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Veritas NetBackup™ Appliance Fibre Channel Guide

Last Published: 2021-12-02

Product(s): Appliances (3.3.0.1, 3.2)

Platform: NetBackup Appliance OS

About NetBackup Fibre Transport and SAN Client
1. About NetBackup Fibre Transport
2. About NetBackup SAN Client and Fibre Transport
  1. About the SAN Client license key
About optimized duplication and Auto Image Replication over FC
1. About Fibre Transport for optimized duplication and Auto Image Replication between appliances
About backup to tape support
1. About backup to tape support for NetBackup appliances
VMware support
1. About NetBackup appliance as a VMware backup host
  1. NetBackup appliance as backup host: component overview
  2. Notes on NetBackup appliance as a VMware backup host
2. About appliance dynamic multi-pathing for VMware backups with SAN transport
Supported Fibre Channel features on NetBackup appliances
NetBackup Appliance rear panel configurations
About the HBA port mode configuration
Zoning the FC SAN
About the Fibre Transport page on the NetBackup Appliance Web Console
1. Settings > Network > Fibre Transport
  1. About the HBA port mode configuration table
Configuring Fibre Transport on the appliance
Index

About zoning the SAN for NetBackup appliances

Before you can configure and use the NetBackup Fibre Transport (FT) mechanism, the SAN must be configured and operational.

The NetBackup appliance supports the following SAN configurations:

Node port (N_Port) switched configuration.
Fibre Channel arbitrated loop (FC-AL) configuration.
FC-AL hubs are not supported.

For SAN switched configurations, proper zoning prevents Fibre Transport traffic from using the bandwidth that may be required for other SAN activity. Proper zoning also limits the devices that the host bus adapter (HBA) ports discover; the ports should detect the other ports in their zone only. Without zoning, each HBA port detects all HBA ports from all hosts on the SAN. The potentially large number of devices may exceed the number that the operating system supports.

Instructions for how to configure and manage a SAN are beyond the scope of the NetBackup documentation. However, the following recommendations may help you optimize your SAN traffic.

Table: Best practices for zoning the SAN on NetBackup appliances describes the best practices for zoning the SAN on NetBackup appliances.

Table: Best practices for zoning the SAN on NetBackup appliances

Guideline	Description
One initiator per zone, multiple targets acceptable.	Veritas recommends that you create zones with only a single initiator per zone. Multiple targets in a single zone are acceptable, only if all of the targets are similar. Note: For data duplication between two NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliances, you must create zones with only one single initiator and one single target per zone. Tape target resources should be in separate zones from disk target resources, regardless of initiator. However, both sets of resources may share the same initiator.
Be aware of performance degradation when a port is configured for multiple zones.	If you use a single port as an initiator or a target for multiple zones, this port can become a bottleneck for the overall performance of the system. You must analyze the aggregate required throughput of any part of the system and optimize the traffic flow as necessary.
For fault tolerance, spread connectivity across HBA cards and not ports.	To ensure the availability of system connections, if you incorporate a multi-path approach to common resources, pair ports on separate cards for like zoning. This configuration helps you avoid the loss of all paths to a resource in the event of a card failure.
Zone the SAN based on WWN to facilitate zone migrations, if devices change ports.	It is recommended that you perform SAN zoning based on WWN. If switch port configurations or cabling architectures need to change, the zoning does not have to be recreated.

Table: Appliance zones describes the zones you should use for your SAN traffic.

Diagrams that show the zones are available at the following link.

See About Fibre Transport paths for NetBackup appliances.

Note:

You must use physical port ID or World Wide Port Name (WWPN) when you specify the HBA ports on NetBackup appliances.

See How to determine appliance HBA WWPNs.

