Alternative A: dedicated robot for Vault processing

In a multi-robot environment, dedicate one robot strictly for vault processing. The media in this robot contains only the duplicate backup copies that are to be ejected and sent to the offsite vault. This configuration works best in a storage area network (SAN) environment where all media servers have direct access to the vault robot because then the duplication step does not send data over the network.

Two ways to achieve this configuration are as follows:

If you use this alternative, do not use Any Available storage unit in your backup policies unless only your Vault storage units are set to On Demand Only. Using Any Available for other storage units may cause images not intended for offsite storage to be written to the Vault robot. You can achieve the same behavior provided by Any Available storage unit by configuring your backup policies to use a storage unit group that includes all storage units except for the vault robot's (although if you use storage unit groups you cannot make multiple copies simultaneously).

Note:

Alternate read servers apply to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

Advantage

This configuration is most convenient for the operator, who can eject and inject tapes from only one robot, simplifying the tape rotation process.

Disadvantage

In a complex environment, this alternative can be difficult to configure if you want to avoid sending duplication data over the network.