Backup and Recovery Goals
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@DustinB3403 said:
And does it have to run on a separate server to create that backup file?
It would run as a VM. VMs have no means of knowing if they are local or not.
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@Dashrender said:
But does breaking this appart from StorageCraft actually make sense? Assuming you're a Unitrends shop you typically wouldn't do that. You'd have Unitrends do everything.
i agree. Find one tool that does the job and stick with it. Trying to use two separate tools is making this incredibly complex and complexity is just another term for risky.
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I'm just a bit confused on how it would work, as I haven't use StorageCraft on XenServer, and I'm thinking of it just like "trying to format a windows partition
that you're using to run the command from" -
Or I guess the better way to explain it.
How do I restore from Storage Craft if I want to simply dump a corrupt VM? Does it build a .xva, .ova, or vhd backup?
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It depends on how the backups work. If the backup is a client piece inside the OS, then there are a few options for restoring the system, but if the backup works with the VM platform, then it can probably just restore whatever file format Xen uses.
As for the OS type, the two options I know of are - you recreate the VM in the VM software, then install Windows, then install the client software for the backup solution, then restore the data.
option two, you create the VM just like above, but this time you boot it from an ISO, or PXE, etc and connect to the backup solution, choose your restore point and it's pushed to the server. When it's done, reboot and you're done. -
@DustinB3403 said:
Or I guess the better way to explain it.
How do I restore from Storage Craft if I want to simply dump a corrupt VM? Does it build a .xva, .ova, or vhd backup?
Normal way that you restore physical systems: https://www.storagecraft.com/support/book/shadowprotect-user-guide/restoring-volume
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@Dashrender said:
As for the OS type, the two options I know of are - you recreate the VM in the VM software, then install Windows, then install the client software for the backup solution, then restore the data.
option two, you create the VM just like above, but this time you boot it from an ISO, or PXE, etc and connect to the backup solution, choose your restore point and it's pushed to the server. When it's done, reboot and you're done.It has a rescue boot image used to rebuild the system image.
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@Dashrender said:
...but if the backup works with the VM platform, then it can probably just restore whatever file format Xen uses.
Unitrends is the only backup software that does that for XenServer other than just taking your own image. We've never found another tool that talks to XS.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
...but if the backup works with the VM platform, then it can probably just restore whatever file format Xen uses.
Unitrends is the only backup software that does that for XenServer other than just taking your own image. We've never found another tool that talks to XS.
And this is why I think Xen is a bad choice for Dustin to stay with. He can get a better solution by moving to Hyper-V, it's almost assured that StorageCraft can restore direct to VHD - but if it can't.. ok fine, stay with Xen.
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@Dashrender said:
And this is why I think Xen is a bad choice for Dustin to stay with. He can get a better solution by moving to Hyper-V, it's almost assured that StorageCraft can restore direct to VHD - but if it can't.. ok fine, stay with Xen.
No, why would you assume that? StorageCraft is the same on every platform. It definitely does nothing special with HyperV.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
And this is why I think Xen is a bad choice for Dustin to stay with. He can get a better solution by moving to Hyper-V, it's almost assured that StorageCraft can restore direct to VHD - but if it can't.. ok fine, stay with Xen.
No, why would you assume that? StorageCraft is the same on every platform. It definitely does nothing special with HyperV.
OK - Most VM specific products work at the VM level (I have no clue if SC does or not). I would think that would be the best place to work from for a complete recovery solution.
Are you saying SC doesn't backup the VHD?
in thinking about this - perhaps I'm giving more credit than is really due to most VM backup solutions... I'll stand corrected if that's the case.
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@Dashrender said:
OK - Most VM specific products work at the VM level (I have no clue if SC does or not). I would think that would be the best place to work from for a complete recovery solution.
Are you saying SC doesn't backup the VHD?
Correct. It is an agent backup from inside the VM.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
OK - Most VM specific products work at the VM level (I have no clue if SC does or not). I would think that would be the best place to work from for a complete recovery solution.
Are you saying SC doesn't backup the VHD?
Correct. It is an agent backup from inside the VM.
So Veeam and Unitrends are the two primary ones that work at the VM level?
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You two lost me....
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@Dashrender said:
So Veeam and Unitrends are the two primary ones that work at the VM level?
Correct. Which is why they are the only two discussed in most contexts. And Unitrends alone handles XenServer.
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@DustinB3403 said:
You two lost me....
Two fundamental types of backups: Agentless that talks to the platform and Agent-based that works from inside the VM.
Unitrends and Veeam do Agentless.
Everyone except Veeam does Agent.
You have to think about each differently. Are you backing up from the platform or from the OS. Platform backups are useless when dealing with physical boxes always.
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What I'm running now for our separate XenServer is Platform backup and restore.
The guest don't get a choice in it, and it's really, really simple to restore from. Import and done.
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I see the appeal in "import and done" once you do the import of the NAUBackup image, you still have to run the restore from the SC to get your differentials from the last full image. I'm not sure SC would be able to do that easily as SC wouldn't be aware of when the last full backup was done.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
So Veeam and Unitrends are the two primary ones that work at the VM level?
Correct. Which is why they are the only two discussed in most contexts. And Unitrends alone handles XenServer.
Thanks - AppAssure also used to be agentless, with Version 5 they changed and went back to an agent.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
So Veeam and Unitrends are the two primary ones that work at the VM level?
Correct. Which is why they are the only two discussed in most contexts. And Unitrends alone handles XenServer.
Thanks - AppAssure also used to be agentless, with Version 5 they changed and went back to an agent.
Veeam and Unitrends own the agentless space. No reason to compete there.