Table: Appliance zones

Zone	Description
Fibre Transport backup zone	A Fibre Transport backup zone should include only the Fibre Transport traffic between the SAN clients and the appliance. The backup zone should include the following HBA ports: The target port of the HBA - connect this port to a Fibre Channel switch port. If you have two HBAs, you can use both of them. The use of two ports provides redundancy. Note: The supplied QLogic FC HBA card in a NetBackup appliance uses a special NetBackup target mode driver for the target port. The target mode driver replaces the default, initiator mode Fibre Channel driver. The target mode driver applies only to the supplied QLogic HBA card. You must define the appliance target port by physical port ID or World Wide Port Name (WWPN). The target mode driver WWPNs are not unique because they are derived from the Fibre Channel HBA WWPN. Ports on the SAN client HBAs that connect to the appliance - connect each SAN client HBA port to ports on the same Fibre Channel switch. You can define SAN client ports by either port ID or WWPN. However, if you use one method for all devices, zone definition and management is easier. The ports on the SAN clients use the standard initiator mode driver. To promote multistream throughput, each SAN client should detect all target mode devices of the appliance HBA port or ports in the zone. Each appliance HBA target port exposes two target mode devices. Define the zones on the switch so that the client ports and the HBA target ports are in the same zone. Note: To support SAN Client backups on appliances, you must create zones with only one single initiator and one single target per zone. Each client host can only be zoned with only one FT Media Server. Some appliance models include one or more Fibre Channel HBA cards that can be used for Fibre Transport. If your appliance does not include any of these cards, an authorized sales representative must install and configure an approved FC HBA card.
Fibre Transport storage zone	A Fibre Transport storage zone carries the Fibre Transport traffic from a storage source to a storage destination. The source host is an NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliance. The storage destination host is a NetBackup deduplication appliance or another NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliance. The traffic can be either for duplication or for backups. For duplication, the deduplicated data is sent to the destination for storage. For backups, the data first travels to the NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliance and is then sent to the NetBackup deduplication appliance for storage. The storage zone should include the following HBA ports: The initiator port of the HBA in the NetBackup appliance - connect this port to a Fibre Channel switch port. It does not have to be the same switch as the backup zone. The NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliance is the source for the duplication. The initiator ports use the standard initiator mode driver. The NetBackup 52xx and 53xx appliance target ports. The 52xx or 53xx appliance is the target for the duplication. Define the zones on the switch so that the NetBackup appliance initiator port and the NetBackup deduplication appliance target port are in the same zone. Note: For data duplication between two NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliances, you must create zones with only one single initiator port and one single target port.
External tape storage zone	If you use a tape library as storage, create a separate zone for that traffic. The tape storage zone does not use NetBackup Fibre Transport; it uses the standard initiator mode driver.

Zone

Description

Fibre Transport backup zone

A Fibre Transport backup zone should include only the Fibre Transport traffic between the SAN clients and the appliance.

The backup zone should include the following HBA ports:

The target port of the HBA - connect this port to a Fibre Channel switch port. If you have two HBAs, you can use both of them. The use of two ports provides redundancy.
Note:
The supplied QLogic FC HBA card in a NetBackup appliance uses a special NetBackup target mode driver for the target port. The target mode driver replaces the default, initiator mode Fibre Channel driver. The target mode driver applies only to the supplied QLogic HBA card.
You must define the appliance target port by physical port ID or World Wide Port Name (WWPN). The target mode driver WWPNs are not unique because they are derived from the Fibre Channel HBA WWPN.
Ports on the SAN client HBAs that connect to the appliance - connect each SAN client HBA port to ports on the same Fibre Channel switch.
You can define SAN client ports by either port ID or WWPN. However, if you use one method for all devices, zone definition and management is easier.
The ports on the SAN clients use the standard initiator mode driver.
To promote multistream throughput, each SAN client should detect all target mode devices of the appliance HBA port or ports in the zone. Each appliance HBA target port exposes two target mode devices.
Define the zones on the switch so that the client ports and the HBA target ports are in the same zone.

Note:

To support SAN Client backups on appliances, you must create zones with only one single initiator and one single target per zone. Each client host can only be zoned with only one FT Media Server.

Some appliance models include one or more Fibre Channel HBA cards that can be used for Fibre Transport. If your appliance does not include any of these cards, an authorized sales representative must install and configure an approved FC HBA card.

Fibre Transport storage zone

A Fibre Transport storage zone carries the Fibre Transport traffic from a storage source to a storage destination.

The source host is an NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliance. The storage destination host is a NetBackup deduplication appliance or another NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliance.

The traffic can be either for duplication or for backups. For duplication, the deduplicated data is sent to the destination for storage. For backups, the data first travels to the NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliance and is then sent to the NetBackup deduplication appliance for storage.

The storage zone should include the following HBA ports:

The initiator port of the HBA in the NetBackup appliance - connect this port to a Fibre Channel switch port. It does not have to be the same switch as the backup zone.
The NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliance is the source for the duplication.
The initiator ports use the standard initiator mode driver.
The NetBackup 52xx and 53xx appliance target ports.
The 52xx or 53xx appliance is the target for the duplication.
Define the zones on the switch so that the NetBackup appliance initiator port and the NetBackup deduplication appliance target port are in the same zone.
Note:
For data duplication between two NetBackup 52xx or 53xx appliances, you must create zones with only one single initiator port and one single target port.

External tape storage zone

If you use a tape library as storage, create a separate zone for that traffic. The tape storage zone does not use NetBackup Fibre Transport; it uses the standard initiator mode driver.