New to ESXi : Simple backup question

[newbie100]

Hi,

I am new to ESXi but have used VMWare Server and WorkStation.

My current practice is to create VM's with disk / filesize in increments of 2GB.

This way, I endup with small files even for a 80GB virtual hdd. I can then move the files to another VMWare host and recreate the entire VM.

Now on ESXi, I see that the entire 80GB is allocated....

If I take a snapshot (which I guess results in a smaller file), and backup that, would it be sufficient to re-create the VM and then

revert to the snapshot ? Would I be able to do this on another ESXi host ??

Any suggestions ?

Thanks

[weinstein5]

Welcoem to the Forums - no a snapshot ESXi is not a copy of the data - a snapshot actually creates a delta file reccording block level changes to the original virtual disk so you would need to cature both - there are two routes to back up VMs - install a back up agent in vm or use VCB -

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[khughes]

Another thread to look at regarding backups of ESXi - http://communities.vmware.com/message/1063420

• Kyle

[sumpfgottheit]

Hi!

I found out, that the free VMWare Converter can help. You can connect to the ESXi and copy a VM to another one or to the file system.

best regards,

florian

[newbie100]

Thanks to all of you for the input.

I have used the converter in the past, but from VMWare 1.0.4 server --> ESXi.

I will try the other way and hopefully, it should work.

Another way I believe may help me is exporting as a Virtual Appliance..

Although I am not sure how large the output file will be... (and its still in ovf format, but thats not a problem).

Thanks again

[admin · Accepted solution]

OVF format exports are surprisingly small in most cases, depends how full your VMs disks are, null blocks are excluded and the data is compressed on export.

[newbie100]

Thanks.

But I believe there is a pending issue with VMWare ESXi 3.5 and exports.

Many people have reported the same issue I am facing :- I/O error while exporting.

I was able to export a blank VM, but when I tried an 80GB one, it bombed out after a few minutes, but did create

approx 1GB of output and reported 0% finished

Will try again with smaller VM's

Thanks again