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Symantec Backup Exec Blueprints 1

Symantec Backup Exec Blueprints Blueprint for VMware

Backup Exec Technical Services Backup & Recovery Technical Education Services


Notice

This Backup Exec Blueprint presentation includes example diagrams that contain objects that represent applications and platforms from other companies such as Microsoft and VMware. These diagrams may or may not match or resemble actual implementations found in end user environments. Any likeness or similarity to actual end user environments is completely by coincidence.

The goal of the diagrams included in this blueprint presentation is not to recommend specific ways in which to implement applications and platforms from other companies such as Microsoft and VMware, but rather to illustrate Backup Exec best practices only.

For guidelines and best practices on installing and configuring applications and platforms from other companies, please refer to best practice documentation and other resources provided by those companies.

Symantec Backup Exec Blueprints Preface/disclaimer


Backup Exec Blueprints: How to Use Getting the most out of Backup Exec blueprints

• These Blueprints are designed to show customer challenges and how Backup Exec solves these challenges.

• Each Blueprint consists of:

‒ Pain Points: what challenges customers face

‒ Whiteboard: Shows how Backup Exec solves the customer challenges

‒ Recommended Configuration: Shows recommended installation

‒ Dos: Gives detailed configurations suggested by Symantec

‒ Don'ts: What configurations & pitfalls customers should avoid

‒ Advantages: Summarizes the Backup Exec advantages

• Use these Blueprints to:

‒ Understand the customer challenges and how Backup Exec solves them

‒ Present the Backup Exec best practice solution

Pain Points

4 Symantec Backup Exec Blueprints


Backup Exec Blueprints: VMware Pain Points Traditional backup methods in virtualized environments

• More Critical Applications in Virtual Environments

– Data Growth and BIG Data at unprecedented levels – Lack of control and hidden costs

• Application Performance Impact

– Putting a backup client in a VM congests network, impacts performance – Stalls virtualization proliferation

• Limited Recovery Options

– File-by-file restores are slow, inefficient to recover whole virtual machine – Recover entire VM = setup new VM, install OS, then restore files to it

• Management Headaches

– Installation and maintenance of a client into every VM – Manual process to keep track of the VMs in a dynamic environment – No auto-protection/load balancing for backups


Backup Exec Blueprints: VMware Pain Points The situation today

VM VM VM

Backup Clients

Backup and restore data travels over

network

Heavy backup impact on the

virtual machine

Need to deploy client for every virtual machine

Restore only at the “files and folders” level

Difficult to keep track of new virtual machines and keep backup policies optimized

High Risk

Backup Exec Advantages



Backup Exec Blueprints: Advantages Integration with VMware VADP

Backup Exec Server or BE 3600 Appliance

ESX Host

③ Backup can be performed by image-based

(agentless) or for GRT file-based

(agent assisted)

② Clients not necessarily required on virtual

machines – image backup will be faster than file-based

vCenter vStorage

① Backup Exec auto-discovers new VMs as they

come online

④VM backups deduplicated; or can use Backup Exec Optimised

Deduplication across sites

VM VM VM


Backup Exec Blueprints: Advantages VMware image-level, off-host backup

ESX/ ESXi Host

Server

VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

Backup Exec Media Server Deep integration with VADP Supports image-level backups of virtual machines Incremental and differential backup change block tracking Block Optimization (ignoring empty space within VM

during backup) Single-pass backup and GRT VM auto-discovery/protection VMDK stream handler increases deduplication efficiency Agent assisted application quiescence and log truncation

SAN, ISCSI, Network

Backup Exec Server

ESX/ ESXi Host

Server

Big Data

Improved Performance

BE Stream Handler

BE Stream Handler

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6


Backup Exec Blueprints: Advantages Recovery flexibility

Database Mailbox

Email ① Any Level of Recovery

② From a Single VM Backup

③ From Any Backup Exec Storage Asset

VM Image Backup

V Ray Granular Recovery

Linux Windows Exchange SQL Share-Point

Database Database Portal

Document

Tape Disk Dedupe Disk

OST

Files Files

CRITICAL APPLICATIONS


Backup Exec Blueprints: Advantages One solution for any environment

Unified Solution for Any Environment

• Image-level protection for an unlimited number of VMware virtual machines on a single host

• Comprehensive backup support for both virtual systems and legacy physical systems

• Support for both disk and tape storage devices

• Integration with VMware’s vStorage APIs for Data Protection (VADP) to maximize backup and recovery performance

• Granular application and file/folder recovery for virtual Infrastructures to save time and lower cost

• Storage savings from the deduplication of all backups from an environment, including virtual and physical backups

Whiteboards and Diagrams


Example Diagram: VMware General best practices


STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER AGENT FOR

VMWARE LICENSE

BE

SE

RV

ER

ESX/ESXI HOST SERVERS

VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDLER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

Recommended: weekly full backups

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

Do…



Best Practices: VMware Do the following…

BE

SE

RV

ER

STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

• Install remote agent on any supported Windows VMs • Group the selections by logical differences; for example, file GRT, application

