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kaufmanm
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vROPS 6 backup best practices, is live incremental backup possible?

We have a four node cluster, a master node and three data nodes, and we're looking at options to back it up. The only way I'm currently confident to back it up is to turn off the cluster, power off all the nodes, and stash a copy of the vmdks somewhere. Is it possible to take a backup without turning off the cluster? Does anyone have a solution that is taking incremental backups while the cluster is live?

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MichaelRyom
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Take a look at my blog post - what your are doing now should work, but is not supported. My blog post outlines what needs to be done and how to get a supported vRops Backup.

vRops Backup done right - Michael Ryom

Blogging at https://MichaelRyom.dk

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gradinka
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AFAIK the vmware's own VDP and the Netbackup tools provide such capabilities

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lucgomess
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We use EMC AVAMAR, and is not necessary put all nodes offline. Works very well.
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MichaelRyom
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Take a look at my blog post - what your are doing now should work, but is not supported. My blog post outlines what needs to be done and how to get a supported vRops Backup.

vRops Backup done right - Michael Ryom

Blogging at https://MichaelRyom.dk
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tjreeddoc
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lucgomess,

We have an EMC Avamar system too. I am interested in backing up vROPs . 

Is backing up vROPs to an EMC Avamar system approved by VMware? 

T.J.

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virtualg_uk
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There is an interesting article on this, albeit using a different backup product but theory should be the same:

https://michaelryom.dk/vrops-backup-done-right/#.V5lBvPkrLWY


Graham | User Moderator | https://virtualg.uk
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mark_j
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LUN-level backups are the most simple to support.  As long as all of the Analytics nodes are on the same lun groups for the backup (protection groups), you'll be good to go. This is also why we pitch SRM+SAN replication as part of a DR strategy. When you start talking about snapshot-based backups, you start to open the door to problems with consistency and YMMV.

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MichaelRyom
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Hi Mark

I haven't seen any official statements on LUN level backups or SRM+SAN replication - can you elaborate or got link ?

Blogging at https://MichaelRyom.dk
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mark_j
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I can dig around to see what's public+released, let me get back to you. I know LUN-based backups are solid, considering that you following our backup guidelines in the 6.2 docs.

The short version is... LUN-level backups are the way to go. To restore from a LUN-level backup is like shutting the VMs down hard and then powering them back up... basically a hard reset. At that point, SRM is a no-brainer. Generally, you'll be good to go, but if you re-IP it can become more involved.

Snapshot-based backups.. I've seen issues with in multi-node clusters. The problem with snapshot-based backups is that it's tough keep them consistent. Within a few minutes of each other IS NOT good enough. Depending on the backup tool you use, YMMV. Our KB and docs cite what is officially supported.

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kaufmanm
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This is just what I'm looking for, thanks so much @MichaelRyom.

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