Backup Manager: Collection of Backup and Restore Data
In most cases, a single instance of the Data Collector can support any number of enterprise objects. However, each environment has its own unique deployment configuration requirements, so it is important to understand where the Data Collector software must be installed so that you can determine how many Data Collectors must be installed and which servers are best suited for the deployment.
For Backup Manager, where you install the Data Collector also depends on the backup solution.
• For Commvault Simpana, the Data Collector should be installed on the same machine as the WMI proxy server.
• Note: When upgrading TSM Data Collectors from ANY release before Release Version 9.2.01, you must uninstall and then perform a fresh install of the TSM Data Collectors. This is different from the upgrade methods for other collectors.
• For all other backup solutions, the Data Collector can run on any server running a supported operating system.
• One Data Collector can be used to include all of these backup products: Commvault Simpana, EMC Avamar, EMC NetWorker, EMC Data Domain, Veritas Backup Exec, Veritas NetBackup, HP Data Protector, and Generic Backup products. And, you also can include other enterprise objects, such as storage arrays, in a single Data Collector.
Data Collection by Backup Product
The following collection mechanisms are used for the particular backup products:
• Commvault Simpana - The Data Collector uses JDBC as a read-only user (including executing some read-only functions) to collect point-in-time data from the Commvault Simpana CommServe database. The Data Collector also uses a Commvault Simpana command-line tool (sendLogFiles.exe - executed using WMI on the CommServe server) to collect log files from client machines managed by the CommServe server.
• EMC Avamar - The Data Collector uses JDBC as a read-only user to collect point-in-time data from the Avamar Management Console Server (MCS) database.
• EMC Data Domain - A Data Collector policy can be configured to use the command-line interface (CLI) to gather the details. Note that more details can be obtained via the CLI than with SNMP.
• EMC NetWorker - The Data Collector uses the NetWorker administration command-line utilities, such as mminfo, nsradmin, and nsrinfo.
• Generic Backup Data - APTARE Backup Manager can report on data from backup products that are not native to APTARE IT Analytics—such as PureDisk, BakBone, and BrightStor. Using the backup vendor’s export feature, create a comma-separated values (CSV) file. The Data Collection process will import the data into the Portal database.
• HP Data Protector - The Data Collector communicates with the Cell Manager—the server that runs session managers and core software to manage the backup details in the HP Data Protector internal database (IDB).
• IBM Spectrum Protect (TSM) - The Data Collector interfaces with TSM using the TSM utility, dsmadmc, collecting data from the underlying TSM databases, including TSM Archives for LAN-free backups.
• Veritas Backup Exec - The Data Collector uses database commands to obtain information from each Backup Exec server.
• Veritas NetBackup - A single, centralized Data Collector can collect from multiple NetBackup Master Servers. A variety of probes can be selected to gather details such as tape inventory and storage lifecycle policies (SLP).