Rubeck's Posts

Hi..  Even though I'm sure you've already seen this I'm linking it anyway as it might be related: https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/vStorage_APIs_-_Array_Integration_(VAAI)/Storage_vMotion_creates_Thick_provisioned_disks_even_if_Thin_Provisioned_is_selected    /Rubeck  

Hi.. I do not have an ESXi available but have you tried the following: To see the status: esxcli system settings advanced list -o /SE/BFEnabled To enable it: esxcli system settings advanced set -i 1 -o /SE/BFEnabled   /Rubeck

Nice find... but if this were to be an intentional behavior how would backup products behave then? Is it different when requesting to read it using VADP.... ? As a backup admin, I get a little bit concerned even though we're not running vSphere 7.... yet. /Rubeck

Hi samojitd Sorry for my late reply.. When using SAN mode. VMWare datastores (or datastore snapshots if using CVLT Intellisnap) are presented to physical CVLT Media Agents and then VM virtual disks (.vmdks) and related files are backed up. When using HotAdd, client VMs .vmdks are "hotadded" to specific VMs where the CVLT Virtual Server Agent (VSA) agent is installed. The VSAs transfers the backup data to your CVLT Media Agents. When using nbd, CVLT VSAs connect directly to ESXi hosts and transfers backup data to your CVLT Media Agents. When using SAN mode or HotAdd make sure that: - VSA VMs (HotAdd proxies) are excluded from VMWare DRS/ SDRS - If Windows are installed on VSAs make sure that Windowe automount is disabled and "scrubbed" See the CVLT best practices here: Best Practices for the Virtual Server Agent with VMware These two things can be a nightmare to deal with if enabled and might cause snapshots to "hang" around..... Also, if using hotadd when doing a restore you might end up with a restored VM where the restored VM has disk sizes of 0KB due to VMware SDRS migrated the HotAdd proxy along wíth the .vmdks being restored. You then have to move the restored .vmdks from the HotAdd proxy VM folder to the restored VMs folder.  This ofc only happens in VMware clusters where SDRS has been set to folly automated. Best regards Rubeck

Question: Is it possible in sr - iov mode with a free license to use a PCI network card for only one VM? Unfortunately not...  See https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/products/vsphere/vmware-vsphere-vsom-pricing-whitepaper.pdf /Rubeck

If I exclude the SqlServerWriter VSS writer won't that stop ability to create a application consistent backups? Yes, for SQL.... but it seems you do SQL backups to a separate drive, right? The file system will still be quiesced prior to the snap being taken... I normally prefer treating large SQL VMs as physical servers, which ofc means having a SQL backup agent installed in the guest.... but only if guest runs NOTHING else but SQL. That may just be me, though. /Rubeck 

..DB and logs which aren't being backed up and therefore not quiesced. I believe that it is quiesced no matter what, as queiscing targets application VSS writers and not specific disks. If this KB still applies, you could try to exclude the SqlServerWriter from the quiecing triggered by the VMTools. https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1031200 You can also look into Commvaults AppAware VM snaps. This orchestres VM snaps along with an in- guest SQL backup agent. With this you can also do PIT restores as SQL transaction logs are backed in the traditional way using a separate schedule. When you do a PIT restore of the VM, transaction logs are then applied automatically within the same job..  Though this is another beast, it might be what's needed in your scenario. Just ideas.. /Rubeck

Hi.. I believe you can do a "esxcli system module list --module qfle3f" to retrieve the configuration of that particular module....   "esxcli system module list --enabled=false" might show all disabled modules in one go.. can't remember. /Rubeck

If you have VLAN 0 defined in ESXi and trunking configured on the Cisco swicth, you'll need to define a native VLAN on this switch. Example if your management VLAN is VLAN 5, then do a "switchport trunk native vlan 5" on the switchport where the ESXi host is connected... this will make the switch send traffic from VLAN 5 to your ESXi untagged, /Rubeck

These are two examples where scratch space may not be automatically defined on persistent storage. In each case, the temporary scratch location is configured on a ramdisk: ESXi deployed on a Flash or SD device, including a USB key. Scratch partitions are not created on Flash or SD storage devices even if connected during install, due to the potentially limited read/write cycles available. See Creating a persistent scratch location for ESXi 4.x/5.x/6.x (1033696) | VMware KB /Rubeck