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Snapshots (replays) and virtual machine backups
57 Dell EMC SC Series: Best Practices with VMware vSphere | 2060-M-BP-V
• Dell Storage PowerShell SDK: This scripting tool also allows scripting for many of the same storage
tasks using the Microsoft PowerShell scripting language.
• Dell Compellent Command Utility (CompCU): A Java-based scripting tool that allows scripting for
many of the SC Series tasks (such as taking snapshots).
A good example of using one of these scripting utilities is writing a script to take a snapshot of an Oracle
database after it is put into hot backup mode.
Snapshots used for SC Series replication and VMware Site Recovery Manager: Replicating snapshots to
a disaster recovery site ensures an offsite backup. In addition, when using Site Recovery Manager, it provides
an automated recovery of the virtual infrastructure in the event a disaster is declared.
14.2 Recovering virtual machine data from a snapshot
When recovering a VMFS datastore from a snapshot (replay), an administrator can recover an entire virtual
machine, an individual virtual disk, or files within a virtual disk.
The basic steps are as follows:
1. Within the DSM client, select the snapshot to recover from and select Create Volume From Replay.
2. Continue through the local recovery wizard to create the view volume and map it to the ESXi host
designated to recover the data. Be sure to map the recovery view volume using a LUN that is not
already in use.
3. Select a host or cluster, select Storage, and select Rescan Storage to detect the new volumes.
4. With the host or cluster still selected, select Storage, select New Datastore to open the wizard, and
take the following steps:
a. Location: Verify the cluster or host and click Next.
b. Type: Select VMFS and click Next.
c. Datastore name: Enter a name for the recovery datastore.
i. Select a host that has visibility to the new volume.
ii. Select the LUN for the view volume that was mapped to the host and click Next.
d. Mount option: Select from three options:
> Assign a New Signature: This option regenerates the datastore allowing access by the host
(select this option if you are unsure of which option to use).
> Keep the Existing Signature: This option should only be used if the original datastore is not
present on the host.
> Format the disk: This option formats the view volume and creates a datastore from it.
e. Ready to complete: Verify all selections and select Finish.