In the Sun BluePrints Online document "Sun's Reference Architecture for Next-Generation Data Backup," Dean Halbeisen in Sun's Enterprise Storage takes readers through a reference architecture consisting of Symantec NetBackup 6.5.3/6.5.4 software, Sun CoolThreads servers and the Solaris Operating System. A key objective was to achieve a competitive price/performance metric for the NetBackup solution. Another goal was to determine performance and sizing characteristics of the proposed architecture.

Halbeisen describes the target environment as one with backup clients connected via a local area network (LAN) with 1 Gb Ethernet network links. The client network included a mix of Windows, Linux, HP/UX, AIX and Solaris.

The foundation of the NetBackup reference architecture were Sun CoolThreads and Solaris 10 OS. The backup servers evaluated included Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120, T5220 and T5240, and the Sun Blade T6320. All were powered by UltraSPARC T2 or T2 Plus processors.

The 40-page document presents an architecture overview of the hardware and software components used to implement the reference architecture; a description of the hardware configuration details and suggested tuning for the Solaris OS and Symantec NetBackup software; and performance characterization and sizing, which includes details on the testing performed to help guide sizing and implementation recommendations.

"The performance demonstrated in the Sun reference architecture is impressive," concludes Halbeisen. "And with Sun’s Try and Buy program, administrators can test drive this next-generation backup solution, with full technical support, at no cost - not even shipping - to verify the performance in their specific environment."

More Information

Sun Reference Architecture for Next-Generation Data Backup

Veritas NetBackup by Symantec

Symantec NetBackup 6.0 documentation

Sun Chip Multithreading (CMT) Servers

Sun Storage Products

Solaris Internals - Networks

10 Gigabit Ethernet on UltraSPARC T2 -- the Pure See blog entry

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