Backup Central

I would like to start a discussion about building (new or refreshing) a
networker server environment. I know there is no such thing as a one
size fits all. But I have never seen a discussion of hardware purchase
on the list. As I recall Networker is a single threaded software,
meaning buying multiple processors for your networker server does not
make much sense, but buying gobs of memory does. I have no idea if that
is going to change in Networker 8.0.

Designing the system for speed efficiency and standardizing for ease of
trouble shooting when the need occurs. Let us assume 1,000 client
servers of varying sizes we will have 5 networker servers. For our
example let's say we are not stuck on any brand of server although I
think we would prefer one of the big three (Dell, HP or IBM) to ensure
life cycle service. More important to discuss would be hardware specs
for the server, we can discuss tape/data systems in a separate thread...

Please provide your thoughts, we all value hearing more on Operation
clean slate....Go!

One example from a friend (assuming a 64bit OS) is:

2x Intel Xeon E5649 Hex Core Processors (in the hopes networker 8.0 is
multi-threaded)
36GB of RAM (minimum requirement; more is better)
root file system -- 2x 146GB 15K SFF SAS drives
/nsrindex file system (if no SAN) -- 2x 146GB 15K SFF SAS drives
1x NC550SFP Dual Port 10GbE Server Adapter (if 10GB LAN is available)
Either:
2x LPe-11000 Single port HBA Cards or 1x LPe-11002-E Dual port HBA
Card (for server rooms)
Or:
3x LPe-11002-E Dual port HBA Card (for data centers)

Does this sound like what you would do, what would you change? Thank you
in advance for what I hope is a great discussion...

Semper fidelis et paratus, /ALE


via RSS at http://listserv.temple.edu/cgi-bin/wa?RSS&L=NETWORKER

Dear Edie,

One thing I would certainly do is make sure that I have one or two identical hardware boxes as my Networker server.
I have found that the worst thing to disaster recover is your networker server itself.

And although there are numerous ways in which Networker helps in this department. I think and have tested in a work environment that a restore using acronis is impossible to beat in terms of speedy recovery and zero config work (provided you make appropriate backups in time of course)

So I would config your system and in the case you stated you needed 5 networker servers.
I would buy 7 or 8 identical systems qua hardware.

Met vriendelijke groet / Kind regards,

Frank Terveen
EMC² Certified System Engineer


via RSS at http://listserv.temple.edu/cgi-bin/wa?RSS&L=NETWORKER

There is certainly no one-size-fits-all answer. If I had to choose from HP, Dell, or IBM, I would just call them and ask for their recommendation, then go with the least expensive recommendation, and I would factor in five years of hardware maintenance into the cost comparison.

On the other hand, if I were I had a real choice in vendors, I would build my own NetWorker server in a tower configuration with lots of 10 gigabyte network ports, the fastest 32gigabytes worth of RAM I could find, a pair of the fastest multicore processors I could find, and a motherboard that allows for expansion and uses the fastest bus technology available. Of course, it will need at least 2 HBA cards. In addition, I would outfit this home grown server with a pair of 500GB SSDs with one mirroring the other to hold the NetWorker media and CFI databases and the OS.

Then I would take that configuration and do it again to make a second server with exactly the same components as the first one, so that if the primary NetWorker server dies, the second box can quickly be deployed in its place. You just cannot get that level of flexibility by buying a pre-built server from any of the major computer manufacturers.

With fast memory and fast SSDs and fast network connectivity, this box ought to fly for backups regardless of which OS is installed on it.

On Apr 26, 2012, at 10:21, "Eddie Albert" <Eddie.Albert < at > CITIZENSFLA.COM> wrote:

I would like to start a discussion about building (new or refreshing) a
networker server environment. I know there is no such thing as a one
size fits all. But I have never seen a discussion of hardware purchase
on the list. As I recall Networker is a single threaded software,
meaning buying multiple processors for your networker server does not
make much sense, but buying gobs of memory does. I have no idea if that
is going to change in Networker 8.0.

Designing the system for speed efficiency and standardizing for ease of
trouble shooting when the need occurs. Let us assume 1,000 client
servers of varying sizes we will have 5 networker servers. For our
example let's say we are not stuck on any brand of server although I
think we would prefer one of the big three (Dell, HP or IBM) to ensure
life cycle service. More important to discuss would be hardware specs
for the server, we can discuss tape/data systems in a separate thread...

Please provide your thoughts, we all value hearing more on Operation
clean slate....Go!

One example from a friend (assuming a 64bit OS) is:

2x Intel Xeon E5649 Hex Core Processors (in the hopes networker 8.0 is
multi-threaded)
36GB of RAM (minimum requirement; more is better)
root file system -- 2x 146GB 15K SFF SAS drives
/nsrindex file system (if no SAN) -- 2x 146GB 15K SFF SAS drives
1x NC550SFP Dual Port 10GbE Server Adapter (if 10GB LAN is available)
Either:
2x LPe-11000 Single port HBA Cards or 1x LPe-11002-E Dual port HBA
Card (for server rooms)
Or:
3x LPe-11002-E Dual port HBA Card (for data centers)

Does this sound like what you would do, what would you change? Thank you
in advance for what I hope is a great discussion...

Semper fidelis et paratus, /ALE


via RSS at http://listserv.temple.edu/cgi-bin/wa?RSS&L=NETWORKER


via RSS at http://listserv.temple.edu/cgi-bin/wa?RSS&L=NETWORKER

1000 clients on 5 NW servers but only about 250GB for the index disks? This sounds weird but obviously does not consider a long retention at all.

My goal would be to have 500 clients max. per data zone. Just to minimize administration. We run such an environment.
Your HW parameters sound reasonable.

Remember that the server is only the controlling tool. Yes a lot of processes need some CPU power (and more RAM) but the workhorses are the SNs.