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October 7th, 2008 19:00
Backing up Virtual Disks on MD3000i used for an ESX server to Snap Shot
Hi All
I am working on a backup strategy for the files that are used by our ESX server (Poweredge 2950) for our vms. The ESX Server is using a Virtual Disk from our MD3000i.
Here is what I am proposing. Using the MD3000i capability create a Snap Shot of the Virtual Drive A the ESX is using. Copy that snap shot to a separate Virtual Drive B. Have a another server map to the Virtual Drive B and backup the files on Virtual Drive B to an offsite area.
That way if we need to restore we can copy back the files from the Backup of Virtual Drive B if needed.
What I am not sure of is the type of server I would need to for mapping to Virtual Disk B. Can it be a Windows 2003 server or do I need to have a different server OS?
We only have one ESX server.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Dev Mgr
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October 7th, 2008 21:00
Windows won't be able to read this without specialized software.
VMware Consolidated backup can 'read' the filesystem, but it's licensed and doesn't work with the array-based snapshots; instead it makes a snapshot of the VM (does this by telling ESX to snap the VM) and then reads the snap on the virtual disk (over iSCSI) and allows copying it to a disk drive location. After this you can turn around and push this to tape if you want.
The downside to VCB is that a restore is an all-or-nothing option; there is no partial restore from what I understand.
You could look into vRanger by vizioncore. This can work with VCB and allow mounting the vmdk file and then restore only the files you need.
An easier option may actually be to install backup agents on each VM and use your network to back up the VMs.
RStojkovic
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October 7th, 2008 21:00
Thanks for the information regarding vRanger by vizioncore. I will take a look at that. I will also review the option of the backup agent on the each VM.