In a NetApp environment integrated with Veritas NetBackup, there are two primary, supported methods for data restoration from a SnapVault volume.

1. NetBackup Administration Console: For orchestrated restores, such as recovering entire directories, volumes, or for restores that need to be tracked and managed within the NetBackup catalog, the restore process must be initiated from the NetBackup Administration Console. NetBackup then communicates with the NetApp storage system to perform the required operations, which may include leveraging NetApp SnapRestore technology under the hood.

2. Drag-and-drop: For simple, user-driven, single-file restores, the most direct method is to access the hidden snapshot directory (.snapshot for CIFS or ~snapshot for NFS) on the volume. Users or administrators can then browse to the desired point-in-time snapshot and use standard file system drag-and-drop or copy-paste operations to restore the file to its original or a new location.

Using native Data ONTAP commands like snapvault restore or initiating a SnapRestore directly from the CLI would bypass the NetBackup management layer, potentially causing inconsistencies in the backup catalog.

1. NetApp TR-3722: NetBackup with NetApp Storage Best Practices.

Page 21

Section 5.1

"Single-File Restore": "Single-file restores can be performed by end users or administrators by browsing to the .snapshot directory on a CIFS share or the ~snapshot directory on an NFS export and copying the file to the desired location." This directly supports the use of drag-and-drop technologies.

Page 21

Section 5.2

"Directory and Volume Restore": "Directory and volume restores are initiated from the NetBackup Administration Console." This directly supports using the NetBackup console. The section further clarifies that for volume restores

NetBackup initiates a SnapRestore operation on the storage system

confirming that the console is the correct user-facing method

not the underlying ONTAP service itself.

2. Veritas NetBackup for NetApp Snapshot Client Administrator's Guide (Version 8.0).

Page 48

"Restoring from a snapshot": This section details the procedure for initiating a restore

stating

"Use the Backup

Archive

and Restore interface to restore from a snapshot." This confirms the NetBackup Administration Console is the primary interface for managed restores.

Page 51

"About single file restore from a snapshot": "A user can restore a single file from a snapshot by means of the native operating system (for example

Windows Explorer). The user can browse the snapshot directory on the NetApp filer and copy a file from it." This validates the drag-and-drop method for single-file recovery.