Introduction
External Data Connector (EDC) provides the facility to collect and merge vital information from NetBackup cells to a CommCell. NetBackup’s vital configurations, such as policies, backup content, client computer names, data protection schedules, encryption and compression settings are automatically collected and merged to the CommCell.
After the merge has completed, CommCell Agents can be installed directly on the previous NetBackup clients using the CommCell Console. Backup content, schedules, and other settings will remain on the clients, which greatly reduces configuration time. Data Protection historical records are also captured and merged to the CommCell. Thus, various CommCell reports can be run for the historical NetBackup data.
Key Features
External Data Connector provides the following key features:
Complete Discovery of NetBackup Client Information
When External Data Connector is installed on a NetBackup Master Server, all NetBackup client information can be easily incorporated into a CommCell by performing a simple discovery process. Your first discovery populates all information about each NetBackup client into the CommServe database, including client configuration, previous job history, schedules, and media information. All these details can be viewed using the CommCell Console graphical interface as soon as the first full discovery is performed.
Subsequent incremental discovery operations continue to update the CommServe with details on new or changed NetBackup client configurations. You can choose from a number of discovery options to further refine what information is populated into the CommServe, such as narrowing down discovery to specific NetBackup clients as well as including updated job and media details.
Seamless Migration of NetBackup Clients to a CommCell
If desired, you can seamlessly migrate existing NetBackup client computers to a CommCell for future data protection and recovery operations using the wide variety of CommCell products and features available. CommCell software can be simultaneously installed to any number of client computers directly through the CommCell Console graphical interface. You can choose to keep the original configuration of the migrated client computers or modify them to suit new needs and requirements.
Customized Reporting of NetBackup Job History
Once your NetBackup clients have been populated into the CommCell, you can create a variety of CommCell reports, which provide detailed information on job history, media details, and more. Reports can be created in HTML, XML, or PDF formats, and can be saved or sent in several ways. Optionally, reports can be further customized to display information in a Native format, which uses the terminology of native CommCell components, or a NetBackup format, which retains the terminology of the original NetBackup components.
If your NetBackup clients are integrated into more than one CommCell, reports can provide complete coverage of all clients in each CommCell.
Direct Importing of NetBackup Databases to a CommServe
Several methods are available for directly importing a NetBackup database to a CommServe, which is useful if you want to incorporate an entire NetBackup database into the CommCell at once. This can be accomplished with or without direct installation of External Data Connector on the NetBackup Server.
Supported NetBackup Versions
After the discovery process is complete, NetBackup components, such as client computers, backup schedules, and media are mapped to the appropriate CommCell entity. The following versions of NetBackup are supported for these NetBackup component groupings:
|
NetBackup Grouping |
Description |
Supported NetBackup Versions* |
|---|---|---|
|
Configuration |
Clients, Policy Types, Policies, Policy Attributes (compression, encryption), Policy Schedules (frequency, calendar), Backup Types, Media Server. |
5.1, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.1, 7.5, and 7.6 |
|
Jobs |
Backup and Admin Policy Job information is migrated for CommCell reporting purposes. |
5.1, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.1, 7.5, and 7.6 |
|
Media |
Lifecycle Policies, Storage Units, Robots, and Media Status are migrated for CommCell reporting purposes. |
5.1, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.1, 7.5, and 7.6 |
*Both Windows and Unix platforms are supported.
Terminology
The External Data Connector documentation utilizes the following terminology:
-
Master Server - The computer hosting the main data protection and recovery software engine. This computer is the equivalent of the CommServe computer.
-
Discovery - The process in which External Data Connector collects information about the vendor's client computers and populates that information into the CommServe database.