VMware vSphere 6.0 Part 5 - VM Backup and Replication

Explore hot VM replication in vSphere and its impact on backup and recovery strategies for rapid protection.

Replicate a running VM by hot-sync to a copy on another ESXi host, local or remote, by copying changed disk blocks to enable rapid VM recovery after failures.

Enable virtual machine synchronization using block change tracking to copy only updated disk blocks from a source virtual machine to a replica on a target ESX host, using snapshots.

vSphere replication runs independently of the guest OS and supports Linux or Windows, suiting VMs without application-level data synchronization. For databases, enable volume shadow copy service to quiesce and pause transactions for a consistent replica.

Define and enforce the VM recovery point objective for replication, set per-VM basis policies and per-disk synchronization frequencies from 15 minutes to 24 hours, and provide snapshot-based rollback options.

Enable vSphere replication on a VM to perform an initial full sync by snapshotting the source VM, copying it to the target host and datastore, and committing the snapshot.

Import the vSphere replication virtual appliance in OVF format, deploy its OVF template on the ESXi host via the wizard, then browse to the source and verify properties.

Import the VM into a vCenter-managed environment with the import wizard, then power on the vSphere replication appliance and complete post deployment setup via the 5480 web interface.

Access the vSphere replication appliance via the VAMI web interface by navigating to the console-provided URL, logging in with the admin password set during import, and noting there is no password recovery tool.

Protect production VMs with site-to-site replication by periodically copying them from the primary site to a recovery site, using vCenter and the replication appliance.

Update vSphere replication using the appliance management interface to check the current version, download and install updates, noting that downtime or reboot may occur.

Adjust the time zone for the VMware replication appliance in the system tab, select the correct zone, and save changes without affecting replication service.

Update the VRM configuration by entering the replication appliance and vCenter server details in the configuration tab, including database, lookup service, administrator credentials, and network properties, ensuring a perfect connection.

Check the vSphere replication service status from the configuration tab, fix any configuration errors, save settings, and restart the service to ensure the status shows as running.

Configure first time VM replication by selecting a VM in inventory, choosing configure replication from the actions menu, and completing the wizard to establish a new replication policy.

Initiate replication by configuring a VM, launching a seven-step wizard that selects the replication type—local or remote vSphere replication appliance connected to a vCenter server or to a cloud provider.

Add a remote site by entering the platform service controllers address and remote administrator credentials, then log in to the remote v center server to complete the wizard.

Select the target vSphere replication server to complete the local replication wizard, choosing auto sign or manual assignment for the Vecepia replication appliance (vr-1) on the vCenter server.

Open replication options, set the VM's target datastore, enable replication, and configure disk-by-disk policies for location, format, and storage policy to control how and where the VM is replicated.

Learn how to select the replication target datastore in vSphere replication, using storage policies, evaluating capacity, and avoiding placing replicated disks on the same datastore as the source VM.

Select replication properties for VM disks, using thin disks for storage efficiency and configuring disk format. Override per-disk datastore to place replicated disks in subdirectory exactly named after the VM.

Learn how recovery point objective balances data loss and bandwidth by adjusting replication frequency. Use point in time instances to recover a VM to prior snapshots, even before infections.

Review the VM replication settings, including the replication appliance, storage policy, data store, and RPO of four hours, and update by revisiting prior wizard steps.

Log in as a vSphere administrator, open the vcenter server, access vSphere replication, and verify on the home tab that replication is connected and shows the number of managed replications.

Navigate the vCenter server appliance, access the manage tab, and review vSphere replication settings—target sites and replication servers—confirming VR1 is connected and registered with vCenter.

Open the VM summary from the inventory to view the VM replication status, including last replication time, target replication appliance, recovery point objective, and point-in-time recovery instances for all disks.

Monitor outbound vSphere replication via the monitor tab on the vcenter server, review the VMS in the replication roster, and check status, target, RPO, and incoming replications.

Select sync now on an outgoing replication in vcenter server appliance to force an immediate re-sync, providing an extra recovery option for high-risk virtual machine maintenance.

Recover a vm by copying the replicated image to a datastore via the recovery wizard. Power off the source vm and place the recovered vm separately with the same name.

Discover how to recover a virtual machine using vSphere replication by accessing incoming replications on the target environment and launching the recovery wizard.

Step one of the four-step recovery wizard presents two options: synchronize the source VM disk to capture the latest changes, or recover using the latest available data.

Choose a target ESX host as the recovery compute resource and recover to local storage on that host for faster restoration, avoiding the same host as the source.

Describe the cons of vSphere replication: a full initial VM copy over the WAN, snapshot-based replication, limited protection against guest OS or application flaws, and no automated recovery.

Explore how vSphere replication enables hot vm backup and recovery, set recovery point objectives, and control synchronization intervals across same or remote vCenter sites with a replication appliance.

Explore VMware data protection and grasp the fundamentals of VMware backup and recovery, introducing essential concepts and procedures for safeguarding virtual machines.

Explore legacy agent-based VM backups and the modern vSphere data protection, and learn to install and configure block-level incremental backups and recoveries.

Back up and recover the ESXi host configuration with VI config backup, exporting a zip file for restoration after hardware failure, and explore host profiles for saving and validating configurations.

Explore vSphere data protection, an agentless online VM backup and recovery tool for small to medium deployments, with in-place or new-location restores and file-level recovery without agents.

VMware vSphere 6.0 part 5 explains VDP, based on EMC Avamar, using deduplication and compression to minimize backups, store images on Data Domain, and simplify VM restores.

Explore vSphere data protection features, including file-level restores, backup replication to remote appliances, WAN deduplication and compression to maximize network throughput, and emergency direct VM recoveries to ESX hosts.

