Desktop and Laptop Option Best Practices

Desktop and Laptop Option

Best Practices GuideVERITAS Backup Exec™ version 10.0VERITAS NetBackup™ version 5.1

For Windows

Disclaimer

The information contained in this publication is subject to change without notice. VERITAS Software Corporation makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this manual, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. VERITAS Software Corporation shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this manual.

VERITAS Legal Notice

Copyright © 2003-2005 VERITAS Software Corporation. All rights reserved. VERITAS, Backup Exec, NetBackup, the VERITAS Logo, and Desktop and Laptop Option are trademarks or registered trademarks of VERITAS Software Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

VERITAS Software Corporation350 Ellis StreetMountain View, CA 94043USAPhone 650-527-8000Fax 650-527-2908www.veritas.com

Third-Party Legal Notices

Certain third-party software may be distributed, embedded, or bundled with this VERITAS product or recommended for use in connection with its installation and use. Such third-party software is separately licensed by its copyright holder. Licenses that govern the use of the third party software included in the VERITAS product and proprietary notices of the copyright holders are listed in the Administrators Guide

ii DLO Best Practices

Contents

Determine Desktop Backup Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Determining Hardware Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

Network Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

Centralized vs. Distributed Administration Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Administration Server Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Determining Which Database to Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

File Server Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Sizing Method 1 - Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Sizing Method 2 - Pilot Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Additional consideration for File Server Sizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Sample File Server Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Profile Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv

Determine What to Back Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv

Backup strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv

Determine When to Back up Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi

Default Global Excludes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi

Desktop Agent Rollout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xvii

Installing the Desktop Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xvii

MDAC 2.7 or 2.8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii

Setting a Recovery Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii

Desktop Agent Installation Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi

iii

iv Administrator’s Guide

DLO Best Practices
1 The VERITAS Desktop and Laptop Option (DLO) is an easy to use tool which provides automated file protection for desktops and laptops (collectively referred to as desktops).
This Best Practices Guide summarizes VERITAS recommendations for planning and deploying both Backup Exec DLO and NetBackup DLO. For detailed information on using DLO, see the Backup Exec Administrator’s Guide or the NetBackup DLO Administrator’s Guide.

To take full advantage of all of the benefits it can bring to your organization, VERITAS recommends that you do the following before fully implementing DLO:

1. Determine desktop backup requirements.

2. Determine the most effective hardware configuration and storage requirements based on the size of your enterprise, the current network environment, IT resources and requirements as well as the needs of the desktop users.

3. Create Profiles to meet the different needs of particular user subgroups. For example, mobile users who back up their laptop computers through dial up connections usually have different needs than their colleagues on LAN-connected workstations.

4. Roll out the Desktop Agents gradually. A gradual rollout spreads the impact of the first backup over a greater time period, while providing an opportunity to identify and resolve any issues that arise.

To use DLO effectively, it is important to consider network capacity, the types of desktop users and how they connect to the network, when to back up data, data types and criticality, and other factors that will help to address specific user needs. In addition, you will want to decide who will have control over the backup process.

DLO uses a policy-based configuration mechanism called a Profile to manage backups for groups of similar users. Desktop and laptop users are assigned to a Profile in which the DLO administrator grants or restricts user rights to control data protection for a desktop computer. DLO provides default Profiles for both desktop and laptop users and allows customization of Profiles to meet the needs of various user groups.

v

Determine Desktop Backup Requirements

Determine Desktop Backup RequirementsTo determine organizational and user requirements for desktop and laptop backups, consider the following:

Network Topology

◆ How many desktop and laptop users do you have, and are they located on the LAN or WAN relative to the administration and file servers?

◆ Do users currently back up data manually to network shares?

◆ If you have users in multiple locations, is there IT support locally, or is it centralized?

Profile Configuration

◆ How can users be grouped to take advantage of common characteristics? For example, users working with vital technical or regulatory information that is constantly changing may require more frequent backups than users who do not work with critical data.

◆ What is the quantity of data to be stored?

◆ What type of data do you want to protect? Will it be specific file types such as .doc or .pdf files, specific folders, or a combination of both?

◆ What data should be excluded from backups?

◆ How many versions of each file should be retained?

◆ How frequently do you want to back up user data? Will backups be scheduled or will they be performed as files change?

