Netbackup + VPLEX Integration experience

[NBdmecha]

Hi all,

I would like to know i f someone has any experience integrating Netbackup backups and VPLEX for VMWARE. As I haven´t found anything.

VPLEX is a kind of storage virtualization, I am wondering if it would affect how Netbackup see the VMWARE Datastores.

We are using Netbackup 7.1 Version and saving VMWare clients via off-host backup.

Thanks in advance.

[Marianne · Accepted solution]

My reply would be the same as over here: https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/netbackup-and-3par#comment-8114701

If you need SAN backups, the only requirement is for SAN connected datastores to be zoned to NBU backup host.
Ensure that  automount is disabled and scrubed on backup host.

See this article: https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/netbackup-vmware-backup-over-san 

[NBdmecha]

I marked Marianne´s post as solution, and I still agree about that because it´s right that NBU backup host needs to be zoned to the SAN datastores and it clarified me a lot, but I still have a doubt and I´ll try to explain it better. Maybe someone could give me more light on this...

Actually our infrastructure consists on 2 storage subsystems replicated, which makes all data inside them consistent.

In the future we are thinking about testing some extended cluster solutions for Vmware (VMotion) and VPLEX is one of them, requiring to disable the subsystems replication (VPLEX assures the data consistency between them).

VPLEX, as a storage virtualizator, adds an extra layer between VMware and the datastores, presenting the datastores as a virtual volume for VmWare machines. It wouldn´t affect the virtual machines as they think they´re still accessing the storage.

I wonder if Vplex could lead to inconsitencies  in our backup copies because the LUN in the storage subsystem  and the "virtual datastore" that VPLEX presents to VMWare are not exactly the same. What will happen if our backup copy is done while some data is still in any kind of VPLEX cache and not properly saved in the storage subsystem?

Sorry for the long post.

[Yasuhisa_Ishika]

Rearding to SAN transport requirements, you need to present same datasotore LUNs which VMware use to  NetBackup VMware backup host. You need to present virtual datastore LUN to NetBackup in stead of LUNs behind VPLEX.

[Andrew_Madsen]

NBdmecha,

No need to worry about the data still being in the cache of the VPLEX. It would be the same as the data still being in the cache of a regular storage system. Once it is written to cache the data is as accessible there as it would be from disk. The frame will hand out the latest blocks from cache on a read (called "cache read hit") if it was to overwrite a block on storage.

All virtualization engines do this or they would be useless to the computing environment since the data would be corrupt.