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MagnetBoy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Backupexec2012 job fails w/VR enabled [quiescing VSS pros&cons]

Hello, I hope somebody can help with this!

Configuration SRM side:

  • enabled replication for a 500GB (VM1.vmdk) in VM1
    • RPO = 15min
    • Quiescing Method = MS Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)

Configuration Backupexec job side:

  • created a backup job to backup the VM1's 500GB share disk(VM1.vmdk) using the Windows Agent for Backupexec
  • Full job runs every 2 weeks & incrementals every 12hrs.
  • Advanced Open File:
    • Selected: "Use sanpshot technology" option
      • selected: "Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Server (windows 2003 and later)
        • option selected for snapshot provider: "Automatic - Allow VSS to select the snapshot provider"
      • Selected: "Process logical volumes for backup on at a time"

ISSUE:

  • The backup job fails if vSphere Replication is enable for VM1
    • errors: "(V-79-57344-33967)The directory or file was not found, or could not be accessed" a lot of them
    • it is obvious that vSphere Replication (VSS) is locking those files.

Findings:

  • The backup job finishes successful if I Pause Replication for VM1

I already tried:

  1. Uninstall and reinstall Backup Remote Agent for Windows

Next:

  • I am going to select "none" quiescing method and run the backup job again.

Thanks!

VMware Certified Professional – Datacenter Virtualization (vSphere 5)
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MagnetBoy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Solution:

  1. I selected the option "NONE" under Quiescing Method.
  2. The backup job finished successful.
  3. nice.

Questions:

  • What are the pros and cons. of NONE quiescing method?
  • Would the NONE option affect recovery of a VM?
  • Would the NONE option affect VM's VR-syncs' Bandwidth utilization?

thanks

VMware Certified Professional – Datacenter Virtualization (vSphere 5)
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vmroyale
Immortal
Immortal

Your test basically confirms that there is a VSS confilict going on.

No quiesce would get you crash-consistent backups. This can be a big deal, but it is most important for apps that have VSS capability like SQL. Other apps that don't have VSS support won't really matter, as they are going to be crash consistent anyway. With either approach it comes down to understanding exactly what you get/have, and making sure that you have tested it to verify that you can get it to work. With the BE and vSphere Replication combo, then it might make more sense to have the replicas the most consistent, as that should be the fastest recovery time.

Brian Atkinson | vExpert | VMTN Moderator | Author of "VCP5-DCV VMware Certified Professional-Data Center Virtualization on vSphere 5.5 Study Guide: VCP-550" | @vmroyale | http://vmroyale.com
veasyman625
Contributor
Contributor

We are using Acronis vmProtect 8.  This backed up fine for many months.

We started using vSphere Replication with the 'MS Shadow Copy' quiescing enable.  After two days the vmProtect backups started to fail.  We noticed a lot of change block tracking .ctk files per virtual disk and snaphot delta vmdk.

In the end we had to delete the .ctk files and consolidate as per kb article 2013520.

Can vSphere Replication using quiescing ever work with backup software?

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