The answers to the questions above will guide decisions regarding hardware and network configuration as well as determining how Profiles will be designed to customize backups. The most successful large deployments of DLO use a pilot process to determine backup requirements.

vi DLO Best Practices

Determining Hardware Configuration

Determining Hardware ConfigurationDLO is designed with the flexibility to operate on networks with a variety of structures. However, there are factors that impact DLO efficiency and performance and should be considered in the planning process for DLO.

DLO requires both an administration server and a file server. The administration server includes the configuration database and administration console, while the file server is used to store the backup files. Both the file server and administration server can be located on the same computer, however in larger enterprises it may be desirable to have one or more dedicated file servers and one or more separate administration servers. One administration server can typically host many file servers.

Network ConfigurationThe backup of desktop computers impacts the network and servers, and can be impacted by a number of factors including the physical location of the desktop in relation to the file server, the type of connection and link speed between the desktop and file server, the number of desktop computers backed up at each site, and the number of hops. In geographically dispersed organizations, it may be desirable to have a file server at each location. Maximizing the number of desktop users who back up to local servers reduces WAN traffic and increases data transfer efficiency.

Sample Network Configurations for a DLO Installation

Network Configuration Description

Single Site Administration and Storage

Where centralized administration is desired, single or multiple file servers can be located and administered at a centralized location. This can enhance uniformity of implementation and reduce the need for multiple support organizations.

DLO Best Practices vii


Centralized vs. Distributed Administration ServersThe following table provides additional information on the:

Multiple Sites With Centralized Administration

In geographically dispersed organizations, it may be desirable to use local file servers with centralized DLO administration. This allows for optimized backup speed while providing centralized administration. Some local IT support may be necessary for local server administration, but most DLO administrative tasks can be performed remotely.

Multiple Sites with Independent Administration

In widely dispersed organizations with strong IT support at each location, it may be desirable to have DLO administration and file servers for each LAN. This allows for improved customization, desktop user support and optimum data transfer speed.

Sample Network Configurations for a DLO Installation (continued)

Network Configuration Description

Comparing centralized vs. distributed administration servers

Pros Cons

Centralized ◗ Single point of management and configuration.

◗ Single DLO database for backup and disaster recovery purposes.

◗ May require traffic over WANs for agent updates, loading and saving configuration settings, periodic Agent status updates, and alert data.

Distributed ◗ Isolates administrative traffic to the local network.

◗ Provides local, independent control.

◗ No centralized management of DLO users and profiles.

viii DLO Best Practices


Administration Server Hardware RequirementsThe DLO administration server hosts the DLO configuration database, which maintains user configurations and general DLO server configurations. The size of the database is not effected by the file data size, but only the total number of users and machines. Required storage space is not significant in relation to the file server size storage requirements.

The configuration database is an MSDE database by default, however an SQL database can also be used. The database requires minimal management, but advanced management of this catalog is available through the command line.

Determining Which Database to Use

By default DLO uses its own MSDE instance. DLO can be manually configured to use SQL Server.

Comparing MSDE and SQL Server

Pros Cons

MSDE ◗ Free

◗ Unless you back up more than 1000 Desktop Agents per Administration Server, MSDE should be sufficient for most needs.

◗ The number of concurrent connections to the database is limited, resulting in slower I/O to the database under load.

◗ 2GB table size maximum, although DLO is unlikely to reach this limit.

SQL Server ◗ Allows reasonable scalability beyond 1000 Desktop Agents.

◗ Database tools are included with SQL Server

◗ - Requires some manual configuration for NBU-DLO to work with SQL Server

◗ - Cost, however you do not need to purchase a SQL Server client license for each Desktop Agent.

DLO Best Practices ix


File Server Hardware RequirementsThe server configuration will be in part based on the number of users as well as the amount and type of data backed up.

The efficiency of backup is impacted by the number of desktop computers backing up to the server at a time. In an environment where there are a very large number of desktop computers in one location, it is important to size the file server appropriately, and it may be advantageous to install more than one file server.

Sizing Method 1 - Calculation

Data store sizing can be figured with the following formula:

[(Size of all users' data to backup) / (Compression ratio)] * (Number of copies) / (data change expectation) * (Expected user data growth percentage (Addition of users and current users data growth))

Example:

If you are backing up 50G of data which is being compressed at 2:11, keeping 3 copies of each file, 70% of which are expected to change at some point, then we would size as follows for the data volumes:

50G / 2 * 3 * .70 * 200% = 105GB of data space required

Sizing Method 2 - Pilot Deployment

Perform a pilot deployment and gather usage information for typical desktop users. Add sufficient padding for growth and large user exceptions.

