Desktop and Laptop Option

Best Practices Guide

VERITAS Backup Exec version 10.0 VERITAS NetBackup version 5.1

For Windows

Disclaimer The information contained in this publication is subject to change without notice. VERITAS Software Corporation makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this manual, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. VERITAS Software Corporation shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this manual. VERITAS Legal Notice Copyright 2003-2005 VERITAS Software Corporation. All rights reserved. VERITAS, Backup Exec, NetBackup, the VERITAS Logo, and Desktop and Laptop Option are trademarks or registered trademarks of VERITAS Software Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. VERITAS Software Corporation 350 Ellis Street Mountain View, CA 94043 USA Phone 650-527-8000 Fax 650-527-2908 www.veritas.com Third-Party Legal Notices Certain third-party software may be distributed, embedded, or bundled with this VERITAS product or recommended for use in connection with its installation and use. Such third-party software is separately licensed by its copyright holder. Licenses that govern the use of the third party software included in the VERITAS product and proprietary notices of the copyright holders are listed in the Administrators Guide

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Contents
Determine Desktop Backup Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Determining Hardware Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii Network Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii Centralized vs. Distributed Administration Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii Administration Server Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Determining Which Database to Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix File Server Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Sizing Method 1 - Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Sizing Method 2 - Pilot Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Additional consideration for File Server Sizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Sample File Server Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Profile Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv Determine What to Back Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv Backup strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv Determine When to Back up Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi Default Global Excludes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi Desktop Agent Rollout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xvii Installing the Desktop Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xvii MDAC 2.7 or 2.8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii Setting a Recovery Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii Desktop Agent Installation Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi

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Administrators Guide

DLO Best Practices

The VERITAS Desktop and Laptop Option (DLO) is an easy to use tool which provides automated file protection for desktops and laptops (collectively referred to as desktops). This Best Practices Guide summarizes VERITAS recommendations for planning and deploying both Backup Exec DLO and NetBackup DLO. For detailed information on using DLO, see the Backup Exec Administrators Guide or the NetBackup DLO Administrators Guide. To take full advantage of all of the benefits it can bring to your organization, VERITAS recommends that you do the following before fully implementing DLO: 1. Determine desktop backup requirements. 2. Determine the most effective hardware configuration and storage requirements based on the size of your enterprise, the current network environment, IT resources and requirements as well as the needs of the desktop users. 3. Create Profiles to meet the different needs of particular user subgroups. For example, mobile users who back up their laptop computers through dial up connections usually have different needs than their colleagues on LAN-connected workstations. 4. Roll out the Desktop Agents gradually. A gradual rollout spreads the impact of the first backup over a greater time period, while providing an opportunity to identify and resolve any issues that arise. To use DLO effectively, it is important to consider network capacity, the types of desktop users and how they connect to the network, when to back up data, data types and criticality, and other factors that will help to address specific user needs. In addition, you will want to decide who will have control over the backup process. DLO uses a policy-based configuration mechanism called a Profile to manage backups for groups of similar users. Desktop and laptop users are assigned to a Profile in which the DLO administrator grants or restricts user rights to control data protection for a desktop computer. DLO provides default Profiles for both desktop and laptop users and allows customization of Profiles to meet the needs of various user groups.

Determine Desktop Backup Requirements

Determine Desktop Backup Requirements

To determine organizational and user requirements for desktop and laptop backups, consider the following: Network Topology

How many desktop and laptop users do you have, and are they located on the LAN or WAN relative to the administration and file servers? Do users currently back up data manually to network shares? If you have users in multiple locations, is there IT support locally, or is it centralized?

Profile Configuration

How can users be grouped to take advantage of common characteristics? For example, users working with vital technical or regulatory information that is constantly changing may require more frequent backups than users who do not work with critical data. What is the quantity of data to be stored? What type of data do you want to protect? Will it be specific file types such as .doc or .pdf files, specific folders, or a combination of both? What data should be excluded from backups? How many versions of each file should be retained? How frequently do you want to back up user data? Will backups be scheduled or will they be performed as files change?

The answers to the questions above will guide decisions regarding hardware and network configuration as well as determining how Profiles will be designed to customize backups. The most successful large deployments of DLO use a pilot process to determine backup requirements.

