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--- public:vmware [2019/08/16 15:54]
ronnie.chan [Run Direct Requirements]
+++ public:vmware [2019/08/21 15:22]
ronnie.chan [Granular Restore Technology]
@@ Line 119: / Line 119: @@
 For backup of virtual machines on vCenter / ESXi servers, make sure the following requirements are met.
+<WRAP indent>
 === ESXi / vCenter Patch Release ===
 Make sure that the latest supported patch release is installed on the vCenter / ESXi hosts to prevent critical issue, such as [[https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2090639|corruption to change tracking data in certain situation]].
@@ Line 175: / Line 176: @@
 Refer to this link for information on the supported and compatible virtual machine hardware versions in VMware vSphere:
 [[https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2007240|ESXi/ESX hosts and compatible virtual machine hardware versions list (2007240)]]
+</WRAP>
 ==== Backup Client Computer Requirements ====
@@ Line 194: / Line 196: @@
 Ensure that the following requirements are met by the Backup Client Computer or the vCenter computer:
+<WRAP indent>
 === Hardware Requirement ===
   * Refer to this [[public:8000_faq:ahsay_hardware_requirement_list_hrl_for_version_8.1_or_above|Hardware Requirement List]] for the list of hardware requirements for AhsayOBM.
@@ Line 261: / Line 264: @@
 === Backup Quota Requirement ===
 Make sure that your AhsayOBM user account has sufficient quota assigned to accommodate the storage for the guest virtual machines.  Contact your backup service provider for details.
+</WRAP>
 ==== Run Direct Requirements ====
 Run Direct is a feature that helps reduce disruption and downtime of your production VMs. To utilize the Run Direct feature, ensure that the following requirements are met:
+<WRAP indent>
 === VDDK Backup Mode ===
 Run Direct restore is only supported for virtual machine that is backed up in VDDK mode (Virtual Disk Development Kit) for ESX/ESXi and vCenter setup. With VDDK mode, the backup speed is enhanced because the generation of the delta file of the VM are performed directly by the ESX/ESXi or vCenter itself. For being able to backup in VDDK mode, AhsayOBM must be installed on a supported Windows operating system platform.
+<WRAP indent>
 == License Requirement ==
 The VMware vSphere Storage APIs, which are essential for VDDK backup mode, are included with the VMware vSphere Enterprise Standard, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus Edition. Ensure that the license requirement is met.
@@ Line 306: / Line 312: @@
 This is due to the percent-encoding specified in the URL standard is not supported for ESXi based HTTP(S) file access. To resolve the issue, please rename the corresponding file to avoid special characters. For instructions on renaming a virtual machine, please refer to the following knowledge base article from VMware: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2031763
+</WRAP>
 === Backup Destination ===
@@ Line 334: / Line 341: @@
   - Restart the service afterward.
+</WRAP>
+==== Non-VDDK Backup Mode Requirements ====
+For VM that cannot be backed up in VDDK mode, non-VDDK backup mode will be used instead.
+  * Independent Disk (Persistent or Non-persistent)
+  * Independent disk can only be backed up if the VM is shutdown during a backup.  If the VM is started up during the backup, all independent disks selected for backup cannot be backed up.
+----
+===== Best Practices and Recommendations =====
+Please consider the following recommendations for running VMware backup:
+==== Use the latest version of AhsayOBM ====
+Install the latest version of AhsayOBM on the staging machine or Backup Client Computer for backup of VM hosted on a VMware ESX/ESXi server, or on the vCenter server.
+Always stay up-to-date when newer version of AhsayOBM is released. To get our latest product and company news through email, please subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.ahsay.com/jsp/en/contact/ahsay-contact.jsp
+==== Install AhsayOBM on a physical staging machine ====
+For best backup and restore performance, it is highly recommended that AhsayOBM is installed on a server grade staging machine or backup client computer with sufficient memory and processing power. As guest VM can be very large, during backups and restore this may involve the compression & encryption of large amounts of data, which can be very resource intensive.
+==== VMware Tools ====
+Make sure the latest version of VMware Tools is installed on each guest VM selected for backup. VMware Tools is used by AhsayOBM to quiesce the guest VMs prior to backing them up to create consistent backup for your VMs.
