Norton

Small&MediumBusiness
Enterprise
Partners

Products&Solutions
Support&Communities
SecurityResponse
Try&Buy
NetBackupdeduplicationclientWAN
backup:howtoseedthefingerprintcache
tospeeduptheinitialbackup
Article:TECH144437 | Created:201011 | Updated:201406 | ArticleURLhttp://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH144437
17 16 (http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH144437)

ArticleType
TechnicalSolution

Product(s)
Showall(javascript:)

Environment
Showall(javascript:)

Languages
Showall(javascript:)

Issue

ThefirstbackupofalargedatasetfromaNetBackupdeduplicationclientfromaremotesite
toadatacenteroveraWANcanbeverytimeconsuming.

Environment

ANetBackupclientataremoteofficededuplicatesitsowndata.Thedataisalargedata
set,suchasadatabase.ThedataissentoveraWANtoaMediaServerDeduplication
Poolatadifferentsite(adatacenter).AllhostsareinthesameNetBackupdomain.

Cause

Becauseit'sthefirstbackup,theNetBackupDeduplicationEngineonthestorage
server/mediaserveratthedatacenterhasnoknowledgeoftheclient'sdata.Therefore,all
oftheclientdatamustbesentovertheWANtothestorageserveratthedatacenter.

Solution

Thesolutionsrequirethatyouseedthefingerprintcache.Thefingerprintcachecontainsa
setoffingerprintsthatareknowntoexistwithinthestorageserver.Whenabackupisrun,
fingerprintsarecheckedagainstthiscachefirstbeforequeryingthestorageserver.When
thecachehitrateishigh,networkcommunicationbetweentheclientandstorageserveris
significantlyreduced.Reducingsuchcommunicationisespeciallyimportantwhenusing
clientdirecttobackupremoteclientsoverhighlatencynetworks.

Determiningwhichfingerprintsshouldbeloadedintothefingerprintcachebeforethebackup
beginsisessentialtoensuringahighcachehitrate.Bydefault,fingerprintsfromthe
previousfullbackup,andsubsequentincrementalbackups,areloadedintothe
cache.Fingerprintsforapreviousbackuparefoundbyexaminingbackupimagesforthat
clientandpolicywithinthePureDiskCatalog:

<DeduplicationCatalogHome>/<client>/<policyname>/*.img

Thefirststepinseedingaclientistoidentifythesourceclientandpolicytoseedfrom.This
canbeabackuppolicyfromasimilarclient,oraseedingpolicythatwasusedtobackup
datafromtheclientlocallyonthestorageserverfromatransferdrive.Considerthese
scenarios:

AnewremoteWindows2008client,windows123,isbeingbackedupforthefirst
time.Themajorityofthedataonwindows123areWindowssystemfiles.Several
Windows2008machinesarealreadybeingbackedup.Pickingoneoftheexisting
Windows2008machinesastheseedingclient/policywouldbeagood
candidate.LoadingcachefromasimilarWindows2008machineshouldproduceahigh
cachehitrate,asmostofthedatabeingbackedupinthiscasewouldbeWindows
systemfiles,whichshouldbesimilarbetweenthetwoclients.
 AnewremoteWindows2008client,windows456,isbeingbackedupforthefirst
time.Themajorityofdataonthissystemisuserdata.Datafromwindows456hasbeen
copiedtoatransferdriveandsenttothesitewherethestorageserverislocated
at.Thecontentsofthestoragedrivehavebeenbackeduptothestorageserver
locally.Theclientandpolicyusedforthisbackupshouldbeusedastheseedingpolicy.

ToensurethatNetBackupusestheseededbackupimages,thefirstbackupofaclientafter
youconfigureseedingmustbeafullbackupwithasinglestream.Specifically,thefollowing
twoconditionsmustbemetinthebackuppolicy:

TheAttributestab"Allowmultipledatastreams"attributemustbeunchecked.
ThebackupselectioncannotincludeanyNEW_STREAMdirectives.

Ifthesetwoconditionsarenotmet,NetBackupmayusemultiplestreams.IftheAttributes
tab"Limitjobsperpolicy"issettoanumberlessthanthetotalnumberofstreams,only
thosestreamsusetheseededimagestopopulatethecache.Anystreamsthataregreater
thanthe"Limitjobsperpolicy"valuedonotbenefitfromseeding,andtheircachehitrates
maybecloseto0%.Afterthefirstbackup,youcanrestoretheoriginalbackuppolicy
parametersettings.

