VCB Helper for SCSI Hot-add and FULL-VM backups

[cswaters1]

Hi,

I'd just like to ask anyone already using the VM configured as a VCB Helper for SCSI Hot-add if it can be used to do full-VM image level backups?

We're currently using a physical VCB server to do weekly full-vm image level backups over the SAN along with a software backup agent to capture daily changes.

As part of our current DR project we are going to use SRM and the option of making VCB a VM and reducing the number of physical servers we need to duplicate at the DR site looks tempting.

Look forward to your responses,

Craig.

[dconvery · Accepted solution]

Craig -

First off, welcome to the Forums!

To answer your questuion, yes, running VCB in hot-add mode supports FullVM and file level backups. However, the SAN mode is the most efficient way of backing up VMs.

Think about why you are replicating your data center: for fast recovery. If all of the VMs are replicated, then there should be no need to restore from a FullVM backup after a full site disaster. With replication, VCB and agent based backups are for recovering from a local disaster, like a VM crashing or someone deleting a file (or even a VM). It is also for archival purposes.

Once you have recovered from a disaster of any type, the VERY next step should be to make a clean backup, so VCB will be needed at the DR site. If you are looking to reduce hardware at the DR site, make the VCB proxy and the vCenter server a VM at the DR site, but leave the VCB as a physical at your production site. The final result will be FullVM backups via SAN to a physical server and "hot spare" VCB proxy in a VM at the DR site.

As a disclaimer, and to add to your confusion :o), some people find that Hot-Add mode is faster than SAN mode, depending on the setup of the SAN and physical VCB server...

You may also want to investigate esXpress, which allows you to perform backups to a VMFS volume. This could be replicated to your DR site and serve as your off-site backup location.

Dave Convery - VMware vExpert 2009

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