Hello Community -
First, let me say I apolgoize we didn’t get a recording of yesterday’s webinar. We thought we did so, but turns out we didn’t. But, at the very least, I can share an ‘outline overview’ of what we shared, as well as what the vSphere User Guide says about each topic.
See below:
Instant Recovery (IR)
- IR can be done using VMware VMs, HyperV VMs, VCD VMs, Windows/Linux Agents, AWS EC2, Azure, Google Cloud VMs, Nutanix AHV, & OLVM/RHV VMs
- *CAUTION* → When performing restore to Original Location, if original VM still exists, it will be deleted (removed) during restore; if after recovery you choose to Stop Publishing, you now lose the recovered VM, as well as the previously deleted original VM
- 2 storage options for IR:
- NFS Datastore - uses an IRCache folder, and the Mount Server Volume with most space is used
> NFS Datastore space configured must at least equal VM RAM + additional 200MB - VMware Datastore - has better recovered VM I/O performance
> If this is used, cannot use Storage VMotion to Migrate to Production
- 2 Migrate to Production options
- Storage VMotion (VMware feature) based on VMW licensing, as well as storage option used as noted above
- Quick Migration (Veeam proprietary)
> Smartswitch - VM suspend operation; used between Hosts with compatible CPUs
> ColdMigration - VM stop operation; used for Hosts with non-compatible CPUs or VM has >= 8GB RAM
- Restore VM Tags - can only be done when restoring to Original Location
- For restore of either 1 or multiple VMs, you have option to generate new BIOS UUID; this is only recommended (needed) if original VM still exists in the vSphere environment
- For restore of other than VMware or VCD VMs, a network mapping table is required to be configured
- A Helper Appliance (150MB in size; requires same RAM amt as recovered VM) is used to recover Linux OS VMs
- You can do Secure Restore (A/V and YARA) with IR of Windows VMs only
SOBR COPY/MOVE DATA TRANSFER
- SOBR for Socket-based license = Enterprise Edition or higher
- 2 Capacity Tier data transfer options:
> Copy
- Copies backup data as soon as it is created, unless the time it’s created is within a prohibited time window
> There will always be 2 copies after a Backup is created (regular & copy) - 1 on Performance Tier and 1 on Capacity Tier, UNLESS your “Window” setting prohibits data transfer during a timeframe after Backups finish
Placing files back on Performance Tier from Capacity Tier:
> Copy to Performance Tier task = 1 backup download back to Performance Tier
> Download task = copies all workloads (VMs) back to Performance Tier (i.e. more than 1 VM)
> Move
- Moves backup data of only inactive backup chains ; an inactive chain is created (sealed) only after a Synthetic or Active Full is created
- For Reverse Incremental an inactive chain is 4 restore points back and further (current Full and 2 VRBs, 1st 3 total files, constitue an active chain)
- Data is moved outside the configured Operational Restore Window (time configured, in days, after backups are created, when you would most likely perform a restore)
- For FFwd method, Move is always ignored & a Copy is done because Move only involves inactive backup chains which constitute being “sealed” by a Full
- Corrupted data blocks are not Moved, thus why there’s an option to configure Health Check when adding a Capacity Tier
- Session name for both Copy & Move = Job name + Offload suffix
- “Window” configured is the allowable timeframe when a Copy or Move can take place
- Offload session = every 4 hours
- Whether per-VM or single file is used, does not affect the offload process
- Restore Points / Backup File location: I wanted to bring this point up so you learn where your backup files may be with regards to Performance vs Capacity Teir. Based on the information shared above, it takes a moment or few to think about where your Backup files are located. Some things to keep in mind regarding this:
- First, is Copy or Move option enabled, or both?
- Second, what is your Operational Restore Window (ORW) set to? For the Move operation, your Backup files will be on the Performance Tier for the duration of what your ORW is set to. Additionally, if you select “override”, this may even be less (or more?) days than what is configured based on the storage space % you configured.
- Third, what is your “Prohibited/Allow Window” setting configured for? Default is Any time. But, if you have certain time periods where Copy/Move operations are not allowed, your Backup files will be on Performance Tier and not Capacity Tier (or both, depending on the operation performed)
Hope this at least helps you all. We will get a recording next time. But, I’ll also try and share a post-webinar overview post like this if you all find this useful. Or, at the request/suggestion of a community member...a PDF type outline, and sharing of PPTs.
UPDATE: Razvan has shared the PPT slides in PDF format from the Study Session webinar from last Tuesday. Click link below to download.
VMCE Study Session Slides
