SUMMARY: Legato NWR upgrade

From: Greg Coleman (gtech@cnj.digex.net)
Date: Thu Apr 27 1995 - 16:17:02 CDT


Original Question: Request for experiences of those who've
                   upgraded Legato Networker from 4.0 to 4.1

Thanks to those you responded. Overall, most responses were
that 4.1 is much better and I should do it today.

*****> lbd@mhcnet.att.com

Definitely good. 4.1 is *very* different from 4.0.2, but
less klugey in the installation. In 4.1 they also separate
the restore mechanism from the rest of networker -- it's
a separate command. You can't do restores from what they
now call the "Networker Administrator".

Now you just have to be careful with your colormap. I have
to make sure I start Networker before I start my Web browser,
or Networker comes up all white with invisible buttons and
menubar...:)

*****> cygan@wpm.com

Some goods and some bads.

Goods:
Nicer GUI
Cloning feature - lets you make a copy of the backup automatically so
    you can take it off site.

Bads:
Can't do a recover from the admin GUI. This does allow you to
let users only have a recover and backup tool, but it is a pain
if you are an admin cause you have to run two different programs
now instead of just the one.

*****> marc@cit.canadair.ca

Would like "it depends"?

I had mixed experiences with Networker. I have two server sunos 4.1.3 still
running networker 4.0.2, they have small exabyte stackers attached. Those
systems have been fairly stable and reliable... The reason I have not
yet upgraded to 4.1 is a question of priority... when it works don't
fix it...

A third server, with a exb-120 jukebox is a very different story.
Legato was never able to correct some serious problem with their
handling of the 120. The situation has improved tremendously with
4.1, there are still a few glitches here and there but it is
definitely much more stable. The barcode support on 4.1 is very
useful when you use large jukeboxes.

My experience with 4.1 has been positive. I will get to the upgrade
of the two 4.0.2 server when I get more equipment (new tape library).

*****> sampson@iex.com Mike Sampson

4.1 works fine, but the upgrade process is a bear! We were without backups
for 3 days during the upgrade (not all of which can be attributed to the
process, of course) due to our desire to change servers and Legato's
inability to get us all the needed codes at once.

*****> anonymous

Saveset Recover: Whole savesets can be recovered now just using
                the media database. So even after the browse time,
                you can recover savesets without scanning in the tape.
Cloning : copies savesets or tapes to other tapes
                Great for offsites, copying tapes from older media,
                and copying savesets to tapes to recyle a tape.
Archiving: Adds comments to media database for savesets
                with forever expiration. Adds scheduled archives.
                Will "groom"/delete archived files.

Gui: There is a new GUI. The colors are more
                pleasing and the recover and backup have been
                split off to coincide with other Legato Networker
                products. The menu's have been reorganized, and
                there is a SPEED BAR with discriptive graphics.
                Also, the icon changes & beeps when there are pending
                messages.
Indeces: There are numberous fixes and improvements
                to the indeces. They are smaller. The media index
                now does a much better job of self care which speeds
                up volumes and mminfo listings.
Devices: Networker now supports more devices, and the
                Devices and Jukebox install on SunOS is much better.
                Also, there is the new barcode support.
MMINFO: Now has a reporting facility which greatly
                reduces the awk/grep/sed scripting to make reports
                about volumes and backups.

*****> bobh@ide.com

Expensive!

*****> curtisa@cyrix.com

4.1 is great is has a lot of extra features that 4.0.2 does not have. I just got back from a Legato training class and the upgrade process is simple.

First if you have a jukebox this is the way I would upgrade it:
Shutdown nsr: nsr_shutdown -a
Power off jukebox
use the deinstall command to deinstall the jukebox drivers
nsr_ize -u ( the -u command only deletes the nsr executables not your indexes)
tar new files over
nsr_ize -i -s ( install the new executables)
use the install command to reload jukebox driver

Of course do a complete backup of your system before hand and use the uasm command to copy the databases over to somewhere else.

Let me know if you need any help

*****> rjw@cidis.cid.kodak.com

My experience was good. The only negative I have experienced is that when
using a tape jukebox, tapes are no longer used in serial number sequence and
I find that to be a pain. Otherwise, no real problems. The GUI interface
is a big improvement over 4.0.2.



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