Recovering virtual machines from SAN snapshots using Veeam Backup & Replication
On October 25, a new version of our flagship product, Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5, was released. The new version included a number of interesting improvements, one of which is the restoration of virtual machines (VM) from SAN snapshots (hardware snapshots). Below I will briefly talk about this technology in more detail.
After the appearance of virtual environments in companies, it became possible to run multiple VMs on a single server. Over time, the number of servers, VMs, and applications in the company grows, and the capacity and performance of storage systems (SHD) becomes insufficient. This problem is solved by adding additional disk shelves until the controller pair of storage systems becomes a bottleneck in infrastructure development. When such an extreme situation occurs, companies usually decide to either replace the controller pair (upgrade) or install a new storage system.
From the point of view of architecture, HP SAN Left Hand Storage (HP SAN) is fundamentally different from standard storage systems in that it scales not only in capacity but also in terms of performance. HP SAN does not have separate controllers and separate disk shelves, and each array has its own resources (processor, disks, cache, input / output ports), so by expanding the array, the company not only increases disk resources, but also processor capacity, cache, etc. .
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Thus, HP SAN is a cluster of storage nodes, where each node is a complete data warehouse. There is an automatic redistribution of data between nodes, and all this is controlled through a single console. With the addition of new nodes, the performance and reliability of HP SAN only increases.
More details you can see a good explanatory video (in English).
Veeam Backup & Replication for VMware and Hyper-V is a solution for backup and fast disaster recovery of applications and data. Since Veeam Backup & Replication is designed specifically for virtual environments, allows the use of compression and deduplication of backups and does not require the installation and maintenance of agents on hosts and VMs, the recovery of application objects is quick and inexpensive. And because this solution supports the new versions of VMware vSphere hypervisor and Windows Hyper-V from one console, the solution is easy to use and effective from an economic point of view in heterogeneous virtual infrastructures.
Veeam Backup & Replication has a number of unique advantages, for example, launching a VM directly from a backup, automatic recovery testing for troubleshooting, etc. You can read more here . Currently, this product is used by more than 50 thousand organizations worldwide - from small companies to international corporations. There is also a free version with a slightly truncated functionality. You can read more and download it here .
“Snapshot” of the data warehouse is an exact copy of the file system of the storage (at the level of logical disks - LUN) at a certain point in time. HP SAN Snapshots integrate with Microsoft VSS and VMware VCB technologies. If you restore the snapshot, then only the entire LUN. This significantly reduces the possible use of “snapshots” on a daily basis, but not for the combination of HP + Veeam. In the latest release, Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5 adds integration with snapshots of HP LeftHand and HP StoreVirtual VSA data warehouses.
Veeam Backup & Replication allows you to recover VM data directly from the HP SAN snapshot. There are the following options:
Fig. 1 Recovering data from a snapshot using Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5
Fig. 2 Recovery statuses in the Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5 interface
All this works through a convenient and intuitive user interface.
The combination of HP + Veeam Backup & Replication has many advantages, for example:
As a result, the sharing of HP SAN snapshots and Veeam Backup & Replication allows you to achieve the maximum possible RPOs and RTOs in practice.
ps Often users replace the concept of "snapshot" and backup - this is a common misconception. The hardware snapshot will not be able to protect you from a sudden “accident” until it is copied to third-party data storage (“snapshot” is stored on the same device as the original information). The best stories about the importance of backups occur precisely as a result of falls in the storage subsystems.
Briefly about storage HP LeftHand Storage
After the appearance of virtual environments in companies, it became possible to run multiple VMs on a single server. Over time, the number of servers, VMs, and applications in the company grows, and the capacity and performance of storage systems (SHD) becomes insufficient. This problem is solved by adding additional disk shelves until the controller pair of storage systems becomes a bottleneck in infrastructure development. When such an extreme situation occurs, companies usually decide to either replace the controller pair (upgrade) or install a new storage system.
From the point of view of architecture, HP SAN Left Hand Storage (HP SAN) is fundamentally different from standard storage systems in that it scales not only in capacity but also in terms of performance. HP SAN does not have separate controllers and separate disk shelves, and each array has its own resources (processor, disks, cache, input / output ports), so by expanding the array, the company not only increases disk resources, but also processor capacity, cache, etc. .
')
Thus, HP SAN is a cluster of storage nodes, where each node is a complete data warehouse. There is an automatic redistribution of data between nodes, and all this is controlled through a single console. With the addition of new nodes, the performance and reliability of HP SAN only increases.
More details you can see a good explanatory video (in English).
What is Veeam Backup & Replication
Veeam Backup & Replication for VMware and Hyper-V is a solution for backup and fast disaster recovery of applications and data. Since Veeam Backup & Replication is designed specifically for virtual environments, allows the use of compression and deduplication of backups and does not require the installation and maintenance of agents on hosts and VMs, the recovery of application objects is quick and inexpensive. And because this solution supports the new versions of VMware vSphere hypervisor and Windows Hyper-V from one console, the solution is easy to use and effective from an economic point of view in heterogeneous virtual infrastructures.
Veeam Backup & Replication has a number of unique advantages, for example, launching a VM directly from a backup, automatic recovery testing for troubleshooting, etc. You can read more here . Currently, this product is used by more than 50 thousand organizations worldwide - from small companies to international corporations. There is also a free version with a slightly truncated functionality. You can read more and download it here .
Using SAN "snapshots" to restore individual VMs or guest OS files
“Snapshot” of the data warehouse is an exact copy of the file system of the storage (at the level of logical disks - LUN) at a certain point in time. HP SAN Snapshots integrate with Microsoft VSS and VMware VCB technologies. If you restore the snapshot, then only the entire LUN. This significantly reduces the possible use of “snapshots” on a daily basis, but not for the combination of HP + Veeam. In the latest release, Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5 adds integration with snapshots of HP LeftHand and HP StoreVirtual VSA data warehouses.
Veeam Backup & Replication allows you to recover VM data directly from the HP SAN snapshot. There are the following options:
- Instant VM Recovery
- Instant granular file recovery for various operating systems (Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, etc.)
- Granular recovery of Microsoft Exchange objects from VM backups
Fig. 1 Recovering data from a snapshot using Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5
Fig. 2 Recovery statuses in the Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5 interface
All this works through a convenient and intuitive user interface.
What does this mean?
The combination of HP + Veeam Backup & Replication has many advantages, for example:
- Quickness: the recovery of both the entire VM and the HP SAN snapshot files takes less than 2 minutes, the process is fully automated. Recovery is direct, i.e. no need to allocate disk space or extract data for intermediate storage anywhere.
- Flexibility: for recovery, you can select a specific VM, file, or even an Exchange server object.
- Risk reduction: the process is fully automated, which reduces the risk of human error. No need to install agents on hosts or VMs.
- Available in the free version: HP SAN snapshot recovery is included in all Veeam Backup & Replication editions, including the free version of Veeam Backup Free Edition .
As a result, the sharing of HP SAN snapshots and Veeam Backup & Replication allows you to achieve the maximum possible RPOs and RTOs in practice.
ps Often users replace the concept of "snapshot" and backup - this is a common misconception. The hardware snapshot will not be able to protect you from a sudden “accident” until it is copied to third-party data storage (“snapshot” is stored on the same device as the original information). The best stories about the importance of backups occur precisely as a result of falls in the storage subsystems.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/158283/
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