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pegasus20111014
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VMware Data Recover Upgrade - Question

We are currently running vCenter 4.1 and preparing to upgrade to vCenter 5.1.  We have a version 1.2 VDR appliance with a backup store (RDM).  I'm looking through the instructions specified here for upgrading (to version 2.0.1)

http://www.vmware.com/support/vdr/doc/vdr_200_releasenotes.html

The first steps mentioned is for installing the latest Data Recover plug-in.  Further down on this page, another step  is to unmount the datastore on the old VDR appliance.  Can the 1.2 VDR appliance be accessed with the new 2.0.1 VDR plug-in under vCenter 5.1?  Or will we need to unmount the 1.2 VDR backup store prior to upgrading vCenter to version 5.1 and the VDR plugin to 2.0.1?  From what I've ready it does not seem that the version 1.2 VDR appliance will be compatible with vCenter 5.1.

Thanks

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snekkalapudi
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No version of VDR is compatible with 5.1. It is only VDP from 5.1 onwards.

VDP is an evolving product powered with Avamar dedupe technology.

-Suresh

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snekkalapudi
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No version of VDR is compatible with 5.1. It is only VDP from 5.1 onwards.

VDP is an evolving product powered with Avamar dedupe technology.

-Suresh
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pegasus20111014
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Thanks.  I've been reading up on VDP after your reply.  I'm not impressed.   Doesn't seem you can migrate your VDR datastore over to VDP either.

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GSparks
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vCenter 5.1 is not compatible with the VDR appliance.  It requires that you use the new VDP appliance for backups.  It can be located here:

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=VDP51&productId=285&rPId=2766

In regards to your existing backups, the VDP appliance does not currently handle prior formats from VDR.

We would suggest the following for a migration plan.

First, you would want to use VDP and vCenter 5.1 for your backups going forward from the date of your migration.  In addition, you would want to leave your VDR appliance online in case you need to restore the prior backups.

For the VDP appliance, the ability to migrate your VDR backups to the VDP format is a planned future enhancement.  Once this version of VDP is released, then you would be able to install a separate VDP and migrate your VDR backups to that VDP.

Thanks.

-Greg Sparks
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pegasus20111014
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GSparks

So, is it possible to still access the VDR appliance when using vCenter 5.1?  You mentioned keeping it online if we need to resotre prior backups but I was under the impression that VDR would not be compatible with vCenter 5.1 and there could no longer be accessed (we are currently using version 1.2 of VDR)

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dsohayda
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Yes, you can still access and use the VDR 1.2 appliance in a vcenter server 5.1 environment. That's the situation I'm in now. I guess I'll have to wait to migrate to VDP once that feature becomes available. As it stands I have no real reason to upgrade beyond staying current. VDP doesn't seem to offer very much more in the way of capabilities on the surface...

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orehmann
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Hi can you clarify this a little bit ?

Does this mean you only can access VDR under vCenter 5.1 or is it fully operational ?

I mean:

- does the backup process still work ?

- does the restore process still work ?

My current configuration is vSPhere 5.0 latest (Build > 1mio) and VDR 2.0.1

I would like to upgrade my environment to 5.1 (vCenter and hosts).

So would my VDR 2.0.1 still work after the upgrade (backup and restore) ?

VDP is crap as it cannot store to CIFS/NFS shares. Using datastore storage for backup means normally using very expensive storage (EMC, Netapp) as backup storage. But normally you would hold your backup data on a less expensive storage platform; maybe a midrange storage solution (iSCSI RAID or similar).

But not all companies have the money for different storage tiers or to buy such amounts of storage capacities that VDP would easily fit into.

VDP is not made for small-/mid-size companies but VDR used to be !!!

Regards,

Oliver


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TechMom20111014
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So you can restore from VDR while you're current backups are running under VDP?

I would like to use vdr-migration, but if I can just keep VDR around until the retention is up, I'd rather do that than migrate old data into VDP.

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TechMom20111014
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I just got of the phone with vmware support and this is the crux of what he said:

Officially, it's not supported in 5.1, however, if you have the plug-in for VDR in vCenter, you can do restores. It's best to do a restore rehearsal and never overwrite the existing VM. He also recommended to keep VDR and VDP on separate hosts and to keep VDR powered off until you need to do a restore. If you're using DRS, just create a rule that will separate virtual machines. This way, they won't wind up on the same host by mistake.

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orehmann
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Thanks for the info so far. Restore seems to work as VMWare confrimed to you.

But yor reply  doesn't answer one important question:

- Can you do backups as well with VDR 2.0.1 under 5.1? I know it is "officially" not supported but I would like to know if my backup

  procedure will still work after the upgrade and I have time to look for another VMWare Backup Solution?

Regards,

Oliver

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TechMom20111014
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That I have not tried. I'm using VDP now and haven't done anything with VDR 2.0.1 but power it off until I need a restore.

I guess if the plug-in is there, give it a try on a VM or 2 and see if you can still backup.

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