Thursday, 28 May 2015 00:00

VM recovery from SAN snapshots with Veeam Backup & Replication

Rate this item
(0 votes)

b2ap3_thumbnail_iStock_000018232683XSmall_20131120-121148_1.jpgIn this article I will tell you about one of the features of Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5, namely that which provides effective VM (virtual machine) recovery from SAN snapshots.

HP LeftHand Storage

Virtual environment provides opportunity to run several VMs on a single server. Usually when a company expands, amount of its servers and VMs increases too. As a result capacity and performance of SAN does not longer suffice. A common solution is to add disk enclosures until a pair of controller units becomes a weak spot in the infrastructure development. If such problem occurs, a company upgrades a pair of controller units or installs a new SAN.

From the point of view of its architecture, HP SAN Left Hand Storage (HP SAN) differs considerably from traditional SANs in capacity and performance. HP SAN has no separate controllers or disk enclosures. However, each array has its own resources (processor, HDDs, cache memory, I/O ports). That’s why besides storage capacity, addition of new arrays facilitates higher processor performance, provides additional cache memory, etc.

So, HP SAN is a cluster of storage nods. Each nod is a fully-featured data warehouse. Data are distributed automatically between nods. This process is controlled by a single console. Addition of new nods facilitates increase of performance and reliability of HP SAN.

What is Veeam Backup & Replication?

Veeam Backup & Replication for VMware and Hyper-V is an application to backup and quickly restore data after failure. Since Veeam Backup & Replication was designed particularly for virtual environments, it facilitates compression and deduplication of back-up copies and doesn’t require agent support by a host or a VM. That’s why VM recovery proves fast and low-cost. Due to the fact that the application supports up-to-date versions of VMware vSphere and Windows Hyper-V and provides simultaneous access to the hypervisors from a single console, the application is easy to run and it is cost effective from the point of view of heterogenic virtual infrastructures.

Veeam Backup & Replication has a range of advantages: VM start-up from a back-up copy, automatic test check of the recovery process for problem search and solving, etc. Around 50 organizations (which range from small companies to international corporations) use this application all over the world. There is also a free version of the application which has slightly crippled functions.
Use of SAN snapshots to recover separate VMs or files of a host OS

Data warehouse snapshot – is a precise copy of a file system data warehouse (at LUN level) at a given time. HP SAN snapshots integrate with Microsoft VSS and VMware VCB. If you begin to recover a snapshot, you cannot disrupt the process. LUN will be recovered entirely. This makes the application a bit inconvenient for everyday use. However combination HP+Veeam has no such problem. Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5 supports integration of snapshots with data warehouses HP LeftHand and HP StoreVirtual VSA.

Veeam Backup & Replication facilitates VM recovery directly from HP SAN snapshot. Besides you can choose between various options:

  • Instant VM recovery
  • Restore Windows guest files
  • Restore Linux guest files
  • Restore Microsoft Exchange items


b2ap3_thumbnail_hp_restore_20131120-120742_1.png

Figure 1. Snapshot data recovery with Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5

b2ap3_thumbnail_hp_restore2_20131120-120836_1.png

Figure 2. Recovery stages in the interface of Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5

The application has convenient and easy-to-understand interface.

What does it mean?

Combination HP + Veeam Backup & Replication has a lot of advantages:

High speed: recovery of a whole VM as well as recovery of separate files from HP SAN snapshot takes 2 minutes. The whole process is automated. The application provides direct recovery, i.e. you don’t need to allocate disk space or retrieve data and store them on a separate device.

Flexibility: you can choose to recover a VM, a file or even an item from Exchange server.

Reduced risks: the entire process is automated which reduces human fault risk. You don’t need to install agents on hosts or VMs.

Available for free: HP SAN snapshot recovery is supported by all versions of Veeam Backup & Replication, including Veeam Backup Free Edition.

As a result, combined use of HP SAN snapshots and Veeam Backup & Replication facilitates maximum PROs and RTOs.

P.S. Very often users mix terms “snapshot” and “back-up copy”. This is a huge mistake. A snapshot cannot remedy a failure which occurred before it was copied to a separate storage device (a snapshot is stored on the same storage device as the rest of data). The best stories about importance of a back-up copy are based particularly on cases of SAN subsystem failure.

Last modified on Thursday, 28 May 2015 14:46
Data Recovery Expert

Viktor S., Ph.D. (Electrical/Computer Engineering), was hired by DataRecoup, the international data recovery corporation, in 2012. Promoted to Engineering Senior Manager in 2010 and then to his current position, as C.I.O. of DataRecoup, in 2014. Responsible for the management of critical, high-priority RAID data recovery cases and the application of his expert, comprehensive knowledge in database data retrieval. He is also responsible for planning and implementing SEO/SEM and other internet-based marketing strategies. Currently, Viktor S., Ph.D., is focusing on the further development and expansion of DataRecoup’s major internet marketing campaign for their already successful proprietary software application “Data Recovery for Windows” (an application which he developed).

Leave a comment

Make sure you enter the (*) required information where indicated. HTML code is not allowed.

Get Help Now

Thank you for contacting us.
Your Private Investigator will call you shortly.