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Determining Hardware Configuration

Determining Hardware Configuration

DLO is designed with the flexibility to operate on networks with a variety of structures. However, there are factors that impact DLO efficiency and performance and should be considered in the planning process for DLO. DLO requires both an administration server and a file server. The administration server includes the configuration database and administration console, while the file server is used to store the backup files. Both the file server and administration server can be located on the same computer, however in larger enterprises it may be desirable to have one or more dedicated file servers and one or more separate administration servers. One administration server can typically host many file servers.

Network Configuration
The backup of desktop computers impacts the network and servers, and can be impacted by a number of factors including the physical location of the desktop in relation to the file server, the type of connection and link speed between the desktop and file server, the number of desktop computers backed up at each site, and the number of hops. In geographically dispersed organizations, it may be desirable to have a file server at each location. Maximizing the number of desktop users who back up to local servers reduces WAN traffic and increases data transfer efficiency.
Sample Network Configurations for a DLO Installation Network Configuration Description Single Site Administration and Storage Where centralized administration is desired, single or multiple file servers can be located and administered at a centralized location. This can enhance uniformity of implementation and reduce the need for multiple support organizations.

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Determining Hardware Configuration Sample Network Configurations for a DLO Installation (continued) Network Configuration Description Multiple Sites With Centralized Administration In geographically dispersed organizations, it may be desirable to use local file servers with centralized DLO administration. This allows for optimized backup speed while providing centralized administration. Some local IT support may be necessary for local server administration, but most DLO administrative tasks can be performed remotely.

Multiple Sites with Independent Administration In widely dispersed organizations with strong IT support at each location, it may be desirable to have DLO administration and file servers for each LAN. This allows for improved customization, desktop user support and optimum data transfer speed.

Centralized vs. Distributed Administration Servers

The following table provides additional information on the:
Comparing centralized vs. distributed administration servers Pros Centralized

Cons

Single point of management and configuration. Single DLO database for backup and disaster recovery purposes. Isolates administrative traffic to the local network. Provides local, independent control.

May require traffic over WANs for agent updates, loading and saving configuration settings, periodic Agent status updates, and alert data. No centralized management of DLO users and profiles.

Distributed

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Administration Server Hardware Requirements

The DLO administration server hosts the DLO configuration database, which maintains user configurations and general DLO server configurations. The size of the database is not effected by the file data size, but only the total number of users and machines. Required storage space is not significant in relation to the file server size storage requirements. The configuration database is an MSDE database by default, however an SQL database can also be used. The database requires minimal management, but advanced management of this catalog is available through the command line.

Determining Which Database to Use

By default DLO uses its own MSDE instance. DLO can be manually configured to use SQL Server.
Comparing MSDE and SQL Server Pros MSDE

Cons

Free Unless you back up more than 1000 Desktop Agents per Administration Server, MSDE should be sufficient for most needs. Allows reasonable scalability beyond 1000 Desktop Agents. Database tools are included with SQL Server

The number of concurrent connections to the database is limited, resulting in slower I/O to the database under load. 2GB table size maximum, although DLO is unlikely to reach this limit. - Requires some manual configuration for NBU-DLO to work with SQL Server - Cost, however you do not need to purchase a SQL Server client license for each Desktop Agent.

SQL Server

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Determining Hardware Configuration

File Server Hardware Requirements

The server configuration will be in part based on the number of users as well as the amount and type of data backed up. The efficiency of backup is impacted by the number of desktop computers backing up to the server at a time. In an environment where there are a very large number of desktop computers in one location, it is important to size the file server appropriately, and it may be advantageous to install more than one file server.

