VMware vSphere Data Protection 6.0

Maciej Kot Senior Systems Engineer VMware

Overview

vSphere Data Protection Overview

• Data protection for VMs and applications

– Agent-less VM backup and restore

– Agents for SQL Server, Exchange, SharePoint

– Browser-based file level restore (FLR)

• Included with vSphere Essentials Plus Kit and higher

• Simple virtual appliance deployment

• Managed with vSphere Web Client

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vSphere Data Protection Overview

• Agent-less VM backup and restore means easier deployment, less complexity

• Changed Block Tracking (CBT) for backup and restore

– Minimizes backup window requirements and data transfer

– First backup is full, subsequent backups are synthetic full

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vSphere Data Protection

vSphere Data Protection Overview

• Application Agents

– SQL Server

– Exchange

– SharePoint

• Backup and restore individual databases

• Restore Exchange mailboxes

• Application-consistency

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vSphere Data Protection Overview

• Powered by EMC

• Avamar deduplication

– Variable-length segment deduplication minimizes backup storage consumption

– Deduplication across all backup data in VDP appliance

– Typically, 50% to 90% deduplication efficiency*

6 *Deduplication efficiency depends primarily on backup data type(s). Every environment is different - results will vary.

vSphere Data Protection Overview

• Backup data replication for offsite recovery

• Reliable, secure, efficient transfer of backup data between appliances

– Data is deduplicated and compressed before replication

– Only unique data segments are replicated

– Replicated data is encrypted for security

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vSphere Data Protection

Main Data Center DR Data Center Remote Office

vSphere Data Protection vSphere Data Protection

vSphere Data Protection Overview

• Integration with an EMC Data Domain system

• Utilizes EMC Data Domain Boost to help reduce bandwidth consumption

• Increased capacity, backup data deduplication and compression

• Backup data copy between Data Domain systems

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EMC Data Domain System

vSphere Data Protection

vSphere Data Protection Overview

• Typical use cases:

– Small to medium sized environments

– Remote office deployments

• 160-200 “average” VMs per 8TB VDP appliance

– Average VM: 60GB actual data, 5% daily data change rate, 30-day retention

– Sizing guideline assuming averages above: 20 to 25 VMs per 1TB VDP capacity

– Longer retention, types of data, etc. will affect actual results

• Up to 20 VDP appliances supported per vCenter Server environment

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vSphere Data Protection Overview

• Reliable: Mature, proven backup and recovery technology

• Efficient: Market-leading de-dup, WAN-friendly replication

• Value: Included with vSphere Essentials Plus Kit and higher

• Easy: Virtual appliance deployment, vSphere Web Client management

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Technical Walkthrough

Deployment

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VMware vSphere VMware vSphere

vCenter

Server VDP VDP Proxy VDP Agent

Deployment

• VDP virtual disks - one for guest OS and Avamar, multiple for backup data

• Virtual disks can be on same datastore or spread across multiple

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Deployment

• Run the storage performance test

– Helps ensure storage can support IO-intensive backup operations

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Application Agent Deployment

• Client downloads on Configuration tab

• Install agent in VM guest OS

• Microsoft .NET Framework required

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Application Agent Deployment

• SQL Server Failover and AlwaysOn cluster support

• Exchange Database Availability Group (DAG) support

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External Proxy Deployment

• VDP has one internal proxy - supports up to eight backup streams

• Optionally, external proxies can be deployed

– Used to protect VMs on storage VDP does not have direct access to

– Required for Linux Ext4 file system backup

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Proxy Management

• Number of backup stream can be adjusted for internal and external proxies

• Use case: Environments needing to limit storage and network utilization

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Backing up Virtual Machines

• No backup agent required

• VDDK and VADP used to perform image (entire VM) backups

• Typical process:

– VMware Tools quiesces guest OS and apps, where possible

– VM snapshot is created

– Base (read-only) disk hot-added* to VDP appliance

– VDP queries vSphere for changed blocks

– Changed blocks are copied to VDP appliance and deduplicated

– When backup is complete, snapshot delta disk is consolidated into base disk

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*SCSI HotAdd is the default transport. If SCSI HotAdd cannot be used, the NBD transport facilitates backup across the network.

Backing up Virtual Machines

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Select containers

Select VMs

Select individual disks

Backing up Applications

• Agent-based backup and recovery

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Backup Data Replication

• Backup data is deduplicated and compressed at source and target

• WAN-efficient: Only unique data segments are transmitted

• Secure: Replicated data encrypted (AES256)

• More reliable and less expensive than legacy tape solutions

• Multiple topologies supported… 1:1, N:1, 1:N, etc.

