Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016

[DustinB3403]

@dashrender said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

Possible solutions:

• Create a simple fileserver VM on HV06, serving an NFS share that is located on the MD1000.
  • Because it's on a VM, the NFS share will be inside of a .VHDX file.
    • This makes restorations more time consuming or complex, because first the .VHDX would need to be restored in order to restore the NFS share inside of it... and then the backup data in the NFS share could finally then be recovered.

This is the part that is consistently incorrect. You do not need to restore the VHDX first.

Okay, so how do I get the data off of the VHDX, which is on a Tape, without restoring the VHDX?

One way is again to mount the VHD on the host and then pull the files out that way. Then it has nothing to do with NFS. Just mounting a drive and reading data.

Well, if the VHDX is on the tape.. I'm not sure how you'd mount it. Though I'm sure some systems probably allow you to do that, then you just wait for the tape to load up - probably have timeout issues though.

Tape shouldn't be used in the recovery process of "grabbing 1 file". It's a our site burnt down, time to rebuild everything when you get the tapes out.

[stacksofplates]

@dashrender said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

Possible solutions:

• Create a simple fileserver VM on HV06, serving an NFS share that is located on the MD1000.
  • Because it's on a VM, the NFS share will be inside of a .VHDX file.
    • This makes restorations more time consuming or complex, because first the .VHDX would need to be restored in order to restore the NFS share inside of it... and then the backup data in the NFS share could finally then be recovered.

This is the part that is consistently incorrect. You do not need to restore the VHDX first.

Okay, so how do I get the data off of the VHDX, which is on a Tape, without restoring the VHDX?

One way is again to mount the VHD on the host and then pull the files out that way. Then it has nothing to do with NFS. Just mounting a drive and reading data.

Well, if the VHDX is on the tape.. I'm not sure how you'd mount it. Though I'm sure some systems probably allow you to do that, then you just wait for the tape to load up - probably have timeout issues though.

It can't be on the tape? How is he running a live VM from tape? Mount the VHD on the hypervisor itself and pull the files out.

[scottalanmiller]

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@dashrender said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

Possible solutions:

• Create a simple fileserver VM on HV06, serving an NFS share that is located on the MD1000.
  • Because it's on a VM, the NFS share will be inside of a .VHDX file.
    • This makes restorations more time consuming or complex, because first the .VHDX would need to be restored in order to restore the NFS share inside of it... and then the backup data in the NFS share could finally then be recovered.

This is the part that is consistently incorrect. You do not need to restore the VHDX first.

Okay, so how do I get the data off of the VHDX, which is on a Tape, without restoring the VHDX?

One way is again to mount the VHD on the host and then pull the files out that way. Then it has nothing to do with NFS. Just mounting a drive and reading data.

Well, if the VHDX is on the tape.. I'm not sure how you'd mount it. Though I'm sure some systems probably allow you to do that, then you just wait for the tape to load up - probably have timeout issues though.

It can't be on the tape? How is he running a live VM from tape? Mount the VHD on the hypervisor itself and pull the files out.

That's the thing he is unwilling to do.

[stacksofplates]

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@dashrender said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

Possible solutions:

• Create a simple fileserver VM on HV06, serving an NFS share that is located on the MD1000.
  • Because it's on a VM, the NFS share will be inside of a .VHDX file.
    • This makes restorations more time consuming or complex, because first the .VHDX would need to be restored in order to restore the NFS share inside of it... and then the backup data in the NFS share could finally then be recovered.

This is the part that is consistently incorrect. You do not need to restore the VHDX first.

Okay, so how do I get the data off of the VHDX, which is on a Tape, without restoring the VHDX?

One way is again to mount the VHD on the host and then pull the files out that way. Then it has nothing to do with NFS. Just mounting a drive and reading data.

Well, if the VHDX is on the tape.. I'm not sure how you'd mount it. Though I'm sure some systems probably allow you to do that, then you just wait for the tape to load up - probably have timeout issues though.

It can't be on the tape? How is he running a live VM from tape? Mount the VHD on the hypervisor itself and pull the files out.

That's the thing he is unwilling to do.

Oh that's what I kept mentioning but I didn't see a response to any of mine. Doing too many things at once here.

[DustinB3403]

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@dashrender said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

Possible solutions:

• Create a simple fileserver VM on HV06, serving an NFS share that is located on the MD1000.
  • Because it's on a VM, the NFS share will be inside of a .VHDX file.
    • This makes restorations more time consuming or complex, because first the .VHDX would need to be restored in order to restore the NFS share inside of it... and then the backup data in the NFS share could finally then be recovered.

