Deduplication Backup and Recovery with Avamar
Backup configuration notes
The following notes are described in more detail in the EMC NetWorker Release 7.6 Service Pack 1 Administration Guide:
◆ Do not place both regular and deduplication clients in the same groups.
◆ Ensure that all deduplication clients in the same group have the same deduplication node setting.
◆ Directives cannot be applied if deduplication is used for a client.
◆ Media pools do not apply when deduplication is used.
◆ The cloning of deduplication backups is handled differently from that of regular backups. Only the metadata is stored on a NetWorker storage node, while the backed up data is stored on a deduplication node.
An alternate method is available to handle tape backups of the deduplication client data:
1. Create a second instance of the client to be backed up.
IMPORTANT
!
Do not configure the second instance as a deduplication client.
2. If you are using multiple backup schedules, ensure that the backup level is set to full for all groups. This is required because the backup level and the last backup time are calculated by using both the group name and save set name, and the groups would interfere with each other.
Configuring a client resource for deduplication backup
When NMM is installed, it automatically includes support for deduplication. You do not need to install anything extra on the NMM client. After the Avamar server and NetWorker server have been configured for deduplication, configure a client resource to use deduplication.
After creating a deduplication node as described in the EMC NetWorker Release 7.6 Service Pack 1 Administration Guide, configure a NetWorker deduplication client. You can use either of these workflows:
◆ Create a new client resource, enable deduplication, and then configure the client Resource with the application-specific settings for whichever Microsoft
application that you want to back up.
◆ Edit an existing client resource, for example, a NMM client resource that you previously created for Microsoft SQL server backup.
Note: You can use this procedure for configuring deduplication for any client resource listed in
“Supported and unsupported applications, features, and configurations” on page 70, except for configuring deduplication for the following scenarios:
- An Exchange client running on a passive node in a CCR environment.
- An Exchange 2010 client running DAG.
The EMC NetWorker Module for Microsoft Applications Release 2.3 Application Guide provides more information.
Deduplication Backup and Recovery with Avamar
To configure a deduplication backup for any client resource:
1. On the NetWorker server, open the NetWorker Management Console, open the NetWorker Administration window, and then click Configuration.
2. Select Clients in the navigation tree.
The Clients table appears and it lists any clients that have already been created:
• To add a new client resource, right-click Clients in the navigation tree or right-click any client in the Clients table, and then select New.
The Create Client window appears.
• To edit an existing client resource, right-click the client in the Clients table, and then select Properties.
The Properties window appears.
3. On the General tab, type the information for any client, with the following exceptions:
• The Name of the client must be a computer qualified to be a NetWorker deduplication client:
– The computer must run an operating system that supports deduplication.
– The Name must be a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
• In the Backup area:
– Ensure that the deduplication client has been assigned to a group that contains only deduplication clients.
– Do not mix regular and deduplication clients within a group.
“Configure a backup group” on page 52 provides information about creating backup groups.
– A recommended backup schedule for deduplication clients depends on whether your priority is faster backups or faster, less complicated recoveries.
“Configure a backup schedule” on page 51 provides general information about setting backup schedules. “Backup levels and schedules for deduplication clients” on page 74 provides backup level and schedule information that is specific to deduplication clients.
4. The parallelism attribute in the client resource has no effect for NMM deduplication clients. By default, NMM uses client parallelism set to 4 for all deduplication clients. Because deduplication backups require more CPU and memory resources on the host where the backup is performed, it might be necessary to reduce the client parallelism for configurations with either a large number of save sets, or a large number of volumes.
Note: For deduplication clients, NMM will not support a parallelism of greater than 4 . If
Configuring a client resource for deduplication backup 77 Deduplication Backup and Recovery with Avamar
To reduce the client parallelism, in the Application Information field, use the NSR_PS_SAVE_PARALLELISM variable. For example, to set parallelism to 1, type the following:
NSR_PS_SAVE_PARALLELISM=1
Note: NMM might report the NSR_PS_SAVE_PARALLELISM as an unknown parameter, however this warning can be ignored.
5. Click the Apps & Modules tab.
6. In the Access area, leave the Remote user and Password fields empty.
7. In the De-duplication area, select the De-duplication backup attribute to enable this client for deduplication backups.
Figure 12 Deduplication backup attribute
8. From the De-duplication node menu, select the name of the deduplication node to which this client’s backup data will be sent. This is the deduplication node created in “Configure the Avamar and the NetWorker server to receive deduplication data and process backups” on page 72.
Note: All clients in a group must have the same deduplication node value.
This step links this client with its own deduplication node. Do not select the name of a replication node here.
IMPORTANT
!
If the deduplication node for this client’s backup data changes, the next backup done must be a level 0 (full) backup.
9. Complete the remaining configuration information as for any regular client.
“Configuring a client resource for System volumes, components, and applications”
on page 54 lists the application-specific client resource configuration procedures for each System or application backup.
Deduplication Backup and Recovery with Avamar