Unprotected VM's

Question

During the DPA kickoff, this was posted as possible:

Example: if, overnight, the Oracle administrator spins up a couple of new VM’s but DOESN’T apply a protection policy to them (and doesn’t tell the backup administrator…..), those VM’s aren’t monitored, they aren’t going to be backed up, and therefore they are not protected. DPA will automatically create an alert to the unprotected VM’s.

Would this visibility into the protection of your virtualized environment help you sleep better at night? Tell us your story about how DPA identified 30 new, unprotected VM’s and allowed you to apply the proper protection policy. Or, ask a question about how DPA does this….it’s pretty impressive!

I have tried to figure out how to do this and cannot find the right combination of alerts and reports. Can someone tell me how to accomplish this? Thanks in advance.

David

WestelCS · Answer

Existing policies should already cover virtual server security; it is exactly the same as physical server security.

You can install anti-malware software on each VM, close all unused ports, and perform other server hardening steps to reduce and control each VM’s attack surface. Base the amount of security for each VM on the risk to the organization if it is compromised.

Also, to mitigate costs and help control information assurance across a virtualized data center, do not mix data of different classifications on the same VM. Group VMs of the same classification on the same host.

MShadow · Answer

I would really like this question answered. I've been trying to figure this out for some time. Did you ever get an answer? Simply put, how can I get a report of VMs that are not being backed up?

Data Protection Advisor

Unprotected VM's

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