+Quiescing is a process that ensures that the disk data is in a state suitable for backups to reduce the possibility of data corruption upon restore. This is especially important for transaction-based applications running on VMs like MS SQL Server, MS Exchange etc. There are different types of quiescing mechanisms, according to the guest operating systems (e.g. Crash-consistent, File-system-consistent and Application-consistent quiescing).
+==== Do not use a guest VM as a staging machine ====
+Although installing AhsayOBM on a guest VM as a staging machine is possible, the backup and restore will work as on a physical staging machine. This setup is actually inefficient and can lead to possible performance bottlenecks on the VMware host server, as in a VMware host the virtualization layer separates guest VM OS layer and the VMware host physical hardware layer.
+As the guest VM operating system does not have direct access to physical hardware where the data resides, a backup agent installed inside the guest VM must go through the virtualization layer to access the guest virtual machine data.
+==== Use the VDDK backup mode / CBT feature ====
+The CBT (Change Block Tracking) feature, which is required for backup in VDDK mode, is supported by VM host with VMware Essentials License (or other paid licenses). The CBT feature, which is utilized for tracking changes of data blocks since the last backup can be done quickly and directly on the VM host. Therefore, the performance of incremental backups is much faster with VDDK backup mode.
+Another advantage of VDDK mode is the amount of data backed up is relatively smaller. The used data size of the guest VM is backed up instead of the provisioned size, so the storage cost of these backups will be less.
+==== Proper use of Temporary Directory ====
+The temporary directory of a VMware VM backup set is set to a local volume, and not to a network volume (e.g. to improve I/O performance).
+However, the temporary directory should not be set to the system volume (e.g. where the operating system is installed).
+Refer to this article for {{public:5247_faq:tips_on_how_to_setup_the_temporary_directory_for_your_backup_set|how to setup the temporary directory}} for your VMware backup set.
+==== Plan your backup schedules carefully to minimize any performance impact on the VMware host ====
+To avoid concentrated disk I/O on the VMware host datastores which will have a negative performance impact on the guest VMs residing on these datastores, you should schedule your backups to limit the number of concurrent VM backups on a host and shared datastores. Hosts typically share the same datastores in virtual environments, and bottlenecks caused by too many simultaneous VM backups on a single datastore will affect all hosts that have VMs running on that datastore.
+==== Backup the guest VMs to more than one destination ====
+To provide maximum data protection and recovery flexibility you should consider to store your guest VM backups in multiple backup destinations, ideally both onsite and offsite locations. Onsite locations on local or network drives will enable very quick recovery even for large guest VMs. While offsite locations will ensure that if there is a site outage, the guest can be restored from another location.
+==== Proper Java memory allocation ====
+Consider to increase the Java memory allocation setting for AhsayOBM (Java heap space) if you are using non-VDDK backup mode. If you are using non-VDDK mode and or Granular restore, it is recommended to increase the Java heap size space to at least 2GB or above for optimal performance. Refer to this KB article for {{8011_faq:how_to_modify_the_java_heap_size_of_ahsayobc|how to modify Java heap size}} for your AhsayOBM client.
+==== Backup whole VM ====
+It is highly recommended to backup the whole VM instead of individual disk for backup of virtual machine with snapshot.
+==== Routine recovery test ====
+Consider to perform routine recovery test to ensure your backup is setup and performed properly.
+==== Disable the memory snapshot or quiesce guest options ====
+Consider to disable the memory snapshot or quiesce guest options when taking snapshot for VMware VM backup, to shorten the time required for the process.
+  * Snapshot the virtual machine's memory
+  * Quiesce guest file system (Needs VMware Tools installed)
+----
+===== Granular Restore Technology =====
+AhsayOBM [[public:granular_restore|granular restore technology]] enables the recovery of individual files from a guest VM without booting up or restoring the whole guest VM first. [[public:granular_restore|Click here]] to read the details.
+<WRAP important>
+Granular Restore requires an additional OpenDirect / Granular Restore add-on module license to work. Contact your backup service provider for further details.
+</WRAP>
+----

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