Sizing Method 1 - Calculation

Data store sizing can be figured with the following formula: [(Size of all users' data to backup) / (Compression ratio)] * (Number of copies) / (data change expectation) * (Expected user data growth percentage (Addition of users and current users data growth)) Example: If you are backing up 50G of data which is being compressed at 2:11, keeping 3 copies of each file, 70% of which are expected to change at some point, then we would size as follows for the data volumes: 50G / 2 * 3 * .70 * 200% = 105GB of data space required

Sizing Method 2 - Pilot Deployment

Perform a pilot deployment and gather usage information for typical desktop users. Add sufficient padding for growth and large user exceptions. Example using data from a pilot deployment: Size: Expected 1.5GB per user on average Growth: X 100% Total: 3GB per user = 3TB total disk required per 1000 users Recommendation: Reserve 3TB of space for the disk storage locations for each 1000 users added to the backup Administration Servers

1. The actual compression ratio will vary depending on the type of data backed up and should be verified.
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Determining Hardware Configuration

Additional consideration for File Server Sizing

Bus Architecture High I/O throughput is a key factor in designing a DLO file server. A server with PCI/X or PCI-Express bus is recommended. The network controller and disk controller should be on this bus and not on the legacy PCI bus. RAID DLO puts very high file write demands on the file server which can significantly tax a RAID controller. The RAID controller should be an intelligent controller with parity generation on the controller and not a host based controller with the server CPU used for parity generation. Parity RAID levels (3, 4 & 5) are not recommended for write intensive applications, but may be selected due to cost. RAID 10 will give significantly better performance. Memory More memory is always better. 1GB should be considered the minimum. With 2GB or more memory, a registry change should be made to allow more physical memory to be used for file system caching. By default Windows will only use up to 512MB of physical memory as cache. Setting the registry keyHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/SessionManager/Memo ryManagement/LargeSystemCache to 1 will allow Windows to use up to 960MB of physical memory as cache. Note This only applies to 32bit versions of Windows. See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;837331 for additional information.

Sample File Server Configurations

The table Desktop Agents Supported on Various Systems on page xiii indicates the maximum number of Desktop Agents recommended for different file server configurations. Actual results will vary depending on many factors such as actual file server and network configuration, data change rates, etc. This data is based on Desktop Agents backing up continuously. Scheduled or manually initiated backups may produce different results.

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Determining Hardware Configuration

The configuration of file servers used for testing was as follows:

Tested File Server Configurations File Server Type Low End Server Description Processor: (2x) 1.0GHz Pentium III Xeon Memory: 512MB RAM Network: Intel PRO/1000 MT Network Adapter Database: MSDE Disk Configuration: System: 40GB SCSI (1x 40GB 7,200 RPM) Data: 80GB IDE (1x 80GB 7,200 RPM) 80GB IDE (1x 80GB 7,200 RPM) Note Combined Network File Server & DLO Media Server Mid Range Server Processor: (2x) 3.0GHz Pentium 4 Processor, Hyperthreaded Memory: 2.0Gb RAM Network: Intel PRO/1000 F Server Network Adapter Database: SQL Sever 2000 Enterprise Edition Disk Configuration: System: RAID-1, 10K rpm SCSI disks Data: RAID-5, 10K rpm SCSI disks Note Combined Network File Server & DLO Media Server High End Server Processor: (4x) 1.5GHz Xeon Processor - Hyperthreaded Memory: 3.5Gb RAM Network: (2x) Intel PRO/1000 XF Server Network Adapter Load-balanced Disk Configuration: System: RAID-1 18GB SCSI (2x 18GB 10K RPM) Data: RAID-0 SCSI (1x 80GB 10K RPM) RAID-0 SCSI (1x 80GB 10K RPM) RAID-5 SCSI (8x 140GB 10K RPM)

The number of Desktop Agents supported on each system are listed below and are dependent on concurrency ratios, which represent the percentage of clients that will be backing up to the server simultaneously. These numbers apply to day-to-day backups and

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do not represent the number of Desktop Agents that should perform the initial backup simultaneously. See Desktop Agent Rollout on page xvii for additional information on managing the initial Desktop Agent backup.
Desktop Agents Supported on Various Systems Configuration Light Load 10 MB/day # of Users 1000 Standard Server

Medium Load High Load 50 MB/day 100 MB/day # of Users 1000 # of Users 1000

Low End Server

High Concurrency Ratio: 5% Medium Concurrency Ratio: 2.5% Low Concurrency Ratio: 1%

4300 7300 13,200

2600 3800 5700

1900 2600 3600

High End Server

High Concurrency Ratio: 5% Medium Concurrency Ratio: 2.5% Low Concurrency Ratio: 1%

