I've got a fairly robust MS Hyper-v environment, with 3 non-clustered virtual hosts, hosting a total of about 30 virtual machines, and 1 CSV enabled cluster with 8 VMs. Now that I'm on 2010, I'm ready to use the Hyper-V agent to back these machines up. However, since the Hyper-V can only do a full backup, I'm left scratching my head as to the best method for backing up these machines efficiently and effectively. Here are my thoughts on the various possibilities:(My backup media is a LTO4 tape library.
- Back up all VMs with Full Hyper-V backup every day. Pros: Simple, and easy to control. Cons: Astronomical totals for data backed up. Possible backup window problems, high cost associated with purchasing many more tapes.
- Back up VMs with Hyper-V backup weekly, and with normal Windows agent incremental daily. Pros: Still not very complex, less data than full hyper-v every day. Cons: first incremental of the week will be a full backup unless the Hyper-V backup resets the archive bits on the individual files, which I don't think it does.
- Back up with Windows Agent weekly, incremental daily on weekdays, Hyper-V backup monthly. Pros: Weekly/daily proven to work. Cons: Doesn't really utilize Hyper-V backup technology, restores could get messy, lots of jobs to keep track of.
- Back up with Hyper-V agent weekly, and with Working Set daily on weekdays to back up that day's changed files. Pros: Least amount of redundant backup. Cons: Restores could be messy, could miss data that was changed between Friday night and Monday on machines that are early in the Hyper-V backup process.
- Back up with Hyper-V agent weekly, and with Working Set (last 7 days) on weekdays to back up that week's changed files. Pros: Ensures that all data is backed up with minimal redundancy. Cons: Restores could be very messy.
So I come to the community asking you to weigh in on the above options, vote for your favorite, or if you see any missing pros/cons from the suggestions above, mention them.
Thanks!