Import and configure the Vesuvio data protection virtual appliance in vCenter in VA format, including networking and global policies, then start backups via the VMware client integration plug-in.

Pause to install the data protection VM, download the VISCHER Data Protection VM ENOVIA format (~5 GB), and import the appliance; expect about a 30-minute setup before the post-install steps.

Configure the visitor data protection appliance: verify networking and IP, set time zone, register with the visitor server, create a backup volume, adjust virtual hardware, and change the root password.

Launch the VDP web configuration wizard to review and configure compliance on the visitor data protection appliance, set time zone, IP properties, proxy, and backup settings, with automatic reboot.

Configure the VDP appliance networking by assigning a static IP, netmask, gateway, and primary (and optional secondary) DNS, and ensure forward and reverse DNS resolves the appliance’s FQDN.

Set a new avp password for the visitor data protection appliance and follow four character class rules. Type the password twice to verify and see the green checkbox.

Connect the data protection appliance to vCenter with the VDP wizard by entering admin credentials, the vCenter FQDN, ports, and certificate verification, then test the connection.

Configure a secondary storage volume on the data protection appliance to hold VM backups. Choose a new volume (0.5–8 TB), reuse an appliance’s backup, or migrate to the 6.1 appliance.

Complete the wizard to initialize the data protection appliance, then log in via the web client and connect the VDP appliance to vCenter using the initial wizard credentials.

Navigate to the VDP configuration tab in the web client to review and update data protection appliance settings, monitor capacity via the appliance storage summary, and prepare for updates.

Use the configuration tab to download agents for Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint, enabling application-level backups, and adjust the backup window (green vs yellow) and its start/end times.

Configure vCenter to connect to your local SMTP mail server and set the sender email address so data protection can send email reports and administrator notifications.

Configure Vesuvio data protection to send alarm emails and nightly backup reports, enable CSV attachments, select locale, authenticate with the mail server, set sender and recipients, and test the setup.

Configure networking and register the protection appliance to the visitor appliance. Add a secondary backup volume and reboot to apply changes, which may take up to 45 minutes.

Choose the backup data type: a full vm image or individual disks. Data protection snapshots the source vm for os-level backups, with a crash-consistent fallback if snapshots fail.

Set up a new VDP backup job by selecting a daily/weekly/monthly schedule and a start time, then stagger jobs to manage ESX resource demands.

Review the backup job properties to complete the new VDP backup job, including the job name, VMs, destination, schedule, and a five-day retention policy.

Open backup job in roster; view Pat, an image type backup enabled and never run, with the next run on September 21, 2015 at 8 p.m., destination AVP Appliance.

Restore a vm from a VMware data protection backup repository using the restore tab and launching recovery with the view and restore button, and review the retention policy.

In step one of the restore wizard, select a backup image for the VM from a roster sorted from most recent to oldest, and choose the oldest in this example.

Select restore options, restore to the original location or create a new VM with a unique name; verify target data store space and configure power and NIC options.

Access data recovery appliance web UI, log in as administrator, and perform file level recoveries by selecting files from the backup image and restoring them to original or temporary locations.

Access the web-based management console to run the first-time VDP configuration wizard, view status, update storage, perform emergency VM restores, and monitor core services and proxies.

Explore the storage tab to view storage properties, including provisioned storage, available storage, and capacity utilization for data store volumes 01, 02, and 03 used as Linux partitions.

Benchmark the backup repository’s io performance with VDP performance analysis using an artificial workload; measure read speeds in megabits and megabytes per second to estimate backup durations.

Explore the GDP management portal's rollback feature to restore BP configurations from checkpoints and recover normal operation after a faulty appliance.

Leverage emergency restore to recover VM from the backup repository without central assistance, using the restore wizard to restore a backup image to an SSI host, enabling vCenter appliance recovery.

Explore the pros of vSphere data protection, including licensing, easy setup, cross-VM deduplication, flexible backup scheduling, and file-level recovery—upgradeable to Agama technology.

Explore vSphere 6 data protection updates, including SQL Server, Exchange, and SharePoint agents for application-consistent backups, offering agent-based or VM backups with transaction log truncation and concurrent streams.

Explore vSphere data protection site-to-site replication, enabling one-to-one, many-to-one, and one-to-many replication between data protection appliances for disaster recovery.

Summarizes vdp limits: a single data protection appliance backs up up to 400 VMs, with multiple appliances and limited backup volumes, constrained by hardware, bandwidth, retention, and deduplication.

Identify data protection limitations in VMware vSphere 6.0, including the inability to back up VMs with independent mode disks, raw device maps, or virtual volumes.

Size the data protection appliance by balancing CPU, memory, and disk for backup volumes (0.5, 1, 2, 6, 8 terabytes) and monitor CPU use for deduplication, compression, and replication.

Adopt VMware vSphere 6.0 data protection best practices: use virtual hardware version seven with disk block change tracking, install VMware Tools, and keep backup volumes on separate storage with DNS.

Connect the vSphere data protection appliance to vCenter, create a backup for a VM, perform an initial full backup, then restore the VM to a new location and test.

Take the bonus introduction for the final lecture in the VMware vSphere 6.0 part 5 course, marking the conclusion of the class.

Explore future vSphere courses on installing and configuring vCenter, deploying VMs from templates and clones, tuning resources, and performing migrations, backup, replication, and updates.

Explore ESXLab business services for training centers and organizations, offering onsite and distance instructor-led VMware training with online seats, full course books, and lab rentals.

Larry Cartus, a veteran IT instructor and author, presents the VMware and Linux infrastructure course through his company ESX Labbe Dotcom, offering hands-on labs, training, consulting, and speaking services.