Books and other good resources

[jcon26]

I was wondering if anyone knows of a good reference book for Brightstor Arcserve 11.5? If there aren't any books written are there any other forums, websites, howtos, etc. that you can reccommend? I am basically looking for general administration help but any overviews of advanced features would be a bonus.

Thanks,
Jcon26

 

[vschumpy]

Not wishing to post a RTFM, but the Admin Guide on the r11.5 is really not that bad these days, other than that, there is no other publication I have come across post v6 that touches on any of this stuff.

Experts exchange is another forum which I know some people use, but I believe that is subscription based.

Had half a brainwave about writing an ARCserve for Dummies book myself, but they won't accept submissions without it being put through a publishing agent, too much hassle

 

[jcon26]

Thanks.

I don't find the admin guide to be that bad but I usually prefer 3rd party material as it tends to give a better viewpoint. At least the viewpoint can be better if you find the right book!

Basically I am having trouble getting around some of the concepts. I am from a Veritas background and CA is different in a lot of ways.

VS, you have been a big help so far, thanks for your replies to this and my other threads.

-Jcon26

 

[vschumpy]

No probs. I am the other way around, I am 95% ARCserve, about 2% Legato, 2% Tivoli and 1% Veritas.

Once you're used to one system it's really quite hard to convert

When I last looked at Veritas I found the whole scheduling to be quite foreign compared to what I am used to in ARCserve, but I have talked to Veritas users who have the same opinion about ARCserve!

Probably the biggest architectural difference between Backup Exec for Windows and ARCserve for Windows is how they interface with the hardware.

BE relies on either Windows drivers or Veritas provided Windows drivers to interface with the hardware, whereas with ARCserve, the device support is identified from the SCSI Inquiry string and support provided by ARCserve's own tape engine, which uses SCSI pass through to communicate with the attached devices.

Both methods have their pro's and con's. Because ARCserve uses native commands so to speak, it can be faster. However if there is a problem working with a specific device it can be more complex to debug, especially if a device firmware issue maybe suspected. From my understanding Veritas just use the device driver as a proxy and then 'blame' the device driver if it doesn't work.... but maybe I'm a little biased ;-)

If there is something specific you are looking for more detail on, ask away and I may be able to dig something out or write something up.

 

[davidmichel]

All the manuals, readmes, and help files. Check the installed directory for readmes. Also ck the tech docs on the support site.

http://supportconnectw.ca.com/public/storage/basbr115_supp.asp

Check the faqs here at Tek-Tips under the ARCserve forum.