Example using data from a pilot deployment:

Size: Expected 1.5GB per user on average

Growth: X 100%

Total: 3GB per user = 3TB total disk required per 1000 users

Recommendation: Reserve 3TB of space for the disk storage locations for each 1000 users added to the backup Administration Servers

1. The actual compression ratio will vary depending on the type of data backed up andshould be verified.

x DLO Best Practices


Additional consideration for File Server Sizing

Bus Architecture

High I/O throughput is a key factor in designing a DLO file server. A server with PCI/X or PCI-Express bus is recommended. The network controller and disk controller should be on this bus and not on the legacy PCI bus.

RAID

DLO puts very high file write demands on the file server which can significantly tax a RAID controller. The RAID controller should be an intelligent controller with parity generation on the controller and not a host based controller with the server CPU used for parity generation. Parity RAID levels (3, 4 & 5) are not recommended for write intensive applications, but may be selected due to cost. RAID 10 will give significantly better performance.

Memory

More memory is always better. 1GB should be considered the minimum. With 2GB or more memory, a registry change should be made to allow more physical memory to be used for file system caching. By default Windows will only use up to 512MB of physical memory as cache. Setting the registry keyHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/SessionManager/MemoryManagement/LargeSystemCache to 1 will allow Windows to use up to 960MB of physical memory as cache.

Note This only applies to 32bit versions of Windows. See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;837331 for additional information.

Sample File Server Configurations

The table “Desktop Agents Supported on Various Systems” on page xiii indicates the maximum number of Desktop Agents recommended for different file server configurations. Actual results will vary depending on many factors such as actual file server and network configuration, data change rates, etc. This data is based on Desktop Agents backing up continuously. Scheduled or manually initiated backups may produce different results.

DLO Best Practices xi


The configuration of file servers used for testing was as follows:

The number of Desktop Agents supported on each system are listed below and are dependent on concurrency ratios, which represent the percentage of clients that will be backing up to the server simultaneously. These numbers apply to day-to-day backups and

Tested File Server Configurations

File Server Type Description

Low End Server Processor: (2x) 1.0GHz Pentium III Xeon

Memory: 512MB RAM

Network: Intel PRO/1000 MT Network Adapter

Database: MSDE

Disk Configuration:

System: 40GB SCSI (1x 40GB 7,200 RPM)

Data: 80GB IDE (1x 80GB 7,200 RPM)

80GB IDE (1x 80GB 7,200 RPM)

Note Combined Network File Server & DLO Media Server

Mid Range Server Processor: (2x) 3.0GHz Pentium 4 Processor, Hyperthreaded

Memory: 2.0Gb RAM

Network: Intel PRO/1000 F Server Network Adapter

Database: SQL Sever 2000 Enterprise Edition

Disk Configuration:

System: RAID-1, 10K rpm SCSI disks

Data: RAID-5, 10K rpm SCSI disks

Note Combined Network File Server & DLO Media Server

High End Server Processor: (4x) 1.5GHz Xeon Processor - Hyperthreaded

Memory: 3.5Gb RAM

Network: (2x) Intel PRO/1000 XF Server Network Adapter - Load-balanced

Disk Configuration:

System: RAID-1 18GB SCSI (2x 18GB 10K RPM)

Data: RAID-0 SCSI (1x 80GB 10K RPM)

RAID-0 SCSI (1x 80GB 10K RPM)

RAID-5 SCSI (8x 140GB 10K RPM)

xii DLO Best Practices


do not represent the number of Desktop Agents that should perform the initial backup simultaneously. See “Desktop Agent Rollout” on page xvii for additional information on managing the initial Desktop Agent backup.