15,000 21,200 31,000

6200 7900 10,200

3900 4800 6100

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Profile Setup

Profile Setup
DLO uses Profiles to apply settings to groups of similar desktop users. Profiles allow customization of the backup environment by the DLO administrator. Desktop users can be assigned to Profiles automatically based on their domain and group, or they can be individually assigned to Profiles by the DLO administrator. Using Profiles, the DLO Administrator can: Determine What to Back Up on page xiv Determine When to Back up Data on page xvi

Determine What to Back Up

DLO uses Backup Selections in each Profile to specify which folders will be backed up. Include and exclude filters are added to further clarify which files and subfolders within the specified folder will be backed up. There are two types of excludes:

Global Excludes are specified by the administrator in the DLO Administration Console and apply to every Backup Selection. Files and folders specified in a Global Exclude are never backed up. Backup Selection Excludes apply only to the specific Backup Selection in which they are created.

Excludes always take precedence over includes. For example, if you have a Backup Selection for the C:\Data directory, but exclude the C:\Data\junk folder in the same Backup Selection, nothing will be backed up in the C:\Data\junk folder, even if some files match a specified include. VERITAS recommends that you use a Backup Selection exclude if a specific Profile requires an exclude, but users of other Profiles may have a need to back up the directory or file type. Global Excludes should be used when the directory or file type should never be backed up.

Backup strategies
There are two options for includes and excludes in each Backup Selection:

Everything But Strategy Include Only Strategy

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Profile Setup

Everything But Strategy When you choose Include All File Types in a Backup Selection, all files in the selected folder are backed up unless the file type is specifically excluded in the global exclude list. Use this option when:

file types and locations will vary across your environment. you have little control over the desktop environment you want to protect all data, even if it increases costs and storage requirements. The broad scope of backups may require significant storage space. To determine what to exclude, look at the pending files during a backup, or look at what is taking up space in the Network and Desktop User Data Folders. This will help to refine the excludes.

Things to consider:

Include Only Strategy When you choose Include and exclude only the items listed below in the Backup Selection, you create a custom list of file types that will be included or excluded. If no includes are specified when the Backup Selection is created, a * include is added and all files that are not specifically excluded are backed up. If a specific include is later specified, the default * selection is removed and only those files or folders specifically included are backed up. For example, if you create a Backup Selection for C:\Data and select include and exclude only the items listed below, but do not provide any specific includes, all files not specifically excluded by the Backup Selection or Global Excludes will be backed up. If you later add an include such as *.doc, then the only files that will be backed up are the *.doc files. Use this option when: you want to tailor the scope of backups to meet specific organizational needs. you need to specifically target the backup scope to reduce the amount of data backed up. Users may store data in non-standard locations or outside the selected backup area. Care must be taken to insure that data is adequately protected by the defined backup scope.

Things to consider: -

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Profile Setup

Determine When to Back up Data

Veritas recommends you use a Continuous backup schedule. This ensures your files are protected as they change and provides the greatest level of protection. This schedule also reduces load on your network and Administration servers by spreading out backups throughout the work day. However, if you choose to use a scheduled backup mode, be sure to consider the amount of changed data that will be sent to your Backup Destinations at or near the same time. Creating several Profiles with staggered scheduled backup times will help reduce load on your administration server.

Default Global Excludes

The following is a list of file types and folders excluded from all backups by default via the Global Excludes feature.
Default Global Excludes Filter *.dat.log *.ost *~*.tmp System Volume Information thumbs.db ~*.doc ~*.tmp Applies to Files Files Files Folders Files Files Files

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Desktop Agent Rollout

Desktop Agent Rollout

When DLO is going to be provided to a large number of desktop users, it is best to roll out the Desktop Agent incrementally to reduces the impact on network and file servers. A small pilot deployment can accomplish this while also providing an opportunity to refine the backup strategy and Profiles settings. For example, if you are deploying 1000 Desktop Agents, start with 15 users. Analyze the backup results and fine tune the Backup Selections if desired. Deploy 100 users per week to reduce the impact of initial backups on the network.