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VDP VDP VDP

Main Data Center DR Data Center Remote Office

Backup Data Replication

• Replicate:

– Image (VM) backups

– Application backups

– Previously replicated data

• Limit by:

– Backup type

– Number of backups

– Date

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Backup Job Scheduling

• Daily

• Weekly

• Monthly

• Jobs can also be started manually

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Backup Data Retention

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Retain for x number of days

Retain until a specific date

Custom retention policy

Restoring Backup Data

• VDP can restore:

– Entire VMs

– Individual virtual disks (VMDK files)

– Individual files (FLR)

– One or multiple application databases

– Exchange mailboxes (GLR)

• Restores can be performed using backup data…

– Created from a local backup job

– Replicated from another VDP appliance

– Stored on another VDP appliance

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Direct-to-Host Emergency Restore

• Restore a VM directly to a vSphere host when vCenter Server is offline

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Automated Backup Verification

• Best method to verify backups: Routine practice restores

– Manual process in many cases

• VDP automates practice restores

– Job is created and schedule, e.g., restore VM every Saturday morning at 9:00 AM

– VM is restored disconnected from network

– VDP verifies VMware Tools heartbeats are detected (guest OS booted)

– Optional script can be included for further verification

– After restore, VM is deleted

– Backup verification info in VDP UI and email reports

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vSphere Data Protection and EMC Data Domain Systems

• VDP contains Data Domain Boost libraries

• VDP backup data sent to a Data Domain appliance

– Backup metadata is stored in VDP appliance

– Checkpoints can also be copied to Data Domain in case VDP appliance is lost

• Amount of backup data is limited by Data Domain capacity

• Data Domain copy used to replicate data between two VDP+DD configs

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VDP VDP DD Boost DD Boost

Reporting

• User interface shows several metrics…

– Appliance status and capacity utilization

– Number of protected VMs and jobs that have failed recently

– Task failures, job details, and unprotected VMs

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Reporting

• Email reports contain info on the appliance, various jobs, and unprotected VMs

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Backup and Maintenance Windows

• Maintenance window - integrity checks and garbage collection

– Avoid backup and replication during maintenance window

– Restore anytime

– Integrity check typically runs once per day and can also be started manually

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Checkpoints and Rollback

• Integrity check creates checkpoint

• Two checkpoints are kept

• VDP “rolls back” to checkpoint to preserve backup data integrity

– Example: Power failure (VDP should always be shut down gracefully)

• Checkpoint rollback can also be performed manually

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Recommendations

Before VDP Deployment

• Create DNS record for VDP appliance before deployment

• DNS must be accurate for vCenter, hosts, and VDP

– Forward and reverse lookup enabled

– Always use fully qualified domain name (FQDN)

• Time must be accurate and consistent across environment

• Dedicated vCenter Server account for VDP

– Assign administrator role at the root level

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External Proxies

• Keep it simple - deploy external proxies only when required

– VDP does not have access to protected VMs’ datastore

– Higher number of concurrent backups needed

– File level restore for Linux EXT4 and LVM

• Use more proxy throughput versus more proxies

– Example: 2 proxies x 6 streams is better than 4 proxies x 3 streams

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Shutting Down a VDP Appliance

• Do not Power Off a VDP appliance - use Shut Down Guest OS

– Power Off may cause unnecessary checkpoint rollback

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No

Yes

File Level Restore, Snapshots, Replication

• One logical partition per virtual disk (.vmdk file)

– FLR only “sees” first logical partition

• Configure alarm - notify when VM is running on a snapshot

– VMware Knowledge Base article 1018029

• Configure alarm - notify when VM needs consolidation

– VMware Knowledge Base article 2061896

• Use repluser account for replication

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VDP Appliance Capacity Utilization

• Monitor capacity utilization

– Warning issued at 80%

– Health check limit at 95%

– Read-only at 100%

• Ideal steady state is 70%-80%

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Troubleshooting

• Log into VDP guest OS and run this command:

tail -f /usr/local/avamar/var/vdr/server_logs/vdr-server.log

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vSphere Data Protection Summary

• Data protection for VMs and applications

– Agent-less VM backup and restore

– Agents for SQL Server, Exchange, SharePoint

– Browser-based file level restore (FLR)

• Included with vSphere Essentials Plus Kit and higher

• Simple virtual appliance deployment, managed with vSphere Web Client

• EMC Data Domain system integration with Data Domain Boost

• Backup data replication for offsite retention

• Automated backup verification

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