Avamar v7 & vCenter Compatibility

Here is what the lastest Avamar says:

 Avamar 5.0 and 5.0SP1 are compatible with VMware vCenter v4.0.0 and v4.0 Update 1

 Avamar 5.0SP2 is compatible with VMware vCenter v4.0.0, v4.0 Update 1 and v4.0 Update 2

 Avamar 5.0SP3 is compatible with VMware vCenter v4.0.0, v4.0 Update 1, v4.0 Update 2, v4.1 and v4.1i

 Avamar 6.0 is compatible with VMware vCenter v4.0.0,v4.0 Update1, v4.0 Update 2, v4.1,v4.1i,v5.0,v5.0 Update 1, v5.0i,v5.0i Update 1

 Avamar 6.1 is compatible with VMware vCenter v4.0.0,v4.0 Update1, v4.0 Update 2, v4.1,v4.1i,v5.0,v5.0 Update 1, v5.0i,v5.0i Update 1, v5.1, v5.1 Update 1, v5.1i, v5.1i Update 1

 Avamar 7.0 is compatible with VMware vCenter v5.0,v5.0 Update 1, v5.0i,v5.0i Update 2, v5.1, v5.1 Update 1, v5.1i, v5.1i Update 1

Since it does not mention Avamar 7.0 is compatible with VMware vCenter 4.x, they are not officially compatible with each other. Avamar 7.0 may not be able to backup VMware vCenter 4.x or Avamar 7.0 may still be able to backup VMware vCenter 4.x but EMC does not garentee its success and performance. If you back up VMware vCenter 4.x

using Avamar 7.0, EMC will not provide official technical support for you.

Thank you Tim for this explanation.

Is there a technical reason for this ? It's a bit weird, no ? There is a hole and I don't understand why ?

"General rules" is to follow official support from Editor, and it seems to me that supporting vCenter 4 is always alive.

Sorry but I am not the development guy. Usually a newer version of software needs to match newer versions of other programs because the architecture of the newer version of software could be different. Please understand developing a software supporting two versions of vCenter probably needs to cost more money and time than developing a software supporting only one version of vCenter. And personally, I guess the development team may think people are using vCenter 5 more and more and it is not worth enough to still support vCenter 4.

Hey,

Avamar 7.0 is compatible with VMware vCenter v5.0,v5.0 Update 1, v5.0i,v5.0i Update 2, v5.1, v5.1 Update 1, v5.1i, v5.1i Update 1

So, Avamar 7.0 cannot compatible with VMware vCenter v4 officially.

I suggest you don't need persistent on this issue. Just need to follow the contents of the latest Avamar Compatibility and Interoperability Matrix.

Hey F@b,

I mean that we don't need to focus on why Avamar 7.0 cannot compatible with VMware vCenter4. Compatibility issue, just need to follow the compatibility guide. Even Avamar 6.1 is compatible with VMware vCenter4, we cannot say Avamar 7.0 should be compatible with VMware vCenter4.

Hello,

What do you mean by "too persistent on this issue" ?

Regards,

F@b

Leo,

I'm sorry to try understand but we have huge vCenter 4.1 and 5 with a lot of VM.

We want to use Avamar, so what is the solution ? Use Avamar 6.1, wait for upgrading our vCenter 4.1 to 5 then upgrade to 7 ?

Hey F@b,

You are right. According to your environment, you have to use Avamar 6.1 first. I recommended you do not to try using Avamar 7.0 in your environment, unless EMC announced Avamar 7.0 or above will compatible with vCenter4 officially in the future. Because, we do not guarantee whether there is compatibility issue. Also, we do not want to see your business be affected by any compatibility issue.

Well Leo,

We tasted good progress with that new version, so it's a pity to go back to a previous version.

So if I understand where is the problem I can make a rule to work around it

ESX 4 has reached "End of Availability" already (so no new copies can be ordered and no new licenses will be generated). "End of Support Life" is in May 2014 which is just over 6 months from now:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2039567

VMware will stop supporting ESX 4 soon and -- generally speaking -- EMC does not support third party technologies that are no longer supported by the vendor. This is likely why this decision was made. I was not involved in this decision so I am only speculating about the reasoning.

It may (or may not) be possible to make Avamar 7 to work with ESX 4 but EMC will not provide support for this configuration.

Please note that I do not speak for EMC in any official capacity here. If in doubt, please contact your account team.

Hey,

In order to ensure the stability of your business, you can upgrade VMware vCenter 4.1 to 5.0 or above, then use Avamar 7.0.

Hello All,

We have already vCenter 4 and 5, we need some of the new v7 features (ext4, lvm..) so we have to implement two Avamar versions ?

This particular point put us in a difficult situation.

Hey,

Where did you get these information? Are you sure Avamar 7 can support VMware vCenter 4.x?

I just checked latest EMC Avamar 7.0 Release Notes and only get following information about VMware.

VMware

Avamar support for VMware includes the following new features and enhancements in release 7.0 and release 7.0 Service Pack 1:

◆ Avamar release 7.0 Service Pack 1 includes support for VMware vSphere 5.5.

◆ Support for vSphere 5.1 and EXT4 filesystems, and enhanced LVM support.

Hello,

Compatibility Matrix -> docu32263_Avamar-Compatibility-and-Interoperability-Matrix.pdf :

Revision 4 – November 2013

• VMware 4.0 and 4.1i to DD support added to Table 2SAP with Oracle BR*Tools v7.40 added to table 5
• Avamar v7.0 support for vCenter v4.1 and v4.1i added
• Avamar Client Server Interoperability table 1 split to define ADS only and ADS+DD
• Avamar v7.0 SP1 Client compatibility added

Regards,

F@b