3i Backups On A Bubble Gum Budget...

[phyberport]

I'm looking into implementing 3i for a customer with one physical server and local SCSI storage. Their only option is to backup to tape, no other server, so VCB won't work. Other than installing agents int the VM's, what other options do I have for backing up the VMDK's with 3i to tape?

[Rodos]

Good question. You might be forging new ground here.

A good place to start will the the computability guide for backup software .

The guide now list 3i embeded and 3i installable, you did not mention which you were planning to use. Some of the products list support for 3i, you can check out what they offer.

Remember you can use VCB. Check out the new release notes at

Support for Local and NAS Storage
Consolidated Backup can now use an over‐the‐network protocol when connecting to ESX Server host. As a result, to run Consolidated Backup, you are no longer required to use a shared SAN, but can store virtual
machine disks on local storage devices or NAS. However, for efficiency reasons, VMware recommends to use he shared SAN whenever possible.
To be able to use Consolidated Backup over the network, you need to have ESX Server 3.5 or ESX Server 3i ersion 3.5 in combination with VirtualCenter version 2.0.x or later. You virtual disks should not exceed 1
Terabyte in size.

So you could run VCB as a VM and write to a local tape drive. Might work, you would want to be careful about the performance impact.

There will be other ways too. Once vRanger has support for 3i you could run that from a VM.

Let us know how you get on.

[cmanucy]

Danger! Danger!

One big problem with local tape on the ESX host - which is why it's not recommended - what happens when (not if, but when) the tape drive trips up and you need to restart the machine? You're going to take down the whole ESX server to get the tape drive back? That's not a good position to put yourself into.

I understand budget constraints, but perhaps spending a few more $$$ on a separate box and putting that tape drive in there (then using agents on the VM's) is a better way to go... that way you can leave ESX to do what it needs to do.

Also keep in mind it's going to be a real fun (not) chore restoring anything if everything blows up on you.