Desktop Agents Supported on Various Systems

Configuration Light Load10 MB/day

Medium Load50 MB/day

High Load100 MB/day

Low End Server # of Users # of Users # of Users

1000 1000 1000

Standard Server

◆ High Concurrency Ratio: 5%

◆ Medium Concurrency Ratio: 2.5%

◆ Low Concurrency Ratio: 1%

4300

7300

13,200

2600

3800

5700

1900

2600

3600

High End Server

◆ High Concurrency Ratio: 5%

◆ Medium Concurrency Ratio: 2.5%

◆ Low Concurrency Ratio: 1%

15,000

21,200

31,000

6200

7900

10,200

3900

4800

6100

DLO Best Practices xiii

Profile Setup

Profile SetupDLO uses Profiles to apply settings to groups of similar desktop users. Profiles allow customization of the backup environment by the DLO administrator. Desktop users can be assigned to Profiles automatically based on their domain and group, or they can be individually assigned to Profiles by the DLO administrator. Using Profiles, the DLO Administrator can:

“Determine What to Back Up” on page xiv

“Determine When to Back up Data” on page xvi

Determine What to Back UpDLO uses Backup Selections in each Profile to specify which folders will be backed up. Include and exclude filters are added to further clarify which files and subfolders within the specified folder will be backed up.

There are two types of excludes:

◆ Global Excludes are specified by the administrator in the DLO Administration Console and apply to every Backup Selection. Files and folders specified in a Global Exclude are never backed up.

◆ Backup Selection Excludes apply only to the specific Backup Selection in which they are created.

Excludes always take precedence over includes. For example, if you have a Backup Selection for the C:\Data directory, but exclude the C:\Data\junk folder in the same Backup Selection, nothing will be backed up in the C:\Data\junk folder, even if some files match a specified include.

VERITAS recommends that you use a Backup Selection exclude if a specific Profile requires an exclude, but users of other Profiles may have a need to back up the directory or file type. Global Excludes should be used when the directory or file type should never be backed up.

Backup strategies

There are two options for includes and excludes in each Backup Selection:

◆ “Everything But” Strategy

◆ Include Only Strategy

xiv DLO Best Practices

Profile Setup

“Everything But” Strategy

When you choose Include All File Types in a Backup Selection, all files in the selected folder are backed up unless the file type is specifically excluded in the global exclude list.

Use this option when:

◆ file types and locations will vary across your environment.

◆ you have little control over the desktop environment

◆ you want to protect all data, even if it increases costs and storage requirements.

Things to consider:

◆ The broad scope of backups may require significant storage space.

◆ To determine what to exclude, look at the pending files during a backup, or look at what is taking up space in the Network and Desktop User Data Folders. This will help to refine the excludes.

Include Only Strategy

When you choose Include and exclude only the items listed below in the Backup Selection, you create a custom list of file types that will be included or excluded. If no includes are specified when the Backup Selection is created, a “*” include is added and all files that are not specifically excluded are backed up. If a specific include is later specified, the default “*” selection is removed and only those files or folders specifically included are backed up.

For example, if you create a Backup Selection for C:\Data and select include and exclude only the items listed below, but do not provide any specific includes, all files not specifically excluded by the Backup Selection or Global Excludes will be backed up. If you later add an include such as *.doc, then the only files that will be backed up are the *.doc files.

Use this option when:

- you want to tailor the scope of backups to meet specific organizational needs.

- you need to specifically target the backup scope to reduce the amount of data backed up.

Things to consider:

- Users may store data in non-standard locations or outside the selected backup area. Care must be taken to insure that data is adequately protected by the defined backup scope.

DLO Best Practices xv

Profile Setup

Determine When to Back up DataVeritas recommends you use a Continuous backup schedule. This ensures your files are protected as they change and provides the greatest level of protection. This schedule also reduces load on your network and Administration servers by spreading out backups throughout the work day.

However, if you choose to use a scheduled backup mode, be sure to consider the amount of changed data that will be sent to your Backup Destinations at or near the same time. Creating several Profiles with staggered scheduled backup times will help reduce load on your administration server.

Default Global ExcludesThe following is a list of file types and folders excluded from all backups by default via the Global Excludes feature.

Default Global Excludes

Filter Applies to

*.dat.log Files

*.ost Files

*~*.tmp Files

System Volume Information Folders

thumbs.db Files

~*.doc Files

~*.tmp Files

xvi DLO Best Practices

Desktop Agent Rollout

Desktop Agent RolloutWhen DLO is going to be provided to a large number of desktop users, it is best to roll out the Desktop Agent incrementally to reduces the impact on network and file servers. A small pilot deployment can accomplish this while also providing an opportunity to refine the backup strategy and Profiles settings.

For example, if you are deploying 1000 Desktop Agents, start with 15 users. Analyze the backup results and fine tune the Backup Selections if desired. Deploy 100 users per week to reduce the impact of initial backups on the network.

Installing the Desktop AgentThe Desktop Agent is installed on each desktop computer by running the Desktop Agent install set. There are a number of ways to deploy the software. The table below summarizes deployment options.