GRT and non-GRT (added benefit that more jobs can run concurrently) • Create server groups based on the same logical selections • To keep vStorage API happy:

─ Verify connectivity and performance for the ESX data stores from the BackupExec server(s)

─ Use read only on the datastore LUNs on the Backup Exec server

─ Use a single path to the datastores when using iSCSI • Optimize device performance during read operations from the VMware

datastore, and write operations to the target backup device using configurable registry values

─ See http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH185691 ─ Applies to both BE 2010 & 2012

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH185691





BE

SE

RV

ER

STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES • If backing up to a deduplication disk storage device, perform a weekly full backup (simplifies restore)

• Check the Backup Exec SCL for supported VM disk configurations to ensure a successful GRT backup

• It is recommended to backup ESX through vCenter, unless there is only 1 ESX • Optimize disk storage device buffer settings for your environment • Plan and size the solution properly with enough time to complete all backups

and duplicate jobs; add more Backup Exec servers if necessary • Consider future growth when sizing datastores • In VMware settings, the preferred transport mode should be listed first

─ If using SAN transport mode as first transport option, NBD should be set as second transport option

• Use Hotadd transport option on top if the Backup Exec server is virtualized



BE

SE

RV

ER

STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

• Install the Backup Exec Agent to any VMs on which you want to enable application GRT

• To use GRT when you create a restore job, select the individual drives, files, and folders that you want to restore

• We currently do not support GRT for GPT volumes

GRANULAR RECOVERY

TECHNOLOGY (GRT)

• Always check the SCL • Application GRT backups will

report the exception ‘Unable to collect Metadata’ if the Backup Exec agent is not installed to the VM



BE

SE

RV

ER

STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

• To use GRT for individual items from Microsoft Active Directory, Exchange, SharePoint, or SQL, do the following: • Install the Agent for Windows on

the VM • Install VMware Tools to the VM before you install the Agent for Windows • Ensure that you have a valid license for each application that you want to protect • Ensure that the credentials for the VM are valid for the application you want to

protect • Use the same requirements for backing up Microsoft Exchange on a physical

computer when you back up Exchange on a virtual machine

GRANULAR RECOVERY

TECHNOLOGY (GRT)



BE

SE

RV

ER

STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

• If you select the vCenter or ESX server for backup, the backup job does not include the following: • Configuration files for the vCenter or the

ESX server • Physical Raw Disk Mapping (RDM) devices • Independent disks

• You cannot select individual drives, folders, and files from the virtual machines that appear when you expand VMware vCenter and ESX Servers

• If you select the vCenter or ESX server as a backup resource, all VMs associated with that resource are backed up

• For a recurring job, any VMs that you add after the job is created are included in the backup

GRANULAR RECOVERY

TECHNOLOGY (GRT)



STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

BE

SE

RV

ER

DISK BASED

BACKUP IS

RECOMMENDED

• Perform a weekly full backup • Backup sets should be stored all to tape or all to disk;

mixing disk and tape backup devices for Full/incremental or Full/differential backups is not advised

• D2D2T recommended • Backup to disk first and send a secondary backup copy to

tape using a duplicate to tape backup stage

• Ensure that the VMware Converter is installed on the Backup Exec server if you want to restore backup sets that were created with Backup Exec 12.5 for Windows Servers. • Do not install VSS with VMware tools, the Agent for

Windows will install what it needs with no further intervention

• The VMware VSS Provider and the Symantec VSS Provider cannot reside on the same guest virtual machine

• Troubleshooting VSS snapshot Issues: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH129724



STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

BE

SE

RV

ER

• Local or locally mounted LUNs (ISCSI/SAN) storage is preferred to remote storage (NAS) with GRT

– If you do use NAS make sure you test with B2Dtest first

– See http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH69107

• Non-GRT backups stored to NAS are fine

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

Do not…



Best Practices: VMware Do not do the following…

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT NOT

SUPPORTED FOR

RESTORE

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

BE

SE

RV

ER

• Do not use other backup solutions to backup virtual environments alongside Backup Exec

– The Backup exec backup job will fail while performing the GRT or APP GRT backup of the VM

• Do not backup the vCenter server in the same job as other VMs if it is also virtualized (recommended by VMware)

• Do not mix full and differential/incremental jobs to different backup media like disk and tape; use either all disk or all tape

• Do not undersize or plan to ‘just fit’ as that will leave no headroom for maintenance and other eventualities

– Queued backups and duplicate jobs will then cascade and will need manual interventions to run through.

• In larger environments do not have all VMs selected in a single job using the same settings

• Do not use Hotadd transport option if the media server is not virtualized

• Do not expect connectivity to a tape to work if the Backup Exec server is virtualized



STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA

APPLICATIONS

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

LAN DISCOVERY

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

BE

SE

RV

ER

GRT Files/Folders

• Updating catalogs can take a long time if VM has large volumes (1TB+) with deduplication running

GRT Application

• The VM must be accessible through the network when using APP-GRT, otherwise

the catalog will fail

• See setup Technote:


• For SQL databases in full recovery mode, after performing an APP-GRT backup using the SQL agent, SQL log files do not appear to be truncated, and do not shrink in size

• Backup Exec doesn’t support VMDK greater than 2 TB VMDK’s with GRT

─ You must run SQL log backups using AWS. Log file size must be manually managed per http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH82950

─ If it has grown too large you need to run DBCC SHRINKFILE tsql command







STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT

BE

SE

RV

ER


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA


SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

It is recommended you perform a

weekly full backup.

