Backup from Snapshot vs normal VM snapshot with CBT

[Lumpi]

Hello

I have the following question to the community:

What is the best way to bring the VM data to a msdp pool if the VMs reside on a storage array and it is connected to the ESX servers using nfs?

I have 2 options:

1. Do a snapshot on the primary storage using snapshot manager and replicate the snapshot to a second array and do a backup from snapshot to a msdp pool.

2. Use the normal VMware policy in Netbackup and use the CBT feature.

What would you suggest? In my opinion the normal VMware policy with CBT is faster then the backup from snapshot option. 

[davidmoline]

Hi @Lumpi 

My answer is it depends. Certainly using a VMware backup with accelerator (CBT) should be nice and quick and can provide the ability to perform granular restores. 

Things to consider to using your other method (you do not specify how the data is to be backed up - which does have an impact, but I'm assuming you are simply backing up the VMDK files from the VM using a standard policy). 

1. If the VM has lots (millions) of files - the VMware policy granular processing will take a significant amount of time (this can be disabled, but then you do not have the ability for granular restore - although instant access/recovery is still an option). 
2. If the change rate on the VM is high (20% or more - but depends on the VM size), then CBT may not be the best option.
3. The backup from snapshot should remove any backup impact to the primary VM and storage (excluding the snapshot process itself). 

My first preference would be to use a VMware policy with CBT. 

Cheers
David

[kiyan]

the best way to bring it to MSDP pool will be to use Netbackup hot-add.(In case you do not have SAN).
this is due to limitation of NFS on vmware.