Storage Units

Use Storage Units to display storage unit information and provide commands for managing NetBackup storage units.

A storage unit is a group of one or more storage devices of a specific type and density that attach to a NetBackup server. The media can be removable (such as tape) or a directory on a hard disk. Removable media can be in a robot or a standalone drive.

The devices in a removable-media storage unit (such as a tape drive) must attach to a NetBackup master or media server and be under control of Media Manager. The administrator first sets up Media Manager to use the drives, robots, and media and then defines the storage units. During a backup, NetBackup sends data to the storage unit specified by the backup policy. Media Manager then picks an available device within the storage unit.

When the storage unit is a directory on a hard disk, the administrator specifies the directory during configuration and NetBackup sends the data to that directory during backups. Media Manager is not involved.

Storage units simplify administration because once they are defined, the NetBackup configuration points to a storage unit rather than to the individual devices it contains. For example, if a storage unit contains two drives and one is busy, NetBackup can use the other drive without administrator intervention. See Managing Storage Units.