP Cloud which uses cloud storage more efficiently than CloudCatalyst, so in the long-term total cloud storage usage and cost is reduced.
Enables retiring of the old CloudCatalyst servers before all images on those servers have expired.
Disadvantages
Public cloud cold storage environments (for example: AWS Glacier or AWS Glacier Deep Archive) support restore from the cloud but do not support duplication from the cloud, so this strategy cannot be used.
If public cloud storage is used, potentially significant data egress charges are incurred when old CloudCatalyst images are read to duplicate them to the new MSDP Cloud storage.
Additional network traffic to and from the cloud occurs when the old CloudCatalyst images are duplicated to the new MSDP Cloud storage.
Until all CloudCatalyst images have expired or have been moved to MSDP Cloud storage, there is some duplication of data in cloud storage between the old CloudCatalyst images and new MSDP Cloud images, so additional costs are incurred for public cloud. However, MSDP Cloud uses cloud storage more efficiently than CloudCatalyst, especially pre-8.2 CloudCatalyst, which should help offset the additional cost.
Requires a separate server.
CloudCatalyst servers must be maintained until all images uploaded by those servers have expired or have been moved to the new MSDP Cloud storage or are otherwise no longer needed.
Direct Migration
This strategy will be available in a future release and will work in any environment. To use this strategy, the user first configures a new MSDP Cloud storage server using the future release that enables this strategy. Alternatively, the existing CloudCatalyst server can be reimaged and reinstalled as a new MSDP Cloud storage server using the future release that enables this strategy, if it meets the requirements to do so. Note that this operation would not be an upgrade install, instead it would be a remove and reinstall operation. Once the new MSDP Cloud storage server is available, a documented CloudCatalyst migration process and utility are used to enable that MSDP Cloud storage server to reference the data previously uploaded to cloud storage by CloudCatalyst. When the migration process and utility are complete, the MSDP Cloud storage server can be used for new backup and duplication operations as well as for restore operations of older CloudCatalyst images.
Watch this article for updates as more information becomes available about this strategy.
Advantages
Can be used for all environments including public cloud cold storage (for example: AWS Glacier or AWS Glacier Deep Archive).
Does not require separate server.
Disadvantages
Available only in a future release, so improved performance, reliability, usability, and flexibility available in MSDP Cloud cannot be used until that time.
Cannot be implemented gradually using new MSDP Cloud storage servers while CloudCatalyst storage servers continue to be used for new backup or duplication jobs. The CloudCatalyst storage server may be available in read-only mode for restore while the migration process and utility are running but may not be used for new backup or duplication jobs.
CloudCatalyst uses cloud storage less efficiently than MSDP Cloud. This is especially true for pre-8.2 versions of CloudCatalyst. Since this strategy continues to use those existing CloudCatalyst objects for new MSDP Cloud images, the cloud storage efficiency that is gained with MSDP Cloud is not realized.
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Please note that this document is a translation from English, and may have been machine-translated. It is possible that updates have been made to the original version after this document was translated and published. Veritas does not guarantee the accuracy regarding the completeness of the translation. You may also refer to the English Version of this knowledge base article for up-to-date information.