Thefollowingarethesolutions,whichdependontheNetBackupreleaselevel:

NetBackup7.0,7.0.1,andNetBackup7.1(#nbu_70)
NetBackup7.1.0.4andlater,NetBackup7.5andlater,andNetBackup7.6andlater
(#nbu_7104+)

ForNetBackup7.0,7.0.1,andNetBackup
7.1
Note:ThismethodworksonalldeduplicationreleasesofNetBackup.However,changesin
NetBackup7.1.0.4and7.5addseedingintotheproducttherefore,Symantecrecommends
thatyouusetheotherseedingmethodsforthosereleases.

1. Attheremoteoffice,copythedatasettoaremovablestoragedevicesuchasa
portablediskdriveorlargeUSBflashdrive.
2. SendthatportabledevicetoaNetBackupadministratoratthedatacenter.
3. Atthedatacenter,attachtheportabledevicetoacomputerofthesametypeasat
theremotesite.
4. Atthedatacenter,createandrunabackuppolicythatbacksupthedataset.
Becauseyouwanttobackuponlythedataset,selectonlythestoragelocationon
whichthedatasetresides.DonotselectAlllocaldrives.
ThebackupmustbetothesameMediaServerDeduplicationPoolthatwill
receivetheremoteclient'sbackups.Thebackupdoesnothavetobefroma
deduplicationclientthestorageservercandothededuplication.
5. OntheMSDPstorageatthedatacenter,locatethecatalogfilesforthe
DataCenterClient'sbackup.ThecatalogfilesarestoredintheMSDPstorage
directorystructureandusetheclientnameandthebackuppolicyname,asin
followingexample:

 6. CreatethedirectoriesontheMSDPdatabasedirectorythatcorrespondtothe
cataloglocationfortheremotededuplicationclient.Thedirectorynamesusethe
clientnameandthebackuppolicyname,asinthefollowingexample:
E:\DedupeStorage\databases\catalog\2\RemoteClient\Backup_Policy_Remote
7. Usingcommandline'copy'commandor'xcopy'command,copyallofthecatalog
filesfromtheDataCenterClientcatalogdirectoryintothecatalogdirectoryforthe
remoteclient.NOTE:UsingWindowsExplorertocopy/pastethisdatacan
unintentionallycopy/createfileslikeShortcut.lnkandThumbs.dbtothedestination
location.IfyouuseWindowsExplorer,besuretoconfigureExplorertoshowhidden
filesandoperatingsystemfiles.Donotcopy__dirpo__filesalongwiththeimage
files.
8. Renameallofthefilessothattheclientnameportionofthefilenamescorrespond
totheclientnameoftheremoteclient,asshowninthefollowingexample:

9. Starttheremoteclientbackup.OnlydatathatisunknowntotheNetBackup
DeduplicationEngineshouldbebackedup.
10. Aftertheremoteclientbackupcompletes,deletethecatalogfilescreatedinstep8.

ForNetBackup7.1.0.4andlater,
NetBackup7.5andlater,andNetBackup
7.6andlater
ThefollowingtableshowstheNetBackupreleasesonwhichthetwoseedingmethodsare
supported.
 Seedingmethodssupport
Seedinghost Supportedreleases

Configuringseedingontheclient(#seeding_client)
NetBackup7.1.0.4andlater

NetBackup7.5andlater

NetBackup7.6andlater

Configuringseedingonthestorageserver(#seeding_server)
NetBackup7.1.0.4andlater

NetBackup7.5.0.2andlater

NetBackup7.6andlater

Configuringseedingontheclient
Note:AppliestoNetBackup7.1.0.4andlater,NetBackup7.5andlater,andNetBackup7.6
andlater.

Seedingconfigurationontheclientisaccomplishedbysettingthe
FP_CACHE_CLIENT_POLICYfieldinthepd.conffileofthenewclient:

FP_CACHE_CLIENT_POLICY=clienthostmachine,backuppolicy,date

Thissettingconsistsofthreefields:

clienthostmachineNameofsourceseedingclient
backuppolicyNameofsourceseedingpolicy
dateLastdatetousethissetting,inmm/dd/yyyyformat.Thisdateexpiresthissetting,
incaseithasnotbeenremovedfrompd.conf.Ifthesettingwasnotexpired,thenthe
cachefromthisclientandpolicywouldcontinuetobeloadedevenafterthefirstbackup
hasbeenestablishedfromthisclient.

