Hi Mani. Answers inline...
-George Winter
george_winter AT symantec DOT com
-----Original Message-----
From: veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
[mailto:veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu] On Behalf Of Ku,
Manikanden (OCTO)
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 7:14 AM
To: veritas-bu AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
Subject: [Veritas-bu] VCB
Hi All,
I have few questions with regards to VCB backup
1. The document says that an Incremental/Differential backup can be
achieved only by selecting option 3 under snapshot options which is only
folder/file level backups for incremental/differential backups. Is there
a way to achieve snapshot (VMDK) backup for incremental/differential
backups also like full backups?
[G]: Both the vmdk (full) and file level (incremental) backups snapshot
the entire virtual machine. However, there is no current way of
performing an incremental backup at the vmdk level. However, better
incremental backup technologies are coming with VMware's release of
vSphere.
2. My understanding is that Incremental/Differential backup using VCB
does not backup system state and Windows System files. Is this correct?
[G]: This is correct. VMware's VCB file level backup type (that NBU
uses for incrementals) does not support backing up system state
information.
3. Can someone share information about VCB implementation in their
environment and if so what are the best practices?
[G]: We've created a NBU for VMware "Best Practices" doc that you might
find useful. It can be found here:
http://www.symantec.com/business/products/whitepapers.jsp?pcid=2244&pvid
=2_1
4. My understanding is that we have to create 2 policies, 1 for full and
Incremental/Differential backup using VCB and 1 for just system state
using traditional method. In case of a server crash, we have to restore
from full (VMDK) first, then restore file/folder level backups from
Incremental/Differential backup till the latest backup and then restore
system state finally. Is this the only way for a full system restore or
is there a better approach
[G]: For general VMware incremental backups you do not need to create
two policies. Both the full and the incremental backup(s) can be
performed from a single policy with two schedules. The restore process
you mention is correct. However, if you perform cumulative incremental
backups, you would only need to perform 2 restores (vmdk and file) to
restore the virtual machine to a point in time.
Essentially, with incremental backups there is a trade-off between
protecting the entire virtual machine during a full (vmdk) backup or
performing quicker incremental (file) backups. But as I mentioned, with
VMware's vSphere release better backup capabilities are coming.
Thanks,
Mani
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