Administration of Symantec NetBackup
7.5 for Windows: Comprehensive
Examination Study Guide and
Operational Reference
1. Introduction and Examination Scope
This research report provides an exhaustive technical analysis of Symantec NetBackup 7.5 for
Windows, specifically tailored to the objectives of the Symantec Certified Specialist exam
(250-371). The report is structured to function as a definitive "cheat sheet" and study
companion, synthesizing architectural theory, operational best practices, and granular
troubleshooting details. It moves beyond superficial feature lists to explore the causal
relationships between NetBackup components, the intricacies of the Enterprise Media
Manager (EMM), and the specific procedural workflows required for installation,
configuration, and disaster recovery.
NetBackup 7.5 represents a significant maturity point in enterprise data protection,
introducing features such as NetBackup Accelerator, Auto Image Replication (AIR), and
enhanced virtual machine protection.1 For the administrator and exam candidate, success
requires not only knowledge of these new features but a mastery of the foundational
elements: the NetBackup Catalog, the daemon/service hierarchy, and the command-line
interface (CLI) tools that underpin the graphical user interface (GUI).
The scope of this report encompasses the complete lifecycle of a NetBackup environment:
1. Architecture: The interaction of Master, Media, and EMM servers.
2. Installation: Prerequisites, registry modifications, and security contexts.
3. Storage: Tape library management, disk pools, and deduplication.
4. Policy Management: Scheduling logic, attributes, and virtual machine strategies.
5. Operations: Monitoring, reporting via OpsCenter, and CLI administration.
6. Disaster Recovery: Catalog protection and recovery workflows.
7. Troubleshooting: Status code analysis, logging structures, and resolution paths.
2. NetBackup Architecture and Core Concepts
The architecture of NetBackup is built upon a scalable client-server model designed to
handle enterprise-scale data movement. Understanding the roles and the specific processes
(daemons) that drive them is the first step in mastering administration.
2.1 The NetBackup Domain and Server Roles
A NetBackup "Protection Domain" constitutes a logical grouping of systems managed by a
single entity.
● The Master Server: The central control unit of the domain. It is responsible for
administration, scheduling, and metadata management. It hosts the NetBackup
Catalog, which tracks every file backed up and every media volume used. In a Windows
environment, the Master Server is the only host that runs the bprd (Backup Request
Daemon) and bpdbm (Database Manager) processes. 3 The Master Server dictates when
backups run and what they contain, but it does not necessarily handle the data stream
itself unless it is also acting as a Media Server.
● The Media Server: The data mover. Media Servers attach to storage devices (tape
libraries, disk arrays) and manage the transfer of data from clients to that storage. They
run the ltid (Logical Timer Interface Daemon) to manage device reservations and bptm
(Tape Manager) or bpdm (Disk Manager) to handle the data I/O.3
● The Enterprise Media Manager (EMM): Introduced to centralize resource
management, the EMM resides (by default) on the Master Server but can be split out in
massive environments. It maintains the EMM Database (emm_data.db), a relational
database (Sybase SQL Anywhere) that tracks device configuration, media states (frozen,
suspended, active), and drive allocations across the entire domain. The EMM is the
arbitrator that prevents two media servers from trying to write to the same tape drive in
a Shared Storage Option (SSO) environment.3
● Clients: The edge nodes containing the data to be protected. They run the bpcd (Client
Daemon) to listen for instructions and bpbkar (Backup Archive and Restore) to generate
the backup stream.6
Insight: The relationship between the Master Server and EMM is critical. If the EMM service
(nbemm) fails, no devices can be allocated, and no jobs can start, even if the Master Server's
scheduler (nbpem) is functioning. This creates a single point of failure that must be
monitored closely via the Activity Monitor's Daemons tab. 3
2.2 The NetBackup Catalog Structure
The Catalog is the heart of the Master Server. It is not a monolithic file but a composite of two
distinct data structures, each requiring different handling during backup and recovery.
Component Path (Windows Function Data Type
Default)
Image Database \Program Stores the file Flat Files
Files\Veritas\NetBa metadata (Binary/ASCII)
ckup\db\images (permissions,
paths) for every
backup. Organized
by Client Name and
Time.
Relational \Program Stores EMM data: Sybase SQL
Database (NBDB) Files\Veritas\NetBa Media IDs, Device Anywhere
ckupDB configs, Storage
Unit definitions,
and Volume Pools.
Configuration \Program Stores Policy Flat Files
Files Files\Veritas\NetBa definitions and
ckup\db\class schedules.
Operational Implication: Because the Image Database grows with the number of files
backed up, it can consume vast amounts of disk space on the Master Server. Administrators
must monitor the volume hosting \Veritas\NetBackup to prevent the Master Server from
crashing due to disk exhaustion. The "Compress Catalog Interval" setting in Host Properties
can help mitigate this growth by compressing older image records. 4
2.3 Core Processes and Service Interaction
On Windows, NetBackup services are wrapped as Windows Services but retain their UNIX-
derived names in logs and documentation. The interaction flow for a backup job illustrates
their dependencies:
1. nbpem (Policy Execution Manager): Checks the policy and schedule. It determines a
job is due and notifies nbjm.
2. nbjm (Job Manager): The job supervisor. It requests resources (drives/media) from
nbrb (Resource Broker).
3. nbrb: Queries the nbemm (EMM) to find an available drive and media. Once locked, it
hands the resource to nbjm.
4. bpbrm (Backup and Restore Manager): nbjm starts bpbrm on the Media Server.
bpbrm connects to the client's bpcd.
5. bptm/bpdm: The Media Server starts the data manager process to write to storage.