Forexample,iftheclienttoseedfromiswindows789,thepolicytoseedfrom
full_local_drives,andthecurrentdateJanuary19,2012,then
FP_CACHE_CLIENT_POLICYwouldbesetto:

FP_CACHE_CLIENT_POLICY=windows789,full_local_drives,01/19/2012

Usingtheexamplesettingabove,thefingerprintcachewouldbepopulatedusingbackup
imagesfrom:

<DeduplicationCatalogHome>/windows789/full_local_drives/*.img

Ifalargenumberofclientsneedtobeseeded,thenconfiguringthiswayisnot
recommendedasitrequiresmanualeffortoneachclient.Instead,clientseedingshouldbe
configuredonthestorageserver,whichwillbedescribednext.

Configuringseedingonthestorageserver

Note:AppliestoNetBackup7.1.0.4andlater,NetBackup7.5.0.2andlater,andNetBackup
7.6andlater.

Note:Symantecrecommendsthatyouusethisseedingmethodforclientsidededuplication
backups.Thisseedingmethodisnotintendedfornormaldeduplicationbackupsbecauseit
willaffectallbackupjobsonthestorageserver.

Note:Theclientandpolicynamesusedbyseedutilaretreatedascasesensitiveandneed
tomatchthecaseoftheclientandpolicynamesinNetBackup.

Amoreflexiblemethodofconfiguringclientseedingistousethenewseedutilutility.This
utility,runonthestorageserver,createsaspecialseedingdirectoryinthePureDiskcatalog
foraclient,andpopulatesitwithimagereferencestoanothersourceclientandpolicys
backupimages.ThespecialseedingdirectorywillappearinthePureDiskcatalogasfollows:

<PureDiskCatalogHome>/#pdseed/<client>

Whenabackupisrunonaclient,acheckwillbemadefirsttofindimagesfromtheprevious
backup.Ifimagesarefound,theyareusedforthecache.Ifnoimagesarefoundfora
previousbackup,asecondcheckwillbemadetofindimagesinthespecialseeding
directory.

Changestothespecialseedingdirectoryshouldbemadeusingtheseedutil
program.Assumingdefaultinstallationlocations,thisutilitycanbefoundat:

UNIX:/usr/openv/pdde/pdag/bin/seedutil
Window:C:\ProgramFiles\Veritas\pdde\seedutil.exe

Fullusageinfoforthistoolisasfollows(fromseedutilhelp):

Usage:seedutil[v<loglevel>][seedsclient<sourceclientname>spolicy<policyname>dclient
<destinationclientname>[backupid<backupid>]][clear<clientname>][clear_all][list_clients][
list_images<clientname>][help]

where:
v:Verbosemode

seedsclient<clientname>spolicy<policyname>dclient<destinationclientname>
:Createlinksinthe<destinationclientname>directorytoallthe
*.img,*.fmkand*.hdrfilesfoundinthepath<clientname>/<policyname>

seedsclient<clientname>spolicy<policyname>dclient<destinationclientname>backupid<backupid>
:Createlinksinthe<destinationclientname>directorytoall*.img,
*.fmkand*.hdrfilesfoundinthepath<clientname>/<policyname>that
have<backupid>intheirnames

clear<clientname>:Clearthecontentsofthedirectoryspecifiedby<clientname>inthe
seedinglocation

clear_all:Clearthecontentsoftheseedingdirectory

list_clients:Listthecontentsoftheseedingdirectory

list_images<clientname>:Listthecontentsofthe<clientname>directory

Themostcommonoptionswillbeseed,list_imagesandclear.Theseedoptionwillsetup
aspecialseedingdirectoryforaclientandpopulateitwithreferencestoimagesfrom
anotherclientandpolicy.Thelist_imagesoptioncanbeusedtoverifythecontentsofthe
specialseedingdirectoryforaclient.Finally,theclearoptionshouldberuntoremovethe
contentsofthespecialseedingdirectoryafteritisnolongerneeded

Forexample,assumetwonewremoteclients,remote_client1andremote_client2,arebeing
backedupforthefirsttime.Dataforbothclientshasbeencopiedviaatransferdriveand
backeduplocallytothemediaservermedia1,usingapolicycalledtransfer_drive.

