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NetWorker server on VM
hello
Do You have any experience ( bad or good ) with installation and managing NW server on Virtual Machine. I mean configuration with FC tape drives and Storage Node also on the same VM.
I realize that is not supported configuration, according to esg115723:
Symptoms
NetWorker Server installation in a Virtual Machine on VM-Ware, Hyper-V, AIX LPAR etc.
Cause
Support and installation options.
Resolution
Yes, NetWorker server is supported on a Virtual Machine. However, you need to be very careful to provide sufficient guaranteed resources (especially memory and CPU) to the Virtual Machine to enable the correct functioning of the NetWorker server.
However, it is not currently supported to have a VMWare or Hyper-V Virtual Machine as a Storage Node connected to anything except Advanced File Type Devices (or File Type Devices). You cannot connect a NetWorker Server on a VM-Ware or Hyper-V Virtual Machine to a SAN or a SCSI tape library. There is not enough SCSI isolation currently available through this framework for this to be supported. There would be a risk of one Virtual Machine disrupting operations on the SCSI bus for all Virtual Machines resulting in data loss.
If anyone has any feelings about topic, please follow discussion
Mark_Bellows
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September 16th, 2011 06:00
Hello!
There are pros and cons to using VM for a NW server. There are several things to consider:
The size of the environment. The more clients, the more bandwidth needed. A beefed up VM host can handle it.
The storage for the backup data. If you plan to use physical devices, you need to make sure it is compatible through the VM host to the VM server. There could be issues with the communication. A fully compatible configuration should work without issues.
Server resources (CPU, Memeory and log storage) all need to be taken into consideration.
Overall, it can be done and will work. But from what I have seen there is a limit. The larger the environment, the less likely I am to recommend the use of VM for hosting a NetWorker server.
One final consideration in this, and I ran into this very recently, is if your NetWorker server is on the VM environment and the environment dies - and I means go down hard - you do not have a backup server to work with and there is a possibility of the data being lost.
So, overall it can be done. Resource contention may be an issue, depending on the size of the environment - and it's growth. As long as you have your NetWorker server data backed up to an external location so you can recover the NetWorker server to a physical server, then I would give it try. I just caution against storing all data on the VM server, in the event of a catastrophic failure.
I know - call me cynical. Recently I encounter a failed SAN and ALL of the VMDK's were lost. In this case, it was the total of the server environment, except of the lone backup environment, which was NOT a VM. Because this was not a VM, we were able to recover the entire VM environment.
I hope this helped, rather than confounded!
Mark