This is the part that is consistently incorrect. You do not need to restore the VHDX first.

Okay, so how do I get the data off of the VHDX, which is on a Tape, without restoring the VHDX?

One way is again to mount the VHD on the host and then pull the files out that way. Then it has nothing to do with NFS. Just mounting a drive and reading data.

Well, if the VHDX is on the tape.. I'm not sure how you'd mount it. Though I'm sure some systems probably allow you to do that, then you just wait for the tape to load up - probably have timeout issues though.

It can't be on the tape? How is he running a live VM from tape? Mount the VHD on the hypervisor itself and pull the files out.

He isn't, the tape is for secondary backups. The MD1000 is being backed up to the Tape as 1 block device. 1 File.

Which is where this issue is coming in. His backup mechanism is the root cause, in that he is backing up multiple little boxes, and making them a giant warehouse that has to be unpacked to get the critical files.

Change this to back up the critical files individually rather than as 1 massive file. Problem solved.

[Dashrender]

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@dashrender said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

Possible solutions:

• Create a simple fileserver VM on HV06, serving an NFS share that is located on the MD1000.
  • Because it's on a VM, the NFS share will be inside of a .VHDX file.
    • This makes restorations more time consuming or complex, because first the .VHDX would need to be restored in order to restore the NFS share inside of it... and then the backup data in the NFS share could finally then be recovered.

This is the part that is consistently incorrect. You do not need to restore the VHDX first.

Okay, so how do I get the data off of the VHDX, which is on a Tape, without restoring the VHDX?

One way is again to mount the VHD on the host and then pull the files out that way. Then it has nothing to do with NFS. Just mounting a drive and reading data.

Well, if the VHDX is on the tape.. I'm not sure how you'd mount it. Though I'm sure some systems probably allow you to do that, then you just wait for the tape to load up - probably have timeout issues though.

It can't be on the tape? How is he running a live VM from tape? Mount the VHD on the hypervisor itself and pull the files out.

That's the thing he is unwilling to do.

Oh that's what I kept mentioning but I didn't see a response to any of mine. Doing too many things at once here.

yeah, you and I are on the same page.. both mentioned agents, etc but no response to that solution.

[scottalanmiller]

What I'm unclear on, is if BOTH the initial server AND the backup host have failed at the same time, why do we want to restore a single file?

[DustinB3403]

@Tim_G what I would do is change your backup mechanism, use UrBackup if budget is the issue.

Take backups of every VM individually and push them to the MD1000.

From the MD1000 if you needed, push it to tape, but push the individual files, not the entire block device.

[Dashrender]

@dustinb3403 said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@dashrender said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@stacksofplates said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

Possible solutions:

• Create a simple fileserver VM on HV06, serving an NFS share that is located on the MD1000.
  • Because it's on a VM, the NFS share will be inside of a .VHDX file.
    • This makes restorations more time consuming or complex, because first the .VHDX would need to be restored in order to restore the NFS share inside of it... and then the backup data in the NFS share could finally then be recovered.

This is the part that is consistently incorrect. You do not need to restore the VHDX first.

Okay, so how do I get the data off of the VHDX, which is on a Tape, without restoring the VHDX?

One way is again to mount the VHD on the host and then pull the files out that way. Then it has nothing to do with NFS. Just mounting a drive and reading data.

Well, if the VHDX is on the tape.. I'm not sure how you'd mount it. Though I'm sure some systems probably allow you to do that, then you just wait for the tape to load up - probably have timeout issues though.

It can't be on the tape? How is he running a live VM from tape? Mount the VHD on the hypervisor itself and pull the files out.

He isn't, the tape is for secondary backups. The MD1000 is being backed up to the Tape as 1 block device. 1 File.

Which is where this issue is coming in. His backup mechanism is the root cause, in that he is backing up multiple little boxes, and making them a giant warehouse that has to be unpacked to get the critical files.

Change this to back up the critical files individually rather than as 1 massive file. Problem solved.

Right, either through many smaller NFS mounts, each NFS mount having it's own VHDX.

[Dashrender]

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

What I'm unclear on, is if BOTH the initial server AND the backup host have failed at the same time, why do we want to restore a single file?

I don't believe that is the failure situation we're talking about here.

[DustinB3403]

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

What I'm unclear on, is if BOTH the initial server AND the backup host have failed at the same time, why do we want to restore a single file?

I've had cases where entire systems have gone up, and literally nothing but a single Crystal Report file was critical for production.

So I can understand the need to restore just a single file, as that file can be run anywhere, once you have a working system on which to run it.

