STORAGE101x

Storage 101x Week 3: Business Continuity and Storage

Security
Section 3: Data Backup
Video 3: Backup Architecture
In this video we cover the architecture of a backup environment.
The primary components in a backup environment are the
primary backup server or simply called the backup server, the
secondary backup server or the storage node, a backup target,
which either disk, tape, or optical drive that is used to store
backup data, and the backup client, which is software that resides
on the systems that need to be backed up
The primary backup server is the component responsible for
managing and maintaining the backup schedules. It also
maintains configuration information for the backup application. It
also houses the backup catalog. The backup catalog contains a
history of all the files that have been backed up. In addition, the
backup catalog also tracks the location of all the backups on the
backup devices, and which backup server wrote that data. The
backup server may also be connected to the backup targets that
are used to hold the backed up data.
The backup server also has a backup policy which contains all of
the configuration information for a specific backup task. It
contains information such as the names of the servers to be
backed up, the files on those servers, the backup frequency, and
the retention of the backup. It may also include information about
files to be excluded from the backup. It may also have special
options for the backup, such as scripts that need to be run before
and after the backup process.
In larger backup environments, there may be an additional
secondary backup server. This is also called as a storage node.
The storage node does not host any configuration information or
2015 NetApp, Inc. All rights reserved. NetApp Proprietary Limited Use Only

STORAGE101x

the backup catalog. It only acts as a gateway to the backup

targets that store backup data.
Lets take a look at a graphic to understand a typical backup
architecture, and how a backup is typically performed.
The figure shows a server that has data which needs to be backed
up. The server runs the backup client, which follows the
instructions sent to it by the backup server to perform the backup
operation.
When the backup server starts a backup operation according to
the backup policy, it instructs the backup client on the server to
send data to the storage node. The backup client sends the data
to the storage node, which in turn sends the data to the backup
target. The backup server then updates the backup catalog with
the information of the completed backup operation.

2015 NetApp, Inc. All rights reserved. NetApp Proprietary Limited Use Only