How to avoid LAN backups? Help with devices configuration.

[mewa]

Hi,
I have an MSCS cluster build of 2 servers. Each server has a locally attached LTO library (via SCSI), so I have 2 Media Servers.

I have an Oracle database running in a cluster package available through a virtual ip address.

I defined a device group consisted of 2 libraries and a backup policy for Oracle data (I use a virtual ip for a client). I used an option "use local drives only".

I hoped that in this way a locally attached library will be used for this policy each time when the database switches over to another node of a cluster or back to the primary node.

But the backup runs sometimes on one library and sometimes on another, so my backups go through SCSI or through LAN (I never know what will happen), which makes the things to take much more time then expected.

Do you have any suggestions how to configure the devices to avoid LAN backups?

Regards,
mewa

 

[sdeb]

Could you tell me a few things ...

How have you configured your libraries ?
Is each physical node configured as a Media server ?
Is the "ORACLE DB" backed up with the virtual node name ?

I imagine that you can easily directs the data owned by each node to its own library if you declare the node as a client and directs the backup to its own storage unit.

But for the "shared ORACLE" database...

Does it works if you declare "ALL_LOCAL_DRIVES" for each physical media server (except ORACLE)?

Interesting...

 

[mewa]

Each phisical node is configured as Media Server.
Oracle DB is backed up using virtual node name, because the database may switch between nodes.

Yes, it is possible to backup local data to its node library. But how to backup to locally attached drives when backing up a virtual node?

I'm not sure I understand your last question. Could you be more specific?
Each media server manages one library and has declared "all_local_drives".

 

[sdeb]

The logical way to do it would be to declare the virtual node as a media server.

Is it possible for you to launch a device configuration wizzard using the virtual node as media server ?

I'm searching for further informations...

 

[mewa]

If libraries are connected locally it is not possible, as far as I understand Veritas, to define a virtual media server. The reason is a location of media database, which cannot be shared in configuration on Windows cluster.

But I haven't tried launching a wizzard with virtual node name.
I'm a little scared to try that kind of changes, because the servers are in production (24/7) and properly working backup is now critical.

 

[sdeb]

I'm not so sure that there's another way to configure it.

When you backup the physical node data you can decide of the save stream destination because they've their own storage units, so you'll be able to use SCSI.

When you backup the virtual note I think it will always go "through" the network because this node as no devices connected. It goes directly from the "VIRTUAL_IP_ADRESS" to one of the "PHYSICAL_IP_ADRESS". ORACLE is clustered but not the libraries, they are seen as two completely independant elements.

Must be explained somewhere.

Let me know if you have further informations.

 

[sdeb]

Sorry, "has" no ...

 

[mewa]

I can't agree that a virtual node must always go through network, because my experience is different. I can see the virtual node backups sometimes go through lan and sometimes directly through scsi - the backup time differs a lot in these two cases (lan backup 2 hours, scsi backup 50 min).

I will let you know if I find anything in this matter.

Thanks anyway.