Backing up VM Server

[a2jam]

I have a PowerEdge 6650 that hosts 5 virtual machines with VM Server. I need to backup the physical server and should be able to restore the vmdk file should something happen to them.

I was wondering how I should go about doing that. I am thinking......just install file system idata agent on the physical server and backup everything. Will the vmdk files restore just fine? and will I be able to re-create the virtual machines once I resotred the vmdk files?

Thanks

Appreciate all the help

 

[a2jam]

Forgot to mention I have commvault ver 6.1

 

[Frbutler]

I will refer you to the below thread

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1454789&page=1

but yes it is basically install a client on the physical box and put the guest servers into REDO mode and backup the vmdk files

We used this method at our DR exercise and it worked like a champ.

Let me know if you need further info

Thanks,

Frank

 

[a2jam]

Glad to hear that it works at the DR testing. Here is a couple of things though.....The physical server has W2K3 Server installed......running VMware Server on the top of the OS. There are 5 virtual servers running.

I just installed the windows server idata agent and I am running a job to backup the folders that contains the vmdk files.

Also what is REDO mode? and does this apply in my environment?

Thanks so much.....Appreciate it

 

[Frbutler]

VMDK files are locked while the guest OS is up and running.
REDO mode put the guest os in a "Cache" mode and free's the VMDK file which in turn allows whatever client you use to backup the host OS VMDK file

What version of vmware are you using?

 

[devfsadm]

Last time I tried backing up "VmWare Server" not ESX I came across the limited functionality of VmWare Server.
Here are the options I found for "VmWare Server" outside of writing my own API:
1. VmWare server will need to have the backup agent installed on the guest.
This will backup the guest as a standard backup client.
2. Create a script to suspend, backup then re-start the guest OS.
This will suspend any writes to your vmdk files.

This information is on page 96 of the Vmware Server Administration Guide.

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/server_admin_manual.pdf

For "VmWare Server" I found this information:

http://www.petri.co.il/virtual_script_startup_shutdown_vmware_servers.htm

ESX server has tools that allow you to select the best way to backup in your environment. Some people create something called a REDO log that will commit changes from the vmdk file to the REDO log leaving the VMDK file quiescent and therefore allowing you to do a good backup of the vmdk file(s). ESX also has a method to commit the changes from the REDO log back to the vmdk files when the backup is complete while the Guest OS is running. "VmWare Server" does not give you this capabilty. IN VmWare Server you must shut down the Guest OS in order to commit the redo log.

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx_backup_wp.pdf

Hope this helps..
I worked on this around 7-8 months ago so unless VmWare Server added new functionality this is what I knew at that time.
We ended up purchasing ESX.