NetBackup™ Deduplication Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (10.0)
  1. Introducing the NetBackup media server deduplication option
    1.  
      About the NetBackup deduplication options
  2. Quick start
    1.  
      About client-side deduplication
    2. About the media server deduplication (MSDP) node cloud tier
      1.  
        Configuring the MSDP node cloud tier
    3.  
      About Auto Image Replication (A.I.R.)
  3. Planning your deployment
    1.  
      Planning your MSDP deployment
    2.  
      NetBackup naming conventions
    3.  
      About MSDP deduplication nodes
    4.  
      About the NetBackup deduplication destinations
    5.  
      About MSDP storage capacity
    6. About MSDP storage and connectivity requirements
      1.  
        Fibre Channel and iSCSI comparison for MSDP
    7. About NetBackup media server deduplication
      1.  
        About MSDP storage servers
      2.  
        About MSDP load balancing servers
      3.  
        About MSDP server requirements
      4.  
        About MSDP unsupported configurations
    8. About NetBackup Client Direct deduplication
      1.  
        About MSDP client deduplication requirements and limitations
    9. About MSDP remote office client deduplication
      1.  
        About MSDP remote client data security
      2.  
        About remote client backup scheduling
    10.  
      About the NetBackup Deduplication Engine credentials
    11.  
      About the network interface for MSDP
    12.  
      About MSDP port usage
    13.  
      About MSDP optimized synthetic backups
    14.  
      About MSDP and SAN Client
    15.  
      About MSDP optimized duplication and replication
    16. About MSDP performance
      1.  
        How file size may affect the MSDP deduplication rate
    17. About MSDP stream handlers
      1.  
        Oracle stream handler
      2.  
        Microsoft SQL Server stream handler
    18. MSDP deployment best practices
      1.  
        Use fully qualified domain names
      2.  
        About scaling MSDP
      3.  
        Send initial full backups to the storage server
      4.  
        Increase the number of MSDP jobs gradually
      5.  
        Introduce MSDP load balancing servers gradually
      6.  
        Implement MSDP client deduplication gradually
      7.  
        Use MSDP compression and encryption
      8.  
        About the optimal number of backup streams for MSDP
      9.  
        About storage unit groups for MSDP
      10.  
        About protecting the MSDP data
      11.  
        Save the MSDP storage server configuration
      12.  
        Plan for disk write caching
  4. Provisioning the storage
    1.  
      About provisioning the storage for MSDP
    2.  
      Do not modify MSDP storage directories and files
    3.  
      About volume management for NetBackup MSDP
  5. Licensing deduplication
    1.  
      About the MSDP license
    2.  
      Licensing NetBackup MSDP
  6. Configuring deduplication
    1.  
      Configuring MSDP server-side deduplication
    2.  
      Configuring MSDP client-side deduplication
    3.  
      About the MSDP Deduplication Multi-Threaded Agent
    4. Configuring the Deduplication Multi-Threaded Agent behavior
      1.  
        MSDP mtstrm.conf file parameters
    5.  
      Configuring deduplication plug-in interaction with the Multi-Threaded Agent
    6.  
      About MSDP fingerprinting
    7.  
      About the MSDP fingerprint cache
    8. Configuring the MSDP fingerprint cache behavior
      1.  
        MSDP fingerprint cache behavior options
    9.  
      About seeding the MSDP fingerprint cache for remote client deduplication
    10.  
      Configuring MSDP fingerprint cache seeding on the client
    11. Configuring MSDP fingerprint cache seeding on the storage server
      1.  
        NetBackup seedutil options
    12.  
      Enabling 400 TB support for MSDP
    13. About MSDP Encryption using NetBackup KMS service
      1.  
        Upgrading KMS for MSDP
      2.  
        Enabled KMS encryption for Local LSU
    14.  
      About MSDP Encryption using external KMS server
    15. Configuring a storage server for a Media Server Deduplication Pool
      1.  
        MSDP storage path properties
      2.  
        MSDP network interface properties
    16.  
      About disk pools for NetBackup deduplication
    17. Configuring a disk pool for deduplication
      1.  
        Media Server Deduplication Pool properties
    18.  
      Creating the data directories for 400 TB MSDP support
    19.  
      Adding volumes to a 400 TB Media Server Deduplication Pool
    20. Configuring a Media Server Deduplication Pool storage unit
      1.  
        Media Server Deduplication Pool storage unit properties
      2.  
        MSDP storage unit recommendations
    21.  
      Configuring client attributes for MSDP client-side deduplication
    22.  
      Disabling MSDP client-side deduplication for a client
    23.  
      About MSDP compression
    24.  
      About MSDP encryption
    25.  
      MSDP compression and encryption settings matrix
    26.  
      Configuring encryption for MSDP backups
    27.  
      Configuring encryption for MSDP optimized duplication and replication
