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SYMAJ's avatar
SYMAJ
Level 6
11 years ago

5230 Appliance - Best Practice for iSCSI SAN backup

As the 52xx Appliances do not support iSCSI attach I am just wondering what is seen as best practice for securing VMware data when the datastores reside on an iSCSI attached SAN.

I guess there are two options:

1. Create 1 or more VMware Proxy Backup Servers (Hot-Add) within the ESX environment

2. Install 1 or more physical Proxy Backup Servers (Hot-Add) which have an iSCSI connection to the SAN

Are there any more preferable ways to do this, or if not which of the above is best in terms of functionality and performance ?

Thanks,

AJ.

 

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  • Mark_Solutions's avatar
    Mark_Solutions
    11 years ago

    There are two ways of doing this so dont confuse the two...

    1. hotadd - where the vmware backup host is virtual and can backup anything in the same datastore as itself .. this has some restrictions and licensing (ESX) requirements as per the NBU VMware Admin Guide

    2. Physical vmware backup host - no real restrictions - just needs the datastores mapping via iSCSI

    Both need only NBU Client software installing but could be media servers if you wished

    I prefer a physical Windows server with a NBU client and forced to do client side de-dupe - but just a preference to avoid the restrictions of the hotadd

    Hope this helps

  • Mark_Solutions's avatar
    Mark_Solutions
    Level 6
    11 years ago
    Those are about the only two ways of doing it when using an appliance What you can do though is add the VMware Backup Host to the Master Servers Host properties - Client Attributes section and force client side de-dupe In that way the backup host does all of the work but passes little data over the network back to the appliance. Almost like adding an additional media server really but only needs a client license! Hope this helps
  • SYMAJ's avatar
    SYMAJ
    Level 6
    11 years ago

    Thanks for that Mark.

    Do I simply install the NBU Client software on the Hot-Add VM server and mark it as a VMware Access Host on the Master Server properties or do I need to install the Media Server software on the Hot-Add Server ?

    Thanks,

    AJ

  • Mark_Solutions's avatar
    Mark_Solutions
    Level 6
    11 years ago

    There are two ways of doing this so dont confuse the two...

    1. hotadd - where the vmware backup host is virtual and can backup anything in the same datastore as itself .. this has some restrictions and licensing (ESX) requirements as per the NBU VMware Admin Guide

    2. Physical vmware backup host - no real restrictions - just needs the datastores mapping via iSCSI

    Both need only NBU Client software installing but could be media servers if you wished

    I prefer a physical Windows server with a NBU client and forced to do client side de-dupe - but just a preference to avoid the restrictions of the hotadd

    Hope this helps

  • GT-GPK's avatar
    GT-GPK
    Level 2
    11 years ago

    Another option I am aware of that has been used by a number of customers in the UK is to use an iSCSI-FC bridge. Not endorsed or supported by Symantec but does work.

    See http://www.4bridgeworks.com/products/bridges/oresund-iscsi-to-fibre-channel-bridge/ for more information.

    Claire Buchanan at BridgeWorks, ClaireB@4bridgeworks.com, can be provide further information and details of Symantec partners that are familiar with the bridge and its implementation with NBU applainces.

     

     

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