VMware Data Protection and Recovery -- Pain points and needs

Hi Anu,

Interesting post.  Have you got any info on how NetWorker will integrate with vSphere4 Data Protection?

I'm currently using ESX 3.5 and VCB to perform image and file level backups.

Where we have virtualised application servers e.g. SQL or Exchange we are not using VCB but instead presenting those LUNs to the VMs in physical compatibility mode and then using the underlying storage snapshots/clones and VSS to mount onto a physical mount host.  Currently we are using Replication Manager to perform this task but as far as I'm aware is it also possible to do this with NetWorker's Microsoft VSS integration module.

Do you have any info on using NetWorker to perform VSS hardware snapshots of VMs with applications like Exchange/SQL?

Also, do you know if NetWorker now supports single pass backups for VCB?  If yes, where would I find info on that?

Hello Luke,

Thank you for the valuable inputs.

With regards to VSphere 4, NetWorker 7.4.x and 7.5.x already support data protection of VSphere 4 environments. This is now documented in the NetWorker compatibility guide on Powerlink.  Essentially, we have qualified all the existing VCB features with the actively supported versions of NetWorker. There is also a technical white paper that talks about NetWorker's VMware protection capabilities. Note that this tech note will be updated soon....see below for the reasons.

It is good to know that you are performing both image and file level backups for your DR and operational recovery needs, which brings us to the other topic that you are interested in - "single pass backups". Today, NetWorker does not offer this feature. Our next major release, targeted for this quarter (Q4 2009) will deliver single pass VCB-based backups for DR and file-level recovery needs. NW 7.6 is primarily focused on VMware data protection enhancements and will include features such as incrementals and differentials for VCB backups and improvements to the visualization and topology mapping of your VMware environment. In addition to VMware focus, this release also has other major improvements and new features. Stay tuned to the announcement of this release soon. Once we announce the release, you will see collateral and information (How-to's etc) on this topic posted on emc.com and Powerlink.

Interesting to note that you are using RM for application consistent snapshots. I don't know definitively if you could potentially use NMM (NetWorker Module for Microsoft) to perform VSS hardware snapshots of of VMs with applications like Exchange/SQL. I will try to get an answer or let the experts of NMM and application protection answer this one.

Anu

Luke,

NetWorker Module for Microsoft, which offers integrated protection for all Microsoft applications (Exc, SQL, DPM, AD, Hyper-V and SharePoint) does not currently support VSS HW Providers within VMWare guests. Support for VSS HW providers within ESX 3.x will be available later this quarter. Support for VSphere 4 requires the EMC VSS HW Provider v4.2 and support for this is planned for early 2010.

NMM works within VMWare using VSS SW Providers.

Anu

Hi Anu,

Thanks for your responses, this info is extremely helpful.

I have a few additional questions I'd like to get your opinion on:

1 - Currently when NetWorker uses VCB to perform an image-level backup it backs up all of the white space which is not particularly space efficient.  Is there a plan on the roadmap to address this?  or do we need to look at deduplication technology to resolve this issue.

2 - My understanding from your previous posts is that in the next major release (v7.6) arriving this quarter we will be able to perform incr/diff  image level backups that can be used for recovering single files.  Will the staging area on the proxy server still be required for backups and restores?

3 - In ESX v3.5 update 2 VMware released a VSS component for VMware Tools.  VMware state that it's possible to perform application consistent snapshots using VCB.  Can this approach be used for performing backups of Exchange and SQL using NetWorker's integration with VCB?  If not, what is the recommended approach for backing up applications residing in VMs? (apart from the guest based option which is not scalable)

4 - I'm very interested in your comments regarding backup vendor support for proxy based backups using the new VStorage API.  From what you know, will the backup applications integrate with VMware's 'Data Protection' backup solution, or will that be a competitor also using the VStorage API.

Any knowledge you have on these topics would be greatly appreciated.

Luke

Luke,

Interesting questions. I will try to answer the ones that I have some knowledge/opinion and let others jump in.

With regards to performing image-level backups efficiently, we are looking at block-level  backups for future releases. With the VStorage API, we could potentially backup only the changed blocks and perform very efficient backups of VMware environments. If you have any ideas to share on this topic, we would like your inputs.

For NetWorker 7.6, you would still need the staging area on the proxy server for backups/restores. We are looking to remove this requirement for future releases.

I am actually very interested in finding out if anybody is performing application consistent snapshots using VCB, rather than guest based backups. My understanding is that you would have to use the pre and post scripts to quiesce the database, or put it in backup mode, prior to the snapshot being taken. Anybody else out there that has tried this?

By VMware's "Data Protection" backup solution, I think you are referring to the VMware Data Recovery (VDR) that VMware started offering as a backup solution for SMB virtualized environments. It is analogous to Microsoft’s Data Protection Manager, positioned as an SMB play with less than 100VMs. VDR is a disk-based backup application, leverages the VStorage API and protects only your virtual machines and cannot backup physical servers. Based on their target segment and feature-set, VDR probably does not head-to-head compete with NetWorker..

Anu