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

• VMs that are not supported for GRT (e.g. Linux/Mac) should be backed up in a separate job

• For VMs that are not supported for GRT, deselect the four options to "Enable GRT for <Microsoft application name> on virtual machines".

• If a virtual machine does not support GRT, but the options to enable application GRT are selected, the job will fail. Therefore, placing the virtual machines that do not support GRT in a separate backup job and deselecting the application GRT options will help to prevent job failures.



STORAGE

ARRAY

TAPE DEVICE

VCENTER

SERVER

VMWARE

AGENT

BE

SE

RV

ER


VM1

VM2

VM3

VM4

VM5

VM6

BE STREAM HANDER

DATA STORE 1

VM

DK

1

VM

DK

2

VM

DK

3

DATA STORE 2

VM

DK

4

VM

DK

5

VM

DK

6

DATA


SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

SAN DATA

TRANSPORT

NETWORK

CRITICAL

TECHNOLOGIES

It is recommended you perform a

weekly full backup.

BE

WIN

DO

WS

AG

EN

TS

• vCenter - You need to use an account that has the VMware permissions outlined in TECH129645 on BE Support Website

• VMware tools – the Backup Exec agent will install a VSS provider, make sure VMware tools are NOT installed with the VMware VSS provider

• Virtual guests that use partitions formatted with GPT do not support GRT • Exchange 2010/13 in a DAG cannot be backed up using Agent for VMware and enabled

for GRT (because more than one server is involved) • SharePoint Farms are also not supported for the same reason


Best Practices: VMware vSphere 5.5 Considerations

• VCenter - You need to use an account that has the VMware permissions outlined in TECH129645 on BE Support Website


• Virtual guests that use partitions formatted with GPT do not support GRT • Exchange 2010 in a DAG cannot be backed up using Agent for VMware and enabled for

GRT (because more than one server is involved). • SharePoint Farms are also not supported for the same reason

• Backup Exec 2014 will include support for backing up, restoring, and creating machines with hardware version 10

• VM guests with SATA drives configured is not supported

• The following Backup Exec virtual features will not support vSphere 5.5 – supported platforms prior to 5.5 will continue:

– Virtual Machine Validator

– ApplicationHA


Best Practices: VMware vSphere 5.5 Considerations

• VCenter - You need to use an account that has the VMware permissions outlined in TECH129645 on BE Support Website


• Virtual guests that use partitions formatted with GPT do not support GRT • Exchange 2010 in a DAG cannot be backed up using Agent for VMware and enabled for

GRT (because more than one server is involved). • SharePoint Farms are also not supported for the same reason

• Backup Exec supports VMDKs greater than 2 TB (VMDKs without GRT)

• To protect VMs with VMDK’s over 2 TBs, install the Agent for Windows to the VM and protect it using agent-based backups

ESX Host

VMDK

0 2 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64

GRT Supported

GRT Not Supported

Capacity (Not Size) in TB


Best Practices: VMware Windows 2012/R2 running as a VMware virtual machine

• Windows 2012/R2 Running as a VMware Virtual Machine

– Windows 2012/R2 Virtual Machines with ReFS Volumes

– Backup and recovery of virtual machines with ReFS volumes, including granular recovery, is supported. A Backup Exec server running on Windows 2012 or later is required.

– Windows 2012/R2 Virtual Machines with Deduplication Volumes

– Backup and recovery of virtual machines with Deduplication volumes, including granular recovery, is supported. A Backup Exec server running on Windows 2012 or later is required.

– Virtual Machines Using Dynamic Disks

– Backup and recovery of virtual machines using GPT Dynamic Disks is supported; however, granular recovery is not.

– Backup and recovery of virtual machines using MBR Dynamic Disks is supported; including granular recovery (except RAID 5)

– Virtual Machines Using Storage Spaces

– Backup and recovery of virtual machines using Storage Spaces is supported; however, granular recovery is not.


Backup Exec and VMware: Final Thoughts One solution for any environment

Unified Solution for Any Environment

• Image-level protection for an unlimited number of VMware virtual machines on a single host

• Comprehensive backup support for both virtual systems and legacy physical systems

• Support for both disk and tape storage devices

• Integration with VMware’s vStorage APIs for Data Protection (VADP) to maximize backup and recovery performance

• Granular application and file/folder recovery for virtual Infrastructures to save time and lower cost

• Storage savings from the deduplication of all backups from an environment, including virtual and physical backups


Thank You!

Gareth Fraser-King

Documents

Symantec Backup Exec Blueprints - Home - VOXvox.veritas.com/legacyfs/online/veritasdata/Symantec Backup Exec... · Verify connectivity and performance for the ESX data stores from