[scottalanmiller]

@dashrender said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

What I'm unclear on, is if BOTH the initial server AND the backup host have failed at the same time, why do we want to restore a single file?

I don't believe that is the failure situation we're talking about here.

If there wasn't a failure, he could restore directly from the existing NFS share.

[Obsolesce]

There is a single Tape backup job that is ran from HV06, which backs up the MD1000 to Tape.

The idea is that this MD1000 will contain backups of all HV01 vms, HV06 vms, and physical Linux server backups.

So all of that will be backed up to tape in one big "swoop".

Each VM is has it's backup on the MD1000, and each VM backup is archived to Tape. To restore a HV06 VM, I simply can restore just that VM from a Tape. No problem there.

In order to back up the physical Linux servers to the MD1000, I NEED an NFS share.

This NFS share needs to be on the MD1000.

HV06 can't do an NFS share because it's Hyper-V Server.

If I create a VM on HV06 to host an NFS share, then any Linux server I back up to that NFS share will be located in a single VHDX.

[scottalanmiller]

@dustinb3403 said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

What I'm unclear on, is if BOTH the initial server AND the backup host have failed at the same time, why do we want to restore a single file?

I've had cases where entire systems have gone up, and literally nothing but a single Crystal Report file was critical for production.

So I can understand the need to restore just a single file, as that file can be run anywhere, once you have a working system on which to run it.

Yes, but this is a DOUBLE system failure we are talking about. He has to lose the original AND lose the backup, all at once.

[scottalanmiller]

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

There is a single Tape backup job that is ran from HV06, which backs up the MD1000 to Tape.

The idea is that this MD1000 will contain backups of all HV01 vms, HV06 vms, and physical Linux server backups.

So all of that will be backed up to tape in one big "swoop".

That would impact the Hyper-V backups the same as the Linux VM ones.

[scottalanmiller]

@tim_g said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

If I create a VM on HV06 to host an NFS share, then any Linux server I back up to that NFS share will be located in a single VHDX.

Which, we've established, has no downsides and is ideal. So this is definitely the way to go.

Since having a VHDX in no way implies that you'll back it up that way.

[DustinB3403]

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@dustinb3403 said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

What I'm unclear on, is if BOTH the initial server AND the backup host have failed at the same time, why do we want to restore a single file?

I've had cases where entire systems have gone up, and literally nothing but a single Crystal Report file was critical for production.

So I can understand the need to restore just a single file, as that file can be run anywhere, once you have a working system on which to run it.

Yes, but this is a DOUBLE system failure we are talking about. He has to lose the original AND lose the backup, all at once.

Yeah no, I understand. I was just answering your question, as to why a single file may be more important than every VM.

[scottalanmiller]

@dustinb3403 said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@dustinb3403 said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

What I'm unclear on, is if BOTH the initial server AND the backup host have failed at the same time, why do we want to restore a single file?

I've had cases where entire systems have gone up, and literally nothing but a single Crystal Report file was critical for production.

So I can understand the need to restore just a single file, as that file can be run anywhere, once you have a working system on which to run it.

Yes, but this is a DOUBLE system failure we are talking about. He has to lose the original AND lose the backup, all at once.

Yeah no, I understand. I was just answering your question, as to why a single file may be more important than every VM.

Right, but my question is in the case of double system failure, when you've lost BOTH the servers AND the backups, at that extreme point, when do we care?

[Dashrender]

OK we've been told that the backup software can only backup to a NFS share - ok, nothing really wrong with that...
Now we're (OK ME) assuming that the backup software we're talking about is the software that's on the Linux physical machines. So that backup is stored somewhere - anywhere, that has a NFS share on it.

Though - now I'm wondering - how does the backup software work for the Linux VM that's ON the HV06 host? Tim mentioned that the software has to backup locally because it's 15TB and over the network would take to long.
SOOoooo how does that transfer happen? Do you need to create a partition on thd MD1000 that will be mounted directly to the Linux VM on the HV06 so that a "local" type backup is performed at Line Speed?

Now my next question is - What software is in use on the Tape drive? How does the tape drive on the backup server (seen in picture) get the data - what software is pulling in that data?

[Dashrender]

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@dashrender said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

@scottalanmiller said in Create NFS file share on Hyper-V Server 2016:

What I'm unclear on, is if BOTH the initial server AND the backup host have failed at the same time, why do we want to restore a single file?

I don't believe that is the failure situation we're talking about here.

If there wasn't a failure, he could restore directly from the existing NFS share.

Unless he wanted to restore a backup that was done say 3 months ago.