Replication Director is the implementation of NetBackup OpenStorage-managed snapshots and snapshot replication, where the snapshots are stored on the storage systems of partnering companies. Replication Director has been introduced in NetBackup 7.5.
Main features of Replication Director in NetBackup 7.6:
- Enables NetBackup to manage NetApp hardware snapshots (currently only this vendor)
- Leverages OpenStorage technology
- Replicate snapshots to one or more array volumes
- Duplicate snapshots to other locations (e.g. tape)
- Supports VMware datastores (NetApp storage and NFS only)
- Integration with VMware VM Intelligent Policies
- Individual file search and recovery is supported
- Snapshots can have separate retention policies
Replication Director uses an OpenStorage plug-in on the media server to communicate with the disk array (through the storage server) and to make requests to move data. The Symantec plug-in is installed by default with NetBackup.
Communication between the OSTPlugin and the NetApp Plug-in.
Supported NetApp snapshot replication topologies:
- The snapshot can be replicated using SnapVault
- The snapshot can be replicated using SnapMirror
- The snapshot can be replicated using SnapMirror, and then replicated again using SnapVault
- The snapshot can be replicated using SnapMirror, and then replicated again using SnapMirror
- The snapshot can be replicated using SnapVault, and then replicated again using SnapMirror.
Requirements:
- Installing NetBackup 7.6 on all master servers, media servers, and NetBackup clients (Virtual machines must have a NetBackup client installed) to be used with Replication Director
- NetBackup and NetApp license (like SnapMirror, SnapVault).
When to use NetBackup Replication Director? The answer you can find here.
Note: Symantec/Veritas has been shared useful Replication Director Tools for NetApp available here.