Hello Everybody,
Finally I have fixed problem with "Waiting for storage media".
It was quite simple problem, but it was very difficult to understand what
source of problem is.
I have specified thin format during disk allocation for data store. It has to
be thick format for disks in VDR appliance, but there is nothing about this in
administration guide.
Now about test results:
1) VDR installation is simple, but you need to follow documentation to:
? install VDR plug-in on vCenter Client (not on vCenter Server!) from
CD-ROM;
? install VDR appliance from vCenter Client from CD-ROM (File --> Deploy
OVF Template);
? power on created appliance VM and configure network by using VM console
(connect as root/vmw@re);
? shutdown appliance VM;
? add thick disk(s) to VM for appliance data store(s);
? power on appliance and connect to VDR from vCenter Client (Home -->
Solutions and Applications --> VMware Data Recovery;
? format disk(s) for data store(s) - have to mounted after formatting;
2) Backup jobs creation is very simple:
? specify job name;
? select VM from the list;
? select target data store from the list;
? define required schedule. VDR scheduler supports
Grandfather-->Father-->Son-->... strategy with predefined policies and custom
policy. In any case, it is possible to create some acceptable schedule policy
like "last 7 daily backups, last 4 weekly backups, last 3 monthly backups, ..."
with required backup window for each VM (no need in any other schedulres);
? run backups manually or according to schedules;
3) Backup time is acceptable:
? initial full backup for each is quite heavy operation for appliance VM
and VMware host were it is located;
? any additional backups are much faster and less heavy for appliance VM
and host (something like incremental by blocks);
? in any case, it will be suitable to use dedicated host for appliance VM
in case of big number of VMs (max 100 per appliance);
? there is limitation for number of backups running in parallel (max 8).
Serious planning is required to allocate suitable backup windows for VMs;
4) De-duplication is working fine:
? initial full backup is de-duplicated in allocated data store;
? any additional backups for the same VM de-duplicated against full backup;
? any other VMs allocated to the same data store is de-duplicated against
all already allocated VMs;
? after backing up 3 VMs (Win2003 Enterprise 32 bit, Win2003 Enterprise 64
bit, Win2003 Standard 32 bit+SQL database+Oracle database) I have for data
store:
o Capacity - 23.6GB;
o De-duplicated - 12.3GB;
o Not de-duplicated - 65GB;
o De-duplication rate is more than 5, but adding additional VMs with the
same OS will increase it seriously;
o Similar VMs have to be allocated to the same data store to increase
de-duplication rate;
? there is serious limitation for number of disks for de-duplication (max
2) and on disk size (max 500GB). Total limit per appliance is 1TB;
5) Disaster recovery is perfect:
? just connect to vCenter Client;
? connect to VMware Data Recovery;
? select required backup by date and restore VM;
6) File restore on VMs is acceptable:
? install FLR (I found only Windows and Linux FLR on CD) on VM - simple
copy executable file to VM;
? start FLR by using desktop icon;
? connect to VDR (just name or TCP/IP address is required);
? mount required backup from list;
? browse files and directories in backup;
? restore files or directories by browser copy-paste;
? connection in advanced mode (additional vCrenter Server administrator
connection) allows to browse and restore files from other VMs;
? in my opinion, it is very easy, but dangerous, because all files are
available and overwriting of VM files can cause problems;
7) It is still not clear relationship between VDR and SQL/Oracle databases
restore/recovery:
? VSS is used for creating snapshots (available only in Windows;
? as far I understand there is a possibility to have database backups only
in Windows;
? as far as I understand latest versions of MS SQL database are totally
compatible with VSS backups;
? it is not clear for Oracle database, but I hope Oracle database can be
started after disaster recovery (with recover database during start);
? additional testing is required for databases;
General opinion:
v VDR is perfect for VM disaster recovery;
v VDR is acceptable for file and directory restores, but standard TSM Client
is much more powerful);
v There is no reliable way to integrate TSM server and VDR. I think it is
possible to install TSM Client on CentOS and perform backups for appliance data
stores, if you have required Linux background. In this case serious disk space
is required on TSM Server and multi-level restore is not suitable for
production environment.
I hope this information will be useful for VDR implemetators.
Kindest regards,
Grigori G. Solonovitch
Senior Technical Architect
Information Technology Ahli United Bank Kuwait http://www.ahliunited.com.kw
Phone: (+965) 2231-2274 Mobile: (+965) 99798073 E-Mail: Grigori.Solonovitch
AT ahliunited DOT com<mailto:Grigori.Solonovitch AT ahliunited DOT com>
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