Performance Support

Virtualization: Virtual Machine Backup and Restore

Transcript
Here were using the vSphere Client from VMware to connect to a physical machine where weve loaded VMware ESX server. Server application and data bac up and restore are among the most crucial elements of server and data center management. Virtuali!ation products provide many different approaches and options for dealing with these critical tas s and also have the ability to improve these processes. Each different approach has its own advantages and disadvantages " and different computing environments will favor different solutions. #he fle$ibility provided by virtuali!ation allows you to integrate your VM bac up and restore procedures into your e$isting traditional procedures for bac up% or redesign the procedures to incorporate some of the added capabilities made possible by virtuali!ation. &or our demonstration% we will loo at a VM within a VMware ESX product " although the topics covered here will easily translate into other virtuali!ation tools. Virtual machines are basically made up of a group of files. 'n this case% the files are stored on this data store% which is physical storage on the physical host server. (y right)clic ing the data store and selecting (rowse *atastore we can go out and browse the folder structure% and actually loo at the set of files that ma e up " in this case " VM +umber ,. #his virtual machine is a virtual machine where weve installed -indows X.. #here are several ey files in these folders that ma e up the virtual machine. #here is a vm$ file for your virtual machine configuration/ there are vmd files which are the virtual dis files that go with the virtual machine/ there0s a set of log files/ there is nvram and swap space. 'n order to do a bac up and restore of this virtual machine% there is a couple of options. Since the virtual machine is a typical machine on your networ % you could stic to your traditional bac up and restore methods and simply go to the virtual machine% log in% and install your bac up client and treat it li e any physical machine. (ut because it0s a virtual machine and it does have the folder structure% there are other options. 1ne of the 2uic and easy ways that you can do a virtual machine bac up% is to ta e your virtual machine% power it off% and then simply ta e the set of files and ma e a bac up of them. 3ou can copy them to your local machine or you can copy them out to a server " where they may get bac ed up and go to tape. Most virtuali!ation products are going to provide you the capability to ma e that level of a bac up. 'n more robust enterprise)class virtuali!ation tools% there are also add)ons for managing VM bac ups. &or e$ample% in VMware ESX there are tools such as VMware Consolidated (ac up 4or VC(5% which have then been replaced with newer toolsets li e data protection and data recovery. #here are similar tools within other virtuali!ation products. #hese products leverage the fle$ibility of VM bac ups and automate the re2uired tas s to ensure that the bac ups are conducted " and% more importantly% that restores are reliable. 6et0s ta e a bac up of this virtual machine by first logging in the machine and powering it off% and then ta ing a bac up of the actual files. 1nce the machine is powered down% were going to browse bac to the data store. #his is the file set that we would want to ma e a copy of. Here we would have the option of selecting the entire folder% downloading it to the local machine " or even to a mapped drive from your local machine% or another
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SKILLSOFT PERFORM !"E S#PPORT

option would be to move the files to another location. &or a bac up% wed want to actually download the files but leave them intact. -hen it comes time to do the restore% you basically upload the files into a data store " either this data store or another one% and then start the virtual machine.

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