VM backup with VBLOCK

[aiea96701]

I am new to vBlock but have a decent grasp of vSphere and pretty much thru ver4.1 (some in ver 5).  Here's my question:

I'm with a company that uses standalone ESXi4 servers and vBlock.  No vCenter.   Inrteresting setup.    They don't do snapshots and they don't do VM backups. 

Now, I'm still green behind the ears at this company so I don't feel I can say much about their virtual infrastructure and virtual policies but whenever they need to make changes to their systems (even if they are VMs), they either do it directly or will build a new server and test on the new server.   As for the VM side, they have indicated to me that the reason they don't do snapshots is because their vBlock SAN (EMC Fibre Channel) can perform VM backups.  This same reason is used to cover why they don't have any VM backup/restore applications being used.   Luckily, they have never had a need to validate this because they've never had to restore a VM.

I'm skeptical.   From what I have read ,  vBlock appliance and SAN interface does not provide true VM backups.   If I'm correct VBlock merely integrates 3 features (vSphere, Cisco routing and EMC SAN).   I'm sure the SAN has the standard capability to backup files (ie.  VM files) but to be able to fully restore a VM.....I don't think so.  And, while it's possible to recreate a VM from files.....it will still take time to do that and whether the configuration will remain intact or not is debatable, I think.   Anyway, I wanted to see if anyone knew more about VBLOCK and could tell me if what I'm being told is true.    If not, I'll have to chime in so that they can make the appropriate decisions.

[chriswahl]

That's a really weird setup. A Vblock is definitely sold with vCenter, and it sits on the AMP (advanced management pod) with a single or dual set of C-series Cisco servers. You would have to get VCE engineering to sign off on an exception in order to remove vCenter, which while not impossible seems like something they would not do. Unless your team is just not using the vCenter server, which again - why not? Are you sure this is an actual VCE Vblock and not just a combination of purchased VMware, Cisco, and EMC gear?

As for the backups, the array could be a variety of things depending on the model of Vblock, from a VNX to a VMAX. These are able to do backups in a variety of ways. Most will do crash consistent backups of the VMs, but to do a transaction consistent backup typically requires a hook into vCenter to snapshot and quiesce the VM or an agent into the guest to quiesce.

[aiea96701]

Thanks for your reply.  

As I said, I'm still green behind the ears here AND whenever I ask about the virtual environment I don't get much of a response.  What I've learned has been all through some digging.   So, if vCenter is part of vBlock then , like you, I'll have to assume that the team does not use it.   My guess is that since no one here is trained in vSphere that the setup is very, very basic and not everything is setup as efficiently as it could be.....(i.e. they don't use vCenter and the host configuration looks almost like it was all default without much tweaking).   They have several ESX4i hosts.   A few are still on 3.5 while most are at 4.1....have Standard Licensing.....thought vBlock licensed vSphere at a minimum of Enterprise.  

I guess I'll need to dig further and get more information about our VBLOCK.  That will be all telling.   Thanks.

[chriswahl · Accepted solution]

A Vblock (yes, this is how VCE spells it) is sold with Enterprise Plus licensing for the hosts, as it is required for the included Nexus 1000v switch and PowerPath VE, along with vCenter Standard edition (which allows for unlimited hosts).

Per the reference architecture guide (page 9) - https://community.emc.com/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/5665-102-2-20157/h6935-vblock-infra-packag...

[jaycuthrell]

You can also put a call into VCE Seamless Support or open a ticket if you have a runbook with the credentials. VCE Seamless Support can give you a contact within your team (and/or the VCE Partner) that would know more about the Vblock as delivered and any service requests made so far. The original LCS, SR related drift, and whatever runbook materials you have would account for what is present today physically and logically within your Vblock.

http://support.vce.com/

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