Hello,
ESX backups via Legato is still in it's initial phase, there are good
guides on vmware and powerlink to get you started, i would strongly urge
you to spend considerable time, architecturing ESX environment as once
you are in one direction it is harder to reverse the course, as a
guideline consider.
1. Clustering is good thing and you will be able to maximize the
resources, take into consideration DMZ etc that would reduce your cluster
size.
2. HA & DRS are very robust and should be considered from get go.
3. Redundant Networks and FC paths to the Datastore should be in place
from the beginning.
4. Strongly urge you to consider NFS when implementing datastore,
provisioning and management are easier, there is enough justification for
this on the web & it scales better, you may be able to get file image
backup with file level recovery in one shot.
5. Consider Storage node to be your proxy server, sizing of proxy is trial
and learn.
6. Evaluate dedupe with VM backups via data domain type of target or ESX
Ranger.
7. Since this is a fast evolving architect, consult your vmtechnical rep
frequently to stay up to date with vmotion, storage vmotion etc.
8.Document the procedures well
HTH
MIchael Leone <Michael.Leone AT PHA.PHILA DOT GOV>
Sent by: EMC NetWorker discussion <NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU>
01/22/2009 08:52 AM
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Subject
Licensing and other backup question with VMware
I use a NW 7.4SP2 server; 2 tape libraries; about 9 storage nodes (using
AFTD drives, not other tape devices); about 70 other clients. All Windows
clients, in a MS AD environment.
We'll be moving a good number of my clients (not the storage nodes) to
VMs, using VMware ESX (6 VMware servers, in - I think - a VMware cluster;
the cluster part is still being debated).
I've used VMware before, but not ESX. Back then, I ran a VMware server,
with 4-5 virtual machines, and each VM was configured as a BackupExec
client. That is, I backed up each VM independently, but did not backup the
VMware server as a whole (backing up the disk images that are the VMs).
That way, I could do individual restores of specific VMs. I would also
script a pause of the VM itself, and make a copy of the VM image, and then
back that up. That way, I could restore either the entire VM at once, or
restore an individual file within a VM, as needed.
Is that still a good backup strategy, considering that I will now be using
NW and ESX? If not, any pointers at a discussion on how to implement a
backup strategy using NW and ESX?
Another point - licensing. Does the client licensing change, now that most
of my clients go from being physical to being virtual? (I'm guessing not,
and that I'll still need 1 license per client, virtual or not)
Do the ESX servers themselves need a special license, or software module?
(I'm guessing yes)
Thanks for any clues, or experiences/horror stories.
--
Michael Leone
Network Administrator, ISM
Philadelphia Housing Authority
2500 Jackson St
Philadelphia, PA 19145
Tel: 215-684-4180
Cell: 215-252-0143
<mailto:michael.leone AT pha.phila DOT gov>
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