HP Data Protector Software Performance White Paper

7
Backup environment
The backup manager is the core of any backup environment that you should check for
requirements and compatibility. Please check at http://www.hp.com/go/dataprotector
the
following documents:
• HP Data Protector Concepts Guide
• HP Data Protector Installation and Licensing Guide
• HP Data Protector Product Announcements, Software Notes, and References
• Data Protector support matrices
Note: Please check the Data Protector support matrices carefully and install the latest patches.
Backup server
You should also check the following components of the Backup Server environment for
compatibility:
• Host bus adapter (HBA)
• OS/HBA drivers
• HBA BIOS
• Tape drive firmware
For detailed information please refer to the EBS compatibility matrix at
http://www.hp.com/go/ebs
.
For fast tape devices, check the PCI bus performance. Use separate PCI busses for disks and
tape if possible. The total PCI bandwidth needs to be more than double the backup rate.
Windows 2000/2003 tape drive polling - Windows Removable Storage Manager service (RSM)
The Windows Removable Storage Manager service (RSM) polls tape drives frequently (every
three seconds in Microsoft Windows 2000, and every second in Windows Server 2003). This
polling, which involves sending a Test Unit Ready (TUR) command to each tape or library
device with a loaded driver, is enabled via the AUTORUN feature of Windows Plug and Play.
Windows built-in backup software (NTBACKUP) relies on the device polling to detect media
changes in the tape drive.
Note: In SAN configurations, this polling can have a significant negative impact on tape drive
performance. For SAN configurations, HP strongly recommends disabling RSM polling.
For additional information refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base article number 842411.
Data Protector overview and architecture
HP Data Protector automates high performance backup and recovery, from disk or tape, over
unlimited distances, to ensure 24x7 business continuity and maximize IT resource utilization.
Data Protector offers acquisition and deployment costs which are 30–70% less than
competition, responding to the pressure for lower IT costs and greater operational efficiency.
The license model is very simple and easy to understand, helping to reduce complexity. Data
Protector lowers data protection costs while ensuring backup/recovery flexibility, scalability, and
performance. Data Protector is a key member of the fast-growing HP storage software portfolio,
which includes storage resource management, archiving, replication, and device management
software. No software can integrate better with the HP market-leading line of StorageWorks disk
and tape products, as well as with other heterogeneous storage infrastructures, than Data
Protector.
Data Protector can be used in environments ranging from a single system to thousands of
systems on several sites. The basic management unit is the Data Protector cell.
The Data Protector cell, as shown in Figure 2, is a network environment consisting of a Cell
Manager, one or more Installation Servers, Clients Systems, Backup and Disk Devices. The Cell
Manager and Installation Server can be on the same system, which is the default option, or on
separate systems.