    28.  
      About the rolling data conversion mechanism for MSDP
    29.  
      Modes of rolling data conversion
    30.  
      MSDP encryption behavior and compatibilities
    31.  
      Configuring optimized synthetic backups for MSDP
    32.  
      About a separate network path for MSDP duplication and replication
    33.  
      Configuring a separate network path for MSDP duplication and replication
    34. About MSDP optimized duplication within the same domain
      1. About the media servers for MSDP optimized duplication within the same domain
        1.  
          About MSDP push duplication within the same domain
        2.  
          About MSDP pull duplication within the same domain
    35. Configuring MSDP optimized duplication within the same NetBackup domain
      1. Configuring NetBackup optimized duplication or replication behavior
        1.  
          Setting NetBackup configuration options by using the command line
    36.  
      About MSDP replication to a different domain
    37. Configuring MSDP replication to a different NetBackup domain
      1. About NetBackup Auto Image Replication
        1.  
          One-to-many Auto Image Replication model
        2.  
          Cascading Auto Image Replication model
        3.  
          About the domain relationship for replication
        4.  
          About the replication topology for Auto Image Replication
        5. Viewing the replication topology for Auto Image Replication
          1.  
            Sample volume properties output for MSDP replication
      2.  
        About trusted primary servers for Auto Image Replication
      3.  
        About the certificate to be used for adding a trusted master server
      4.  
        Adding a trusted master server using a NetBackup CA-signed (host ID-based) certificate
      5.  
        Adding a trusted primary server using external CA-signed certificate
      6.  
        Removing a trusted primary server
      7.  
        Enabling NetBackup clustered primary server inter-node authentication
      8.  
        Configuring NetBackup CA and NetBackup host ID-based certificate for secure communication between the source and the target MSDP storage servers
      9.  
        Configuring external CA for secure communication between the source MSDP storage server and the target MSDP storage server
      10. Configuring a target for MSDP replication to a remote domain
        1.  
          Target options for MSDP replication
        2.  
          Configuring a NetBackup Deduplication Engine user with limited permissions for Auto Image Replication
    38.  
      About configuring MSDP optimized duplication and replication bandwidth
    39.  
      About performance tuning of optimized duplication and replication for MSDP cloud
    40.  
      About storage lifecycle policies
    41.  
      About the storage lifecycle policies required for Auto Image Replication
    42. Creating a storage lifecycle policy
      1.  
        Storage Lifecycle Policy dialog box settings
    43.  
      About MSDP backup policy configuration
    44.  
      Creating a backup policy
    45. Resilient Network properties
      1.  
        Resilient connection resource usage
    46.  
      Specifying resilient connections
    47.  
      Adding an MSDP load balancing server
    48.  
      About variable-length deduplication on NetBackup clients
    49.  
      About the MSDP pd.conf configuration file
    50. Editing the MSDP pd.conf file
      1.  
        MSDP pd.conf file parameters
    51.  
      About the MSDP contentrouter.cfg file
    52.  
      About saving the MSDP storage server configuration
    53.  
      Saving the MSDP storage server configuration
    54.  
      Editing an MSDP storage server configuration file
    55.  
      Setting the MSDP storage server configuration
    56.  
      About the MSDP host configuration file
    57.  
      Deleting an MSDP host configuration file
    58.  
      Resetting the MSDP registry
    59. About protecting the MSDP catalog
      1.  
        About the MSDP shadow catalog
      2.  
        About storing MSDP catalog shadow copy duplicates on data volumes
      3.  
        About the MSDP catalog backup policy
    60.  
      Changing the MSDP shadow catalog path
    61.  
      Changing the MSDP shadow catalog schedule
    62.  
      Changing the number of MSDP catalog shadow copies
    63. Configuring an MSDP catalog backup
      1.  
        MSDP drcontrol options
    64.  
      Updating an MSDP catalog backup policy
    65.  
      About MSDP FIPS compliance
    66.  
      Configuring the NetBackup client-side deduplication to support multiple interfaces of MSDP
    67.  
      About MSDP multi-domain support
    68.  
      About MSDP application user support
    69.  
      About MSDP mutli-domain VLAN Support
    70. About NetBackup WORM storage support for immutable and indelible data
      1.  
        About the NetBackup command line options to configure immutable and indelible data
  7. MSDP cloud support
    1. About MSDP cloud support
      1.  
        Operating system requirement for configuration
      2.  
        Limitations
    2.  
