Backup Server

The Arkeia Backup Server is a hub among Backup Agents. A single Backup Server may control one or thousands of Backup Agents. In turn, the Central Management Server is a hub among Backup Servers.

All Arkeia Backup Servers deliver the same capabilities, whether deployed as physical appliances, virtual appliances, or software applications. The architecture of a Backup Server is shown below. Each Backup Server embodies both a Catalog Server and a Media Server, as well as two Clients that manage administrator input.

The Catalog Server manages the index associated with Backup Sets, accepts user input, and controls the transfer of data among the Catalog Server, the Media Server, any NDMP Server, and Backup Agents.

The Media Server manages drives, whether hard drives or tape drives. The Media Server supports VTLs, tape libraries, and tape autoloaders. Virtually, all SCSI-attached tape libraries and tape autoloaders are supported by the standard software application distribution.

Typically, both the Catalog Server and Media Server are deployed on the same computer. However, a Media Server can also be installed with a Backup Agent to permit LAN-free backups. We describe this configuration as RSO. Note that disjointed Catalog Servers and Media Servers must be LAN-connected, unless Backup Replication is used.

Catalog Server Options

Options for the Catalog Servers are Backup Replication and the NDMP option. The NDMP option allows Backup Servers to back up and restore data from any device that supports the NDMP protocol, such as network-attached storage (NAS). In effect, these NDMP-compliant devices are data sources that do not require Backup Agent software.

Media Server Options

Options for the Media Server are Backup Replication, and options for Tape Duplication, SAN Support, and Disk-to-Tape. Tape Duplication allows tapes to be quickly and exactly duplicated. SAN Support allows a single SAN-attached tape drive to be shared among multiple Backup Servers. Disk-to-Tape permits VTL Backup Sets to be saved to tape devices.