Back-up Cluster Volume disk W2K8R2 Fail-over Cluster

[tyn_flr]

Hi Guys,

We are currently running an Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Fail-Over Cluster build on 2 VM's running on vSphere 5.0.

Because the cluster volume disk is connected by iSCSI we are not able to back-up this disk with our default tooling: Veeam B&R.

Currently we are protecting this volume on SAN level by Remote Snapshots. Actually i am looking for a user friendly way to protect and recover data from this cluster volume disk.

I am just curious about how and with which tooling you guys should back-up this cluster volume disk.

Cheers!

[VirtuallyMikeB]

Are you connecting to a LUN using the in-guest Microsoft software iSCSI initiator?  What storage vendor are you using?  What application is being clustered?  Likely, your only option will be to use a backup solution provided by your storage vendor.  This might be an application that's installed on your Windows guests that quiesces your clustered application, then takes a a storage-level snapshot.  The snapshots can then be moved to archive storage or tape if needed for long term backup, or reverted to, also using the storage vendor application.

If you're clustering something like SQL Server or Exchange, one option is to use tools native to those applications for backup and restore.  They're not glamorous, but if you can't afford other options, it'll do.

All the best,

Mike

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Please consider marking this answer "correct" or "helpful" if you found it useful.

Mike Brown

VMware, Cisco Data Center, and NetApp dude

Consulting Engineer

michael.b.brown3@gmail.com

Twitter: @VirtuallyMikeB

Blog: http://VirtuallyMikeBrown.com

LinkedIn: http://LinkedIn.com/in/michaelbbrown

[john23]

If you are using MSCS cluster, These are shared RDM with scsi controller in shared mode [physical  mode]

Afalk, Veeam software uses backup feature for taking the backup. In case, of MSCS cluster since scsi controller in physical mode, snapshot feature not work for that disk.

You can try to snapshot of these disks it will fail.

Only option is, take backup from storage level.

-A

[admin]

MSCS VMs normally cannot be backed by VDDK based backup softwares. http://www.virtualclouds.co.za/?p=708

[VirtuallyMikeB]

Agreed. This much is stated in standard VMware documentation.  Backup software needs to be cluster and application aware and Snapshots taken from at the array-level, like NetApp's SnapManager products.

- Mike

-----------------------------------------

Please consider marking this answer "correct" or "helpful" if you found it useful.

Mike Brown

VMware, Cisco Data Center, and NetApp dude

Consulting Engineer

michael.b.brown3@gmail.com

Twitter: @VirtuallyMikeB

Blog: http://VirtuallyMikeBrown.com

LinkedIn: http://LinkedIn.com/in/michaelbbrown