5 Ways Smart vSphere Backups May Surprise You

1. 5 Ways Smart vSphere Backups May Surprise You vForum Series Mario Marquez System Engineer

2. What do we usually ask of our backups? • Do we only ask simple things? • Keep us safe • Let us restore files • Satisfy auditors • Protect against errors • Meet retention requirements • Other things we want from backups • Lower our storage requirements • We want something that just works! • Keep our jobs!

3. What is the natural choice? • It seems natural to do backups the same way as always • Agent-based backups • Same tools as physical systems • Tired list of features, complicated to “Get it all” • Cumbersome processes, slow restores • Is this the right decision for vSphere environments? • Maybe, maybe not • What are the protection requirements? • Platform capabilities • vSphere can’t be beat

4. Why do backups differently? • VMware vSphere gives an incredible platform to work with for virtualization. • Rich set of APIs • Many different types of storage are supported • Competitively very mature, features purpose built for VMs • Tools not designedfor this platform may miss out • We’ll show how your backups may do things you didn’t think were possible • Specifically, tools such as Veeam Backup & Replication

5. Surprise #1 – Instant VM Recovery • Allows VMs to run directly from a backup • Can get to a usable state in merely minutes Backup of Virtual Machine running from the backup file Production Virtual Machine running from production storage Production Virtual Machine Veeam Backup VM Application (vPower) VM Application (production) vSphere Backup file for virtual machine

6. Surprise #2 – Quick Migration • The Instant VM Recovery trick is nice, but….. I don’t have Storage vMotion… • No problem! • The right backup tool can accommodate that as well. • One example is Veeam Quick Migration

7. Surprise #3 – Replication failback • What is replication? • An inventoried and runnable virtual machine on an ESX(i) host • Same site or different site • Is replication the missing link for a DR strategy? • Need backups, need backup files off-site, need separate domains of failure between entire stack • The failover is the easy part • But what about returning to the production resource? • Especially without a wholesale re-transfer?

8. Replication failback (continued) • The winning combination is to be able to have options with the replicated VM • Permanent failover, Undo failover, Failback • Taking the differences only, efficient use of storage and bandwidth resources

9. Why is a smart failback important? • Disaster may be corrected on primary site • Storage resources at replicated site • Intelligently use (presumably) limited bandwidth • Granular control of individual VMs may be desired

10. Surprise #4 – Multiple Replication Points • Another benefit of replication for a solid DR strategy • Recover from multiple points in time based on replication iteration

11. Surprise #5 – A virtual lab • We know how to clone VMs • BUT, a sophisticated backup tool can allow us to access the VMs within the backup file. • Reduce disk storage requirements (only changes) • Keep backup read-only! • Isolated from production network!

12. Did you know? • The right backup tool for vSphere could do ALL of this? • In Veeam Backup & Replication, these features are included at no additional cost. • Legacy tools may not be designed to do all that you need, let alone all that want now that you know what is possible! • But, none of this would be possible without a superior platform: VMware vSphere

14. Questions? • For more information, contact Veeam! Email: rick.vanover@veeam.comTwitter: @RickVanover • Demos: http://vee.am/demos • Easy to use evaluation program! • Follow @Veeam on Twitter • Veeam blog: www.veeam.com/blog • Veeam Forums: www.veeam.com/forums