Installing the Desktop Agent

The Desktop Agent is installed on each desktop computer by running the Desktop Agent install set. There are a number of ways to deploy the software. The table below summarizes deployment options.
Desktop Agent Deployment Methods Deployment Methods Push Install Description A push install is available for Backup Exec DLO using the Backup Exec installer. This option is not available for NetBackup DLO. Provide a hypertext link to a network share containing the install files. Make the install files available to desktop users via your companys intranet. Create a logon script to automatically install the Desktop Agent on selected computers. Use this automated system to distribute the Desktop Agent install set to the desktop computers, which then initiate the installation. For more information about SMS, refer to your Microsoft documentation. Place the contents of the \\media server\DLO Agent share on the CD-ROM. Users can then run setup.exe from the CD-ROM. The installed Desktop Agent will be correctly associated with the media server. The desktop user must be online the first time they launch DLO.

E-mail Web page

Logon scripts

Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) CD-ROM

Note Desktop Agent users are assigned to a specific server during the Desktop Agent installation. If you deploy DLO using multiple Administration Servers, you will need to install the Desktop Agents using the install set from the appropriate server.

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Desktop Agent Rollout

MDAC 2.7 or 2.8

The Desktop Agent uses MDAC 2.8 by default, but can be configured to run with MDAC 2.7. The version of MDAC is checked before the Desktop Agent is installed. To enable the Desktop Agent to be installed on a system with MDAC 2.7, add REQUIREDMDACVERSION=2.7 to the CmdLine parameter in the SETUP.INI file. Example: CmdLine=/qf DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=MyServer LAUNCHCLIENT=1 REQUIREDMDACVERSION=2.7 /l*v+ %TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log

Setting a Recovery Password

When the DLO Administration Console opens for the first time, the Recovery Password Wizard opens. You must set a recovery password using this wizard or DLO will not run. The recovery password enables you to retrieve encrypted data that would otherwise be lost if the DLO database is damaged or corrupted. Once set, this recovery password can only be changed using the DLO command line interface tools. If you are upgrading from Backup Exec DLO version 9.1 or NetBackup DLO version 5.0, you must run the -CreateRecoveryKeys command to create keys for Backup Exec DLO version 9.1 or NetBackup DLO version 5.0 Desktop Agent users. The recovery password and the data recovery process are managed with the DLO Command Line Interface.

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Desktop Agent Rollout

Desktop Agent Installation Options

The Desktop Agent installation can be customized to run silently, or to display a basic user interface that does not allow the user to cancel the installation. This is done by modifying the SETUP.INI file in the DLO Agent setup directory. In the SETUP.INI file there is a value called CmdLine that starts with a /qf. Change the /qf as shown below:
Desktop Agent CmdLine Installation Options /qf Option /qn Result

Silent installation.
Note For a completely silent install, you will need to run setup.exe /s after modifying the SETUP.INI file.

/qb!

Basic user interface displayed. There is no cancel button.

Examples: For a silent installation, edit CmdLine in the SETUP.INI file as follows: Original: CmdLine=/qf DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=Desktop3 LAUNCHCLIENT=1 /l*v %TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log Modified: CmdLine=/qn DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=Desktop3 LAUNCHCLIENT=1 /l*v %TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log For an installation with a basic interface but no option to cancel the installation, edit CmdLine in the SETUP.INI file as follows: Original: CmdLine=/qf DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=Desktop3 LAUNCHCLIENT=1 /l*v %TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log Modified: CmdLine=/qb! DEFAULTMEDIASERVER=Desktop3 LAUNCHCLIENT=1 /l*v %TEMP%\DLOAgentInstall.log

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Desktop Agent Rollout

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Index
A administration server configuration viii hardware requirements ix B backup scope xiv D database ix Desktop Agent customizing installation xix install xix installing xvii rollout xvii E excludes xvi F file server choosing xi hardware requirements x G global excludes xvi H hardware file server x hardware configuration vii S server administration viii hardware requirements ix file x silent install xix SQL Server ix R recovery password xviii revision strategies xiv M MSDE ix N network configuration vii topology vi P Profile configuration vi setup xiv I install Desktop Agent options xix installation silent xix installing Desktop Agent xvii

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