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Hyper-v NetBackup only of production copy of VMs (not the replicated VMs)

wizardberry
Level 2

Am I missing something or is NetBackup way behind in Hyper-V support compared to VMWare.  We have a VMWare and a Hyper-V implementation and we have replication for both for DR purposes (SRM for the one and native hyper-v replication for the other).  Why is NetBackup smart enough not to backup the VMWare placeholder templates (replication placeholders) at the target site and still pull in the actually running VMs at that site, but it's not smart enough to do the same for Hyper-V replicated VMs.  Instead, it will go ahead and backup all of the VMs on the host being backed up, regardless of whether they are actually the powered off DR target of a replicated production VM on another host.

Also, for VMWare, Netbackup is smart enough to find the right vCenter that is managing a VM and back it up, regardless of the host it is on.  It does this by us having the vCenter creds created outside of the policy - you merely use those creds implicitly when you edit a policy and browse for the VMs to backup.

Why couldn't the same thing be done for Hyper-V?  As it stands, I have to have separate policies now to backup each VM that is effectively managed through a different Hyper-V since the Hyper-V itself is tied to a specific policy.  Now I know everyone is going to say, just backup the replicated copy and call it good, but it's not good.  I want a fully quiesced copy of the VM at the current production site being backed up, not the replicated copy that I'm not quite fully sure of the current state (and can't be, because it's POWERED OFF).  Safer to make the backup of the currently running VM...

Lot's of questions, hopefully someone can respond since I don't see any documented strategy from Symantec on the backup of Hyper-V in a replicated DR scenario, relative to how it is done for the VMWare counterpart...

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RiaanBadenhorst
Moderator
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I'm not an expert on Hyper-V but I think these features are available in VMware because the information in made available to NBU via vCenter. When NBU queries vCenter it gets a very detailed list of all the vm's and their configurations (Data Centers, Clusters, VM states, VM configs, etc, etc).

 

So the question would be, can you get this information from Hyper-V. And if you can, then it would probably require NBU team to write some query to retrieve the information.

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Andrew_Madsen
Level 6
Partner

Riaan is correct. It is not a case of NBU working better with VMWare than it does with HyperV it is more of a case of VMWare being a more mature and robust product when it applies to management and reporting. vSphere (vCenter) is a stand of machine that maintains a database and provides an API connector to it. HyperV on the other hand is more like a single EXS server. That data about clients is not exposed as much to external applications since the majority is not exposed to WMI. Microsoft is making leaps and bounds toward getting the management tools and thus interfacing those with third-party tools but it is not there yet.

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4 REPLIES 4

RiaanBadenhorst
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

I'm not an expert on Hyper-V but I think these features are available in VMware because the information in made available to NBU via vCenter. When NBU queries vCenter it gets a very detailed list of all the vm's and their configurations (Data Centers, Clusters, VM states, VM configs, etc, etc).

 

So the question would be, can you get this information from Hyper-V. And if you can, then it would probably require NBU team to write some query to retrieve the information.

Andrew_Madsen
Level 6
Partner

Riaan is correct. It is not a case of NBU working better with VMWare than it does with HyperV it is more of a case of VMWare being a more mature and robust product when it applies to management and reporting. vSphere (vCenter) is a stand of machine that maintains a database and provides an API connector to it. HyperV on the other hand is more like a single EXS server. That data about clients is not exposed as much to external applications since the majority is not exposed to WMI. Microsoft is making leaps and bounds toward getting the management tools and thus interfacing those with third-party tools but it is not there yet.

wizardberry
Level 2

Well, actually, SCVMM is like vCenter and if NetBackup were interfaced to utilize it like it does vCenter, it should be able to accomplish the same things.  SCVMM has been around for 4 years (5 if you include partner developer access)...so I would have expected Symantec to jump onboard with the product and build up the functionality.

Anyway, I guess the answer to my original post is that we are still a long way from the Symantec team integrating with MS's management toolset to get the same/very similar functionality to VMware.

Does anyone have any information about any progress Symantec may be making in this area - roadmap, etc?

 

Marianne
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Roadmap info will never be published in a public forum.

Reach out to NetBackup Product Management via your local Symantec office.