      Create a Media Server Deduplication Pool (MSDP) storage server in the NetBackup web UI
    3.  
      Creating a cloud storage unit
    4.  
      Updating cloud credentials for a cloud LSU
    5.  
      Updating encryption configurations for a cloud LSU
    6.  
      Deleting a cloud LSU
    7.  
      Backup data to cloud by using cloud LSU
    8.  
      Duplicate data cloud by using cloud LSU
    9.  
      Configuring AIR to use cloud LSU
    10.  
      About backward compatibility support
    11.  
      About the configuration items in cloud.json, contentrouter.cfg, and spa.cfg
    12.  
      About the tool updates for cloud support
    13. About the disaster recovery for cloud LSU
      1.  
        Common disaster recovery steps
      2.  
        Disaster recovery for cloud LSU in Flex Scale
    14. About Image Sharing using MSDP cloud
      1.  
        Things to consider before you use image sharing to convert VM image to VHD in Azure
      2.  
        Converting the VM image to VHD in Azure
    15.  
      About restore from a backup in Microsoft Azure Archive
    16. About MSDP cloud immutable (WORM) storage support
      1.  
        About MSDP cloud admin tool
      2. About immutable object support for AWS S3
        1.  
          Creating a cloud immutable storage unit
        2.  
          Managing AWS S3 immutable storage using msdpcldutil tool
        3.  
          Performance tuning
        4.  
          AWS user permissions to create the cloud immutable volume
        5.  
          About bucket policy for immutable storage
      3. About immutable object support for AWS S3 compatible platforms
        1.  
          Creating a cloud immutable storage unit for the S3 compatible platforms
        2.  
          Managing HCP for Cloud Scale using msdpcldutil tool
        3.  
          Managing Cloudian HyperStore using msdpcldutil tool
        4.  
          Managing Seagate Lyve Cloud using msdpcldutil tool
        5.  
          Managing Veritas Access Cloud using msdpcldutil tool
      4. About immutable storage support for Azure blob storage
        1.  
          Creating an Azure cloud immutable storage unit using the Web UI
        2.  
          Managing an Azure cloud immutable volume using msdpcldutil tool
      5.  
        Troubleshooting the error when the bucket is created without msdpcldutil
  8. Monitoring deduplication activity
    1.  
      Monitoring the MSDP deduplication and compression rates
    2. Viewing MSDP job details
      1.  
        MSDP job details
    3.  
      About MSDP storage capacity and usage reporting
    4.  
      About MSDP container files
    5.  
      Viewing storage usage within MSDP container files
    6.  
      Viewing MSDP disk reports
    7.  
      About monitoring MSDP processes
    8.  
      Reporting on Auto Image Replication jobs
  9. Managing deduplication
    1. Managing MSDP servers
      1.  
        Viewing MSDP storage servers
      2.  
        Determining the MSDP storage server state
      3.  
        Viewing MSDP storage server attributes
      4.  
        Setting MSDP storage server attributes
      5.  
        Changing MSDP storage server properties
      6.  
        Clearing MSDP storage server attributes
      7.  
        About changing the MSDP storage server name or storage path
      8.  
        Changing the MSDP storage server name or storage path
      9.  
        Removing an MSDP load balancing server
      10.  
        Deleting an MSDP storage server
      11.  
        Deleting the MSDP storage server configuration
    2. Managing NetBackup Deduplication Engine credentials
      1.  
        Determining which media servers have deduplication credentials
      2.  
        Adding NetBackup Deduplication Engine credentials
      3.  
        Changing NetBackup Deduplication Engine credentials
      4.  
        Deleting credentials from a load balancing server
    3. Managing Media Server Deduplication Pools
      1.  
        Viewing Media Server Deduplication Pools
      2.  
        Determining the Media Server Deduplication Pool state
      3.  
        Changing OpenStorage disk pool state
      4.  
        Viewing Media Server Deduplication Pool attributes
      5.  
        Setting a Media Server Deduplication Pool attribute
      6. Changing a Media Server Deduplication Pool properties
        1.  
          How to resolve volume changes for Auto Image Replication
      7.  
        Clearing a Media Server Deduplication Pool attribute
      8.  
        Determining the MSDP disk volume state
      9.  
        Changing the MSDP disk volume state
      10.  
        Inventorying a NetBackup disk pool
      11.  
        Deleting a Media Server Deduplication Pool
    4.  
      Deleting backup images
    5.  
      About MSDP queue processing
    6.  
      Processing the MSDP transaction queue manually
    7.  
      About MSDP data integrity checking
    8. Configuring MSDP data integrity checking behavior
      1.  
        MSDP data integrity checking configuration parameters
    9.  
      About managing MSDP storage read performance
    10. About MSDP storage rebasing
      1.  
        MSDP server-side rebasing parameters
    11.  
      About the MSDP data removal process
    12.  
