Backup VDP appliance with VDP, a good idea ?

[zemotard]

Hi, I'm using vsphere 5 with 3 esx V4

I'm testing VDP, as we can't backup on tapde the VDP data, I suggest to backup the VDP appliance (and data) with VDR on a CIFS folder. Then I will be able to backup this datas.

Do you think it's a good idea or not ?

Thanks.

[ShadyMalatawey]

So, u'll replicate that VDP machine to another site and backup there right..??
It's nice idea but will consume all of bandwidth and will take a long time specially if u dnt have dedicated lines between ur sites..for backing a VDP with another VDP I think it'll work normally specially if the backed-up VDP isn't working in the same time, but I never tested it before...
What abt a manual backup by Copy-Past method of the entire VM to external drive..
OR..
Just clone the VDP machine on external drive and shut it down..??

[jhunter1]

Backing up VDP with VDP or VDR is currently not supported. Technically, it might work, but it is not supported by VMware Support. You could gracefully shutdown the VDP appliance on a regular basis, e.g. once per week, and copy it to another location. However, this is a workaround at best.

Here is a blog article that discusses some of the challenges you may run into if you try to replicate a VDP appliance with vSphere Replication:

Recovering a Replicated vSphere Data Protection (VDP) Virtual Appliance | VMware vSphere Blog - VMwa...

Rest assured we are working on some ways to make it much easier (and better than legacy tape solutions) to move backup data offsite with VDP and VDP Advanced.  

[ShadyMalatawey]

Nice article Jeff
Really good work

[jhunter1]

Thank you, Shady.

[zemotard]

Thanks for this post.

We will wait a future solution from Vmware in this case.

Any date maybe to know when (if) the external backup will be available ?

[jhunter1]

As with any roadmap information, I can't comment on specific features and dates in a public forum. However, it is no secret that VMware tends to announce a lot of things around the VMworld events...  

[zemotard]

So stay tuned

Thanks again.