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Question

How to determine the network used by backups?

  • 25 September 2023
  • 4 replies
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Hello, 

 

I’d like to ask for your advice. 

Do you know of a way to determine which network is used by the backups running in the environment? 

 

To give you some background - we have the general - PRODUCTION - network and the BACKUP network set up in the environment. 

All servers are connected to the general / PRODUCTION network. 

And most servers are connected to the BACKUP network. 

But sometimes there are some connection problems - the BACKUP network can be inaccessible for some servers. 

In such a situation they could be using the general / PRODUCTION network - which is what we wouldn’t want them to do. 

I know we can verify what network is used by a backup looking into the backup job logs. 

But this would be close to impossible to do it for the whole environment. 

 

Maybe you know, or have heard of a way to determine which network was / is used by the backups running in the environment? 

 

I’d be grateful for any suggestions :) 

Thanks and regards, 

Tomasz

4 replies

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Hello @Tomasz Siobowicz 

Yes as you know you can check the logs, but as a general rule we will use whatever is at the top of the Network Binding Order. If you want them to always use the backup network, you can configure Data Interface Pairs (DIPs) so we always talk over the desired network.

Configuring a Dedicated Backup Network Using Data Interface Pairs - https://documentation.commvault.com/2023e/expert/7140_configuring_dedicated_backup_network_using_data_interface_pairs.html

 

Thank you,
Collin

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Hello Collin, 

 

Thank you very much for your help - the information you provided. 

You are right - DIPs are a way to make sure Commvault uses the network / NICs we want it to. 

 

However, the problem we have here is a bit different. 

Most Commvault clients in our environment have access to both networks - the PRODUCTION and the BACKUP network. 

Not all of the clients have DIPs configured. 

On the one hand - there are thousands of clients - so it’s not an easy task. 

On the other hand - there are from time to time some modifications / changes in the networks. 

Those changes quite often make DIPs not working - some IP, or port number changes, etc. 

 

So, the number of DIPs we are using is rather limited. 

We would like to determine - for a large number of Commvault clients (thousands) - which network they are using. We would like to know if the backup are using the PRODUCTION network, or the BACKUP network. 

Maybe there is a report we could run? 

I tried checking the reports that we have in our Command Center - but none of them allows that. 

 

Maybe there is some other way to get this information? 

For now - we don’t know. 

That’s why we are trying to reach out and ask for help - check if somebody might have an idea how to tackle this :) 

 

Thank you once again for your help. 

Regards, 

Tomasz 

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Hello @Tomasz Siobowicz 

Fair enough. 

There are no reports that will provide this information because it is up to the OS to decide. We use the network at the top of the Binding Order which is on the OS and controlled by the OS.

To tell what network is being used, you can use network monitoring tools like WireShark. You will also generally see what IP address we are talking to in the logs, whether it be a backup or aux copy.

 

Thank you,
Collin

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Hello Collin, 

 

Thank you very much for your help. 

We sort of suspected that there will be no ‘silver bullet’ solution to our problem. 

Now we can more confidently get back to the discussion around it we are in. 

Thank you. 

 

Regards, 

Tomasz Siobowicz

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