1. Runthefollowingcommandsonthemediaservertosetupaspecialseeding
directoryusingthetransfer_drivebackupimagesforeachclient:

$seedutilseedsclientmedia1spolicytransfer_drivedclientremote_client1
$seedutilseedsclientmedia1spolicytransfer_drivedclientremote_client2

2. Verifytheseedingdirectoryhasbeenpopulatedforeachclient:

$seedutillist_imagesremote_client1
$seedutillist_imagesremote_client2

3. Runbackupsforremote_client1andremote_client2.

4. Cleanupthespecialseedingdirectory.:

$seedutilclearremote_client1
$seedutilclearremote_client2

Clearingthespecialseedingdirectoryisimportant.Thesourcebackupimagesreferencedin
thespecialseedingdirectorywillnotbeexpireduntiltheyarenolongerreferenced.Tohelp
withthis,thespecialseedingdirectoryforaclientwillautomaticallybeclearedwheneveran
imageisexpiredbyNetBackupforthatclient.Thatbeingsaid,itisgoodpracticetoexplicitly
cleanupthespecialseedingdirectorywhenitisnolongerneeded.

Consideringallseedingconfigurationtechniques,NetBackupchosesthedirectoryfor
fingerprintcacheloadinginthefollowingorder:

1.ClientandpolicysetinFP_CACHE_CLIENT_POLICY,ifitisnotexpired
2.Clientandpolicyfrompreviousbackup
3.Specialseedingdirectory,ifnoimagesfrompreviousbackupwerefound

Thefollowingflowchartshowstheorderinwhichfingerprintcacheisloaded:


Theseimprovementsprovidetheabilitytoseedthecacheforremoteclientbackups,which
shouldsignificantlyimprovetheinitialbackupperformancewithclientdirect.

ArticleURLhttp://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH144437

TermsofuseforthisinformationarefoundinLegalNotices (http://www.symantec.com/about/profile/policies/legal.jsp)

Emailthisarticle
Print
Subscribeviaemail
Bookmarkthisarticle

PleaseSignIn
LoginusingSymAccount.

KnowledgeBaseSearch
KnowledgeBaseSearch

Enterkeywords
RatethisArticle
Didthisarticleansweryourquestionorresolveyourissue?
Yes No NotSure
Thankyou.

Didthisarticlesaveyouthetroubleofcontactingtechnicalsupport?
Yes No

Howcanwemakethisarticlemorehelpful?
Yes No NotSure
Yes No
Entersuggestionsandfeedbackforthis
articlehere(optional)

charactersremaining:939 EmailAddress(Optional)
SUBMIT

MySymantec
MySymantec

CreateaSupportCase
ManageaSupportCase
ManageSubscriptions
AskaQuestiononConnect(SymantecSupportForums)
AboutSymWISESupport

ContactingSupport
ContactingSupport

ContactTechnicalSupport
BusinessCriticalSupportSite

19952014SymantecCorporation

AboutSymantec|
Careers|
Events|
News|
SiteMap|
Legal|
LegalNotices
LicenseAgreements
Repository
CustomerTrustPortal
Privacy|
Cookies|
Contact|
NortonSupport
BusinessSupport
 BusinessSales
AuthenticationServices
CorporateInformation
RSS

Symantec[+]
AntiVirus|
BackupSoftware|
Encryption|
Virtualization|
CloudSecurity|
ConfigurationManagement|
DisasterRecovery|
FileRecovery|
RemoteAccessSoftware|
BusinessContinuity
Norton[+]
AntiVirus|
NortonStore|
InternetSecurity|
MacAntiVirus|
MobileSecurity|
Norton|
Spyware|
VirusProtection|
VirusRemoval|
VirusScan
WebsiteSecuritySolutions[+]
SSL|
SSLCertificates|
ExtendedValidation|
TwoFactorAuthentication|
IdentityProtection|
WebsiteMalwareScan|
CodeSigning|
PublicKeyInfrastructure|
WebsiteVulnerabilityAssessment|
VeriSign
PCTools[+]
InternetSecurity|
SpywareDoctorwithAntivirus|
PerformanceToolkit|
MobileSecurity|
FileRecovery|
SpywareDoctor|
PrivacyGuardian|
FreeAntivirus|
PasswordManager|
RegistryMechanic