      Resizing the MSDP storage partition
    13.  
      How MSDP restores work
    14.  
      Configuring MSDP restores directly to a client
    15.  
      About restoring files at a remote site
    16.  
      About restoring from a backup at a target master domain
    17.  
      Specifying the restore server
  10. Recovering MSDP
    1.  
      About recovering the MSDP catalog
    2.  
      Restoring the MSDP catalog from a shadow copy
    3.  
      Recovering from an MSDP storage server disk failure
    4.  
      Recovering from an MSDP storage server failure
    5.  
      Recovering the MSDP storage server after NetBackup catalog recovery
  11. Replacing MSDP hosts
    1.  
      Replacing the MSDP storage server host computer
  12. Uninstalling MSDP
    1.  
      About uninstalling MSDP
    2.  
      Deactivating MSDP
  13. Deduplication architecture
    1.  
      MSDP server components
    2.  
      Media server deduplication backup process
    3.  
      MSDP client components
    4.  
      MSDP client - side deduplication backup process
  14. Configuring and using universal shares
    1.  
      About Universal Shares
    2.  
      Configuring and using an MSDP build-your-own (BYO) server for Universal Shares
    3.  
      MSDP build-your-own (BYO) server prerequisites and hardware requirements to configure Universal Shares
    4.  
      Configuring Universal Share user authentication
    5.  
      Mounting a Universal Share created from the NetBackup web UI
    6.  
      Creating a Protection Point for a Universal Share
    7.  
      Using the ingest mode
    8.  
      Changing the number of vpfsd instances
    9.  
      Upgrading to NetBackup 10.0
  15. Troubleshooting
    1. About unified logging
      1.  
        About using the vxlogview command to view unified logs
      2.  
        Examples of using vxlogview to view unified logs
    2. About legacy logging
      1.  
        Creating NetBackup log file directories for MSDP
    3.  
      NetBackup MSDP log files
    4. Troubleshooting MSDP installation issues
      1.  
        MSDP installation on SUSE Linux fails
    5. Troubleshooting MSDP configuration issues
      1.  
        MSDP storage server configuration fails
      2.  
        MSDP database system error (220)
      3.  
        MSDP server not found error
      4.  
        License information failure during MSDP configuration
      5.  
        The disk pool wizard does not display an MSDP volume
    6. Troubleshooting MSDP operational issues
      1.  
        Verify that the MSDP server has sufficient memory
      2.  
        MSDP backup or duplication job fails
      3.  
        MSDP client deduplication fails
      4.  
        MSDP volume state changes to DOWN when volume is unmounted
      5.  
        MSDP errors, delayed response, hangs
      6.  
        Cannot delete an MSDP disk pool
      7.  
        MSDP media open error (83)
      8.  
        MSDP media write error (84)
      9.  
        MSDP no images successfully processed (191)
      10.  
        MSDP storage full conditions
      11.  
        Troubleshooting MSDP catalog backup
      12.  
        Storage Platform Web Service (spws) does not start
      13.  
        Disk volume API or command line option does not work
    7.  
      Viewing MSDP disk errors and events
    8.  
      MSDP event codes and messages
    9.  
      Unable to obtain the administrator password to use an AWS EC2 instance that has a Windows OS
    10. Trouble shooting multi-domain issues
      1.  
        Unable to configure OpenStorage server from another domain
      2.  
        MSDP storage server is down when you configure an OpenStorage server
      3.  
        MSDP server is overloaded when it is used by multiple NetBackup domains
  16. Appendix A. Migrating to MSDP storage
    1.  
      Migrating from another storage type to MSDP
  17. Appendix B. Migrating from Cloud Catalyst to MSDP direct cloud tiering
    1.  
      About migration from Cloud Catalyst to MSDP direct cloud tiering
    2.  
      About Cloud Catalyst migration strategies
    3. About direct migration from Cloud Catalyst to MSDP direct cloud tiering
      1.  
        About requirements for a new MSDP direct cloud tier storage server
      2.  
        About beginning the direct migration
      3.  
        Placing the Cloud Catalyst server in a consistent state
      4.  
        About installing and configuring the new MSDP direct cloud tier server
      5.  
        Running the migration to the new MSDP direct cloud tier server
    4.  
      About postmigration configuration and cleanup
    5.  
      About the Cloud Catalyst migration -dryrun option
    6.  
      About Cloud Catalyst migration cacontrol options
    7.  
      Reverting back to Cloud Catalyst from a successful migration
    8.  
      Reverting back to Cloud Catalyst from a failed migration
  18. Appendix C. Encryption Crawler
    1.  
      About the Encryption Crawler
    2.  
      About the two modes of the Encryption Crawler
    3.  
      Managing the Encryption Crawler
    4.  
      Advanced options
    5.  
      Tuning options
    6.  
      Encrypting the data
    7.  
      Command usage example outputs
  19.  
    Index

