Karen Schoenbauer wrote:
NDMP restoresNDMP restores can only be restored to the same NAS vendor type. So if I did an NDMP backup to a NAS vendor box called NetApp1, I can run a restore to NetApp2 as longs both boxes are NetApps. You can not restore a NDMP backup to a solaris box or to a different NAS vendor.
From: veritas-bu-admin@mailman.eng.auburn.edu
i wonder about restoring from NDMP. i tried to restore to a different destination then the NDMP host (netapp) from which i took the backup. the different destination was a folder in the master server machine. restore failed.
this is a *VERY* important point and huge flaw in ndmp. it is the sole reason that our site has refused to use it for backups.
because of this ... feature... you now have to include vendor hardware in your disastor recovery plan. it is not hard to rationalize that if you think it prudent to keep your backup tapes offsite, then you should also keep a filer offsite. how good are your tapes if you cannot recover from them without specific filer hardware? how fast can your vendor supply you a replacement head? you might not be using that vendor anymore. 10 years ago (and i have recently pulled from tapes that old) almost noone was using filers. will we be using them in another 10 - or will we need to run to "bob's house of old computer bits" to find a filer that allows us to recover our data.
further, i have had troubles with using NDMP between different versions of OnTap. this means that i must maintain multiple vendor hardware.
for example, i have had problems with, and was told by netapp, that 6.X OnTap cannot neccessarily use the restore_symboltable from a 5.X machine. so... if i have a 5.X set of fulls and incrementals, i should keep not only a netapp that can run 6.X but one that can run 5.X - now that is easy with a 600 or 700 series, but when 7.X comes out...
i see this spiraling downwards.
this is not a slag on netapp. far from it. this *is* a criticism of NDMP.
recovery from backup media should require 4 things.
- the media - something that accepts the media - s/w that can read the media - a place to put the data read from media
thats all.
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