Compaq Teaming/NetBackup...

[mccalia1]

I have been struggling with the Data throughput of my Master Server to a HP Tape Library. The NetBackup Master Server is running on a HP Proliant DL380 with Dual NIC's but only using the one NIC currently. Would teaming the NIC's improve the performance on the Master Server, I would imagine so however, I would like to ask what you guys/girls are using in your environments and whether it's speedy or not. We currently have managed 100mb Eth Switches from Cisco, with plans to implement a gigabyte backbone and VLAN's in the future.

Any suggestions appreciated....

 

[Jameslabocki]

I don't see why teaming them wouldn't increase the ability of the master/media server to handle more data throughput, however you may want to look at your clients to be sure they are driving the port(s) enough anyway. Many times you aren't even filling the pipe so load balancing wouldn't help much. Try multiplexing more if possible and watch the ports to see how much data you are pushing.

 

[xxx01]

How are you connected to the library? I am assuming by your description that you're NICs are receiving from the clients. On the Tape drive side, there are buffer settings on the media servers that you can also try to tweak. I don't have any links for you but Veritas should have info on their support site.

On the LAN side, depending on the number of clients and data, througput with 100mb will be pretty slow. If you have the resources, you should consider a dedicated backup network. We have dedicated 10/100 cards on our clients on a GB backup network with media servers that have GB cards.

 

[mccalia1]

The Master Server is connected to the Tape Library via a 64bit 66mhz Dual Channel Ultra Wide SCSI Card. The Clients then backup via their NC3163 Network card to the NIC inside the Master Server.

Thanks for your responses so far.....

 

[PGPhantom]

I wrote up a couple of FAQ's on speeds and buffer settings:
faq776-3124
faq776-3984
This should give you a starting point on your speed/throughput issues.

Also - What are your drive types? LTO or DLT and how many?

 

[mccalia1]

thanks for the links, I will check them out. The Tape Library is a Compaq MSL5026 Dual library SDLT unit. It holds 26 slots.

The one issue I have had is backing a server up with 200gig of data. It takes approx 13hrs and has a painfully slow transfer rate (ranging from 3k-8k) over the ethernet network to the Master/Media Server via SCSI to the Tape Library. Speaking to Veritas TS, they suggested moving the Tape Library and attaching it to the 200Gig Server and configuring this as a Media Server so the largest data is being backed up via the SCSI card direct, rather than over the network - thoughts on this?

Iain

 

[PGPhantom]

Depends ... Dual SDLT. Should not be a problem - Have you configured the buffer settings correctly as per the one FAQ?

 

[enterprisebu]

Thought I'd let you know that when we moved to 5.0 we also upgraded to new hardware on the master. We never could get the teamed nics to work. I couldn't even see, through netbackup, any of my media servers. All other network communcations seemed fine. Veritas support admitted to having problems with teamed nics.

 

[OzzieWold]

We had similar problems but were using teaming for resilience. We found that the drivers were out of date.

The buffer settings for the tape drive unit are key as described by another reply.

We would also recommedn checking you have the latest patches for netbackup.

 

[PGPhantom]

Teaming seems to be an issue mostly with Broadcom NICS. We have the same problem since upgrading to FP3 - All our NICS are now unteamed - Agghhh....