Possible to backup a virtual server to a removable disk to take offsite?

[Gonzouk]

Hello,

We have a server that is virtualised and I was wondering how I backup the server to a removable drive and take it offsite to our DR centre to do some testing? I heard I can just take the server and just running it from the desktop of a server at our DR site, is that correct?

We have VM Data Recovery, but have yet to find the time to use it.

Thanks

[FranckRookie]

Hi Gonzouk,

You can use VMware Converter to export your VM in Workstation format for example. Then move this image to your DR site and run it on VMware Workstation.

Good luck.

Regards

Franck

[Gonzouk]

Can this be scheduled or is this what the VM Data Recovery software is used for?

[FranckRookie]

Conversion is a manual operation. VDR is used for backup. If you absolutely need to export a copy of that VM taken at night, there are several options:

- create a second VM from the nightly backup and then export it

- schedule a clone at night and then export it the day after

- ...

Franck

[Gonzouk]

Thanks, how do I schedule a clone, this sounds like a great way?

[FranckRookie]

Have a look at the vCenter scheduler. There are several actions you can schedule and cloning should be one of them.

[Gonzouk]

Just one last thing, all of our Datastores I have created are on SAN's (iSCSI) is it possible to to use and old server that for temp storage? We have an old Dell file server with tonnes of free space I was wondering how I could create a new Datastore using that server and point to it's disks?

[FranckRookie]

One solution could be to install Services for Unix and create an NFS share on that Windows and then an NFS datastore. But if it is just to store the image generated by the conversion, a CIFS share is enough.

[Gonzouk]

A CIFS sounds like a nice idea, however when I go to a hosts and add storage I only have 2 storage options - Disk/LUN or Network File System? Am on the rigth path

[FranckRookie]

The CIFS share could be used only to store the result of the Converter and if you choose Workstation format for the destination VM. You can't use it to create a Datastore.

[radiolandog]

We clone the VM and then copy the clone to a USB drive that is formatted with ext2.

[Gonzouk]

Do you clone it to a datastore then browse to the datastore and take a copy?

[DSTAVERT]

If you set up an NFS server it can be added as a datastore to your ESX(i) hosts. A USB or better yet eSATA disk can be hot added and mounted inside the NFS export. Either schedule a clone through vCenter or have a look at http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8760 or http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9843 for an automated script.

[Gonzouk]

Just tried the vCentre scheduler, although it clones it, when it tried again it fails because it already exists, can it overwrite? Or is this where VM Data Recovery server comes into play?

[jcwuerfl]

There are MANY ways to backup, clone, or create a copy of a VM to take offsite.

Probably the simplest/cheapest for backing up is:

1) Shut down the VM

2) Right click on Datastore Browser from the VI Client on the Host Summary Page.

3) Download the folder to your local USB/Hard drive/whatever storage device you have on your local computer that can be removed

The above is simple and gives you an idential copy of your VM for backup, but it also requires some downtime for the VM and is manual. Cloning would take some additional work at this point using Converter to copy the VM back to your host.

You can also do this while its running using VCB,Veeam Backup, vDR (virtual Data Recovery appliance), vRanger, etc. etc. there a ton of 3rd party backup software available to backup the VM to NFS or the Software's Backup Store which may be CIFS. Typically they also let you run a tape command to copy that data to tape as well.

So, to really tell you the right solution are you just looking to do this once? or do you need a backup solution that totally automates the process of backing up and copying your VM to your DR Site? or somewhere inbetween. Please be as specific as you can.

Thanks

[Gonzouk]

Hi,

Our VM's can't have any downtime, but for our DR test the clone/image can be a few hours old. I wanted to be able to “dump“ a clone etc of a couple of servers to a file location were we backup to tape and have the option to put on to an external HD.

Once we have this how do I get these clones running? We have a power server at our DR site, maybe I could run them on one of those servers?

For long term backups we are looking at Symantec's Backup Exec 2010 with the VM agent and for quick restores in emergencies the VM Data Recovery.

Thanks

[ash0573]

Gonzouk,

I've been looking into the same thing. What I ultimately did in the end was this.

2 ESX in HA

1 SAN (datastores)

1 ESX - olders server, lots of space, slow drives

Replicated VM's from HA cluster to single standalone ESX with vRanger Replicator

Use VM Data Recovery to backup VM's to CIFS share that is an external eSATA doc.

I swap out a 1 TB disk every day with all the backed up VM's on it.

On a few server I use Symantec System Recovery and copy that to an off site DR disk. It will automatically P2V, even though the guest is V but you get the gist.

Next year we are implementing off-site replication to anther office. DR is a beast that keeps growing....

Ash

[jcwuerfl]

If you are looking at Symantec's Backup Exec 2010 you may not need vDR. I would install that then, and see what it can do. Sounds like that should allow you to do a full vm backup via Backup job take a look at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se-5OtXMZUk Shows how to setup a job once you get it installed. Setup the source, destination. You should be able to copy that to the DR Site once its backed up.

[ash0573]

The BackupExec 2010 vmware/vsphere plugin is NOT fun to use and is needlessly complicated versus other backup options like vRanger Pro and Veem. I use System Recovery 2010 as a 3rd tier DR, it's bare metal system recovery for guest OS's. You can even restore to dissimilar hardware. I've had to restore from a V to a P for a stopgap and it worked out great. It's slooooooooow but it works.

Cheers,

Ash

[wdbarker]

Snapshot the VM

Copy the vmx, nvram, and the base disks to your offsite storage (this will be the name.vmdk, name_1.vmdk, etc., not the currently active delta's). You don't want any .vmss, vmsd, or vswp files.

Delete the snapshot.

No downtime, and the offsite copy is "crash consistent". No need to snapshot memory, because you are never going to revert to the snapshot. It's just to get the current disk access to read-only for the backup.

I use an external iSCSI machine with a 1T disk in a SATA/USB adapter, but eSATA will work just fine. If you want some space and network efficiency, copy the disks with vmkfstools -i <source> -d thin <dest> instead of scp or the Datastore browser. Most of those tools do a flat copy.

Dan in Atlanta