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NetBackup VMware Incremental backups to tape

CadenL
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

Hi

I have a quick question or two about VMware incremental backups direct to tape. 

I've been testing vmware backups of both Windows and Linux servers direct to tape and single file restores - and this works well for Full backups.

My question is: should I be able to do Incremental Vmware backups to tape and still be able to do single file restores from these incremental images - I would already have completed a full backup before the Incremental? If I understand correctly I need to enable Change Block Tracking first for Incrementals to work - or is that only if I want to use Accelerator?

I know I can't use accelerator as I need a MSDP for this I beleive?

I saw in the guide it does say that single file from incremental backups is possible and it doesn't mention that this can only be done from disk - so assuming it applies to tape backups too.

thanks in advance

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

eduncan
Level 5
Employee

Firstly though - the answer to my question of can I do single file restore from a VMware incremental backup to tape is YES  - correct?

Yes

Is it on the vmware tab in the policy that I select  the 'Enable file recovery for VM backup' checkbox for just Incremental GRT restore (no VMDK) and if I ALSO select the 'Enable block level Incrmental backup' I get both incremental GRT and Incremental VMDK

Yes

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3 REPLIES 3

eduncan
Level 5
Employee
There is VMware incremental with CBT/BLIB and that only capture single file restore information on incremental and no VMDK information.
Then there is VMware Block Level incremental which uses CBT. This gathers both single file restore and VMDK info.
Accelerator is the above BLIB with speed increase on Fulls. Won't work to tape.

CadenL
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

Thanks very much - I'm just trying to grasp the difference between the two options.

Firstly though - the answer to my question of can I do single file restore from a VMware incremental backup to tape is YES  - correct?

I know just need to understand the policy settings that differentiate between the incremental backup that allows for GRT only and no VMDK and the one that allows for both GRT AND VMDK.

Is it on the vmware tab in the policy that I select  the 'Enable file recovery for VM backup' checkbox for just Incremental GRT restore (no VMDK) and if I ALSO select the 'Enable block level Incrmental backup' I get both incremental GRT and Incremental VMDK

I won't be using Accelerator and so will no need to persue that.

many thanks

eduncan
Level 5
Employee

Firstly though - the answer to my question of can I do single file restore from a VMware incremental backup to tape is YES  - correct?

Yes

Is it on the vmware tab in the policy that I select  the 'Enable file recovery for VM backup' checkbox for just Incremental GRT restore (no VMDK) and if I ALSO select the 'Enable block level Incrmental backup' I get both incremental GRT and Incremental VMDK

Yes