How to achieve over 2 TB/hr network backup with Integrity entry-class servers running HP-UX 11i v3

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• Control interrupts (using the intctl command to manage interrupt configuration and
handling)
The newly re-architected Mass Storage Stack released with HP-UX 11i v3 delivers significant, new
benefits for tuning I/O and displaying metrics, whether being used with a network backup server or
for direct or SAN-based backup. The richness of tuning capabilities and overall I/O agility makes
HP-UX 11i v3 an ideal choice for backup servers, providing protection and recoverability of your
business’s most important asset—your business-critical data.
Several white papers provide useful information and details about the HP-UX 11i v3 Mass Storage
Stack functions and features, including additional details for the commands and features mentioned in
the following subsections. White papers recommended for reference include:
• “Overview: The Next Generation Mass Storage Stack”
• “scsimgr SCSI Management and Diagnostics utility on HP-UX 11i v3”
• “HP-UX 11i v3 Native Multi-Pathing for Mass Storage”
• “HP-UX 11i v3 Mass Storage Device Naming”
• “HP-UX 11i v3 Persistent DSF Migration Guide”
• “HP-UX 11i v2 to 11i v3 Mass Storage Stack Update Guide”
These white papers can be found at the following location:
http://www.hp.com/go/hpux-core-docs
(click on the HP-UX 11i v3 product link)
For additional details and usage information, refer to the manpage for each command.
Displaying I/O throughput for tape devices (sar –t)
The sar –t option is an invaluable tool for backup/restore performance characterizations and for
viewing I/O metrics for tape devices. This command displays the actual throughput (in MB/s) to
connected tape devices. The sar –t command is much more precise for measuring backup I/O
throughput rates than the standard practice of dividing the volume of backed-up data by the overall
backup time reported by the backup utility. The overall backup time reported by backup utilities often
includes backup process startup/stop time and tape mount/positioning time, which skew the results to
a backup I/O throughput estimate that is lower than the actual throughput.
The following is an example of sar –t command output, showing the Read and Write I/O
throughput in MB/s:
# sar -t 10 3
HP-UX hpsas003 B.11.31 U ia64 06/27/09
14:23:41 device %busy r/s w/s read write avserv
%age num num MB/s MB/s msec
14:23:51 tape12_BEST 97.30 0 901 0.00 225.25 1
14:24:01 tape12_BEST 97.20 0 903 0.00 225.75 1
14:24:11 tape12_BEST 97.10 0 902 0.00 225.50 1
Average tape12_BEST 97.20 0 902 0.00 225.50 1
#
Displaying I/O throughput for I/O ports (sar -H) to view I/O spread across all HBA ports
The new sar –H option released with HP-UX 11i v3 displays HBA port-level statistics, such as the
number of IOs for the port, data Read MB/s, data Write MB/s, and overall I/O throughput over the
port (MB/s). It enables you to monitor HBA port hotspots and to determine whether additional HBA