VCB on the same server as vCenter?

[RaymondG]

Hi, I would like to know if it is possible to host vCenter and VCB on the same server. and is it recommended? server will have 2 quda core processors and 16 gigs of ram.

[RParker]

I understand what you are trying to accomplish, by making 1 machine your Virtual Management Solution, but you shouldn't put VCB, DB, VCS, UM all on the same host. That's a central (and a potential disaster). so these should be separate.

Unless you have good DR and backup, but the performance is a different matter. In a crunch yes you can do it, so yes it is possible, but it's not recommended.

[kjb007]

Because some components are shared, VCB is not supported on the same server as vCenter. To get full benefit of VCB, run it on a separate physical server, or you can run it as a vm. Or, run vcenter as a vm, and use the physical box for vcb. It all depends!

-KjB

VMware vExpert

[AntonVZhbankov]

VCB actually requires a small bit of CPU and memory, but it affects system performance.

I have my VCB on HP BL460c with Emulex FC HBA, and system becomes unresponsive whily copying VMs via FC. Tried same system with Qlogic HBA, same thing. I checked performance monitor - there is very liitle resource consumption, but system still unresponsive during FC operations. Network mode works just fine, no visible signs of unresponsiveness.

---

VMware vExpert '2009

http://blog.vadmin.ru

[AndreTheGiant · Accepted solution]

With last version of 3.5 infrastructure is now possible to have on the same machine both VCB and VC.

Anyway you could have VCB proxy+backup program on physical machine and VC on a VM.

Andre

**if you found this or any other answer useful please consider allocating points for helpful or correct answers

[dconvery]

I echo RParker... VCB is now supported installed on the same server as vCenter, but just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. First, remember the purpose of your backup strategy and VCB. No, it is NOT to back up systems but it IS to provide you with the ability to recover from disaster in a reasonable amount of time.

Usually, I find this question is asked for a reason. Either budget dictates no more purchases of physical servers or there is an environmental reason, like rack space, etc. So, you have some options:

1. Use a physical server that is freed up from a P2V. Even if it seems too slow. Put a couple of FCAs in there and put it to work. The BEST throughput you will get on a FullVM backup with VCB is about 1GB per minute. That's it. I've been doing this since VCB 1.0 / ESX 3.0 and there is no way to get it higher other than adding paths. No RAM or CPU can speed this up. It is a limitation of CMD.EXE in winders from what I can tell. If you cannot get FCA's for SAN mode, see the next options.

2. Use a VM for vCenter. There is no VALID reason NOT to make it a VM. Just make sure you have a host-based license for one ESX server in case of problems. Making vCenter a VM offers you built in high availability with DRS and HA. The license issue will become moot when you upgrade to VI4. You will..resisitance is futile, you will be assimilated.

3. Use a VM for VCB. Some people find that running VCB in hot-add mode is just as fast as running it on a physical server in SAN mode. It is a happy medium between SAN mode and NBD mode. Onceyou get used to hot-add mode, you will have an easy transistion to VMware Data Recovery in VI4.

If you need some help with VCB, check out my Proven Practice Guide on VI:OPS ->

Dave Convery

VMware vExpert 2009

http://www.dailyhypervisor.com

Careful. We don't want to learn from this.

Bill Watterson, "Calvin and Hobbes"

[AndreTheGiant]

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/59646

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/118493

[Texiwill]

Hello,

I use VCB + vCenter + LM on the same physical box. Once I go to vSphere I will consider moving vCenter to a VM as it is really the license manager keeping it there. For me the performance is acceptable (small shop), if it was a larger shop I would move VCB to its own host. There are issues with performance depending on how much one host is doing. Also there are memory concerns. I put 6GB of memory into this one host. As it is, with all my 'eggs' so to speak in one basket it is a bit scary if that host fails.

My hope is to move away from this model once I go to vSphere but for a small shop, I do not see VCB+vCenter being an issue if the host has plenty of memory, etc. for a large shop there is no way I would do this.

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