MSDP mtstrm.conf file parameters

The mtstrm.conf configuration file controls the behavior of the Deduplication Multi-threaded Agent. The default values balance performance with resource usage.

A procedure exists that describes how to configure these parameters.

The pd.conf file resides in the following directories:

  • (UNIX) /usr/openv/lib/ost-plugins/

  • (Windows) install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\ost-plugins

See Configuring the Deduplication Multi-Threaded Agent behavior.

The mtstrm.conf file is comprised of three sections. The parameters must remain within their sections. For descriptions of the parameters, see the following sections:

The mtstrm.conf file resides in the following directories:

  • UNIX: /usr/openv/lib/ost-plugins/

  • Windows: install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\ost-plugins

Logging parameters

The following table describes the logging parameters of the mtstrm.conf configuration file.

Table: Logging parameters (mtstrm.conf file)

Logging Parameter

Description

LogPath

The directory in which the mtstrmd.log files are created.

Default values:

  • Windows: LogPath=install_path\Veritas\pdde\\..\netbackup\logs\pdde

  • UNIX: LogPath=/var/log/puredisk

Logging

Specify what to log:

Default value: Logging=short,thread.

Possible values:

minimal: Critical, Error, Authentication, Bug
short  : all of the above plus Warning
long   : all of the above plus Info
verbose: all of the above plus Notice
full   : all of the above plus Trace messages (everything)
none   : disable logging

To enable or disable other logging information, append one of the following to the logging value, without using spaces:

,thread  : enable thread ID logging.
,date    : enable date logging.
,timing  : enable high-resolution timestamps
,silent  : disable logging to console

Retention

How long to retain log files (in days) before NetBackup deletes them.

Default value: Retention=7.

Possible values: 0-9, inclusive. Use 0 to keep logs forever.

LogMaxSize

The maximum log size (MB) before NetBackup creates a new log file. The existing log files that are rolled over are renamed mtstrmd.log.<date/time stamp>

Default value: LogMaxSize=500.

Possible value: 1 to the maximum operating system file size in MBs, inclusive.

Process parameters

The following table describes the process parameters of the mtstrm.conf configuration file.

Table: Process parameters (mtstrm.conf file)

Process Parameter

Description

MaxConcurrentSessions

The maximum number of concurrent sessions that the Multi-Threaded Agent processes. If it receives a backup job when the MaxConcurrentSessions value is reached, the job runs as a single-threaded job.