Note Desktop Agent users are assigned to a specific server during the Desktop Agent installation. If you deploy DLO using multiple Administration Servers, you will need to install the Desktop Agents using the install set from the appropriate server.

Desktop Agent Deployment Methods

Deployment Methods Description

Push Install A push install is available for Backup Exec DLO using the Backup Exec installer. This option is not available for NetBackup DLO.

E-mail Provide a hypertext link to a network share containing the install files.

Web page Make the install files available to desktop users via your company’s intranet.

Logon scripts Create a logon script to automatically install the Desktop Agent on selected computers.

Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS)

Use this automated system to distribute the Desktop Agent install set to the desktop computers, which then initiate the installation. For more information about SMS, refer to your Microsoft documentation.

CD-ROM Place the contents of the \\media server\DLO Agent share on the CD-ROM. Users can then run setup.exe from the CD-ROM. The installed Desktop Agent will be correctly associated with the media server. The desktop user must be online the first time they launch DLO.

DLO Best Practices xvii


MDAC 2.7 or 2.8The Desktop Agent uses MDAC 2.8 by default, but can be configured to run with MDAC 2.7.

The version of MDAC is checked before the Desktop Agent is installed. To enable the Desktop Agent to be installed on a system with MDAC 2.7, add REQUIREDMDACVERSION=”2.7” to the CmdLine parameter in the SETUP.INI file.

Example:

CmdLine=/qf DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=”MyServer” LAUNCHCLIENT=”1” REQUIREDMDACVERSION=”2.7” /l*v+ “%TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log”

Setting a Recovery PasswordWhen the DLO Administration Console opens for the first time, the Recovery Password Wizard opens. You must set a recovery password using this wizard or DLO will not run.

The recovery password enables you to retrieve encrypted data that would otherwise be lost if the DLO database is damaged or corrupted. Once set, this recovery password can only be changed using the DLO command line interface tools.

If you are upgrading from Backup Exec DLO version 9.1 or NetBackup DLO version 5.0, you must run the -CreateRecoveryKeys command to create keys for Backup Exec DLO version 9.1 or NetBackup DLO version 5.0 Desktop Agent users.

The recovery password and the data recovery process are managed with the DLO Command Line Interface.

xviii DLO Best Practices


Desktop Agent Installation OptionsThe Desktop Agent installation can be customized to run silently, or to display a basic user interface that does not allow the user to cancel the installation. This is done by modifying the SETUP.INI file in the DLO Agent setup directory. In the SETUP.INI file there is a value called CmdLine that starts with a /qf. Change the /qf as shown below:

Examples:

For a silent installation, edit CmdLine in the SETUP.INI file as follows:

Original:

CmdLine=/qf DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=”Desktop3” LAUNCHCLIENT=”1” /l*v “%TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log”

Modified:

CmdLine=/qn DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=”Desktop3” LAUNCHCLIENT=”1” /l*v “%TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log”

For an installation with a basic interface but no option to cancel the installation, edit CmdLine in the SETUP.INI file as follows:

Original:

CmdLine=/qf DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=”Desktop3” LAUNCHCLIENT=”1” /l*v “%TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log”

Modified:

CmdLine=/qb! DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=”Desktop3” LAUNCHCLIENT=”1” /l*v “%TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log”

Desktop Agent CmdLine Installation Options

/qf Option Result

/qn Silent installation. Note For a completely silent install, you will need to run

“setup.exe /s” after modifying the SETUP.INI file.

/qb! Basic user interface displayed. There is no cancel button.

DLO Best Practices xix


xx DLO Best Practices

Index

Aadministration server

configuration viiihardware requirements ix

Bbackup

scope xiv

Ddatabase ixDesktop Agent

customizing installation xixinstall xixinstalling xviirollout xvii

Eexcludes xvi

Ffile server

choosing xihardware requirements x

Gglobal excludes xvi

Hhardware

file server xhardware configuration vii

Iinstall

Desktop Agentoptions xix

installationsilent xix

installingDesktop Agent xvii

MMSDE ix

Nnetwork

configuration viitopology vi

PProfile

configuration visetup xiv

Rrecovery password xviiirevision strategies xiv

Sserver

administration viiihardware requirements ix

file xsilent install xixSQL Server ix

xxi

Documents

Desktop and Laptop Option Best Practices