By default, the deduplication plug-in sends backup jobs to the Multi-Threaded Agent on a first-in, first-out basis. However, you can configure which clients and which backup policies the deduplication plug-in sends to the Multi-Threaded Agent. The MTSTRM_BACKUP_CLIENTS and MTSTRM_BACKUP_POLICIES parameters in the pd.conf control the behavior. Filtering the backup jobs that are sent to the Multi-Threaded Agent can be very helpful on the systems that have many concurrent backup jobs.

See MSDP pd.conf file parameters.

Default value: MaxConcurrentSessions= (calculated by NetBackup; see the following paragraph).

NetBackup configures the value for this parameter during installation or upgrade. The value is the hardware concurrency value of the host divided by the BackupFpThreads value (see Table: Threads parameters (mtstrm.conf file)). (For the purposes of this parameter, the hardware concurrency is the number of CPUs or cores or hyperthreading units.) On media servers, NetBackup may not use all hardware concurrency for deduplication. Some may be reserved for other server processes.

For more information about hardware concurrency, see the pd.conf file MTSTRM_BACKUP_ENABLED parameter description.

See MSDP pd.conf file parameters.

Possible values: 1-32, inclusive.

Warning:

Veritas recommends that you change this value only after careful consideration of how the change affects your system resources. With default configuration values, each session uses approximately 120 to 150 MBs of memory. The memory that is used is equal to (BackupReadBufferCount * BackupReadBufferSize) + (3 * BackupShmBufferSize) + FpCacheMaxMbSize (if enabled).

BackupShmBufferSize

The size of the buffers (MB) for shared memory copying. This setting affects three buffers: The shared memory buffer itself, the shared memory receive buffer in the mtstrmd process, and the shared memory send buffer on the client process.

Default value: BackupShmBufferSize=2 (UNIX) or BackupShmBufferSize=8 (Windows).

Possible values: 1-16, inclusive.

BackupReadBufferSize

The size (MB) of the memory buffer to use per session for read operations from a client during a backup.

Default value: BackupReadBufferSize=32 .

Possible values: 16-128, inclusive.

BackupReadBufferCount

The number of memory buffers to use per session for read operations from a client during a backup.

Default value: BackupReadBufferCount=3.

Possible values: 1 to 10, inclusive.

BackupBatchSendEnabled

Determines whether to use batch message protocols to send data to the storage server for a backup.

Default value: BackupBatchSendEnabled=1.

Possible values: 0 (disabled) or 1 (enabled).

FpCacheMaxMbSize

The maximum amount of memory (MB) to use per session for fingerprint caching.

Default value: FpCacheMaxMbSize=1024.

Possible values: 0-1024, inclusive.

SessionCloseTimeout

The amount of time to wait in seconds for threads to finish processing when a session is closed before the agent times-out with an error.

Default value: 180.

Possible values: 1-3600.

SessionInactiveThreshold

The number of minutes for a session to be idle before NetBackup considers it inactive. NetBackup examines the sessions and closes inactive ones during maintenance operations.

Default value: 480.

Possible values: 1-1440, inclusive.

Threads parameters

The following table describes the threads parameters of the mtstrm.conf configuration file.

Table: Threads parameters (mtstrm.conf file)

Threads Parameter

Description

BackupFpThreads

The number of threads to use per session to fingerprint incoming data.

Default value: BackupFpThreads= (calculated by NetBackup; see the following explanation).

NetBackup configures the value for this parameter during installation or upgrade. The value is equal to the following hardware concurrency threshold values.

  • Windows and Linux: The threshold value is 2.

  • Solaris: The threshold value is 4.

For more information about hardware concurrency, see the pd.conf file MTSTRM_BACKUP_ENABLED parameter description.

See MSDP pd.conf file parameters.

BackupSendThreads

The number of threads to use per session to send data to the storage server during a backup operation.

Default value: BackupSendThreads=1 for servers and BackupSendThreads=2 for clients.

Possible values: 1-32, inclusive.

MaintenanceThreadPeriod

The frequency at which NetBackup performs maintenance operations, in minutes.

Default value: 720.

Possible values: 0-10080, inclusive. Zero (0) disables maintenance operations.