Data Protection for VMware and Application Data in Mission Critical Environments

After the virtual machine copy is created, it is transferred to Data Protector media. At the end, the
virtual machine is unmounted. Consequently, the virtual machine copy is removed from the backup
proxy. The virtual machine snapshot is removed as well. The VCBimage backup method backs up
only the current state of a virtual machine. Information about the snapshot tree and the changes made
on non-active snapshot branches are not included in the backup. As a consequence only full backups
are supported.
VCBfile backup method
During a VCBfile backup, Data Protector invokes VCB to mount NTFS filesystems of Windows virtual
machines on a backup proxy host. Before a filesystem is mounted, VCB creates a virtual machine
snapshot to put the files into a consistent state. Once the filesystem is mounted, the files are transferred
directly to Data Protector media while the backup proxy is only referencing them. At the end, the
filesystem is unmounted and the virtual machine snapshot is removed. The VCBfile backup method
enables you to back up NTFS filesystems of virtual machines running Windows. Filesystems of other
guest operating systems cannot be backed up. VCBfile backup supports either full or incremental or
differential backups.
NOTE:
Disk space: Virtual machine operations that are performed during backup
require additional disk space on the data stores. Data Protector checks for
each virtual machine or filesystem separately whether the required virtual
machine operation can be safely performed (whether enough disk space is
available). If not, the backup of that particular virtual machine or filesystem
is skipped.
For the VCBimage and VCBfile backup methods, disk space is needed also
on the backup proxy system for mounting virtual machines and filesystems.
VCB checks whether enough disks space is available and informs Data
Protector of it. If not, Data Protector skips the backup of that particular
virtual machine or filesystem.
Concurrent sessions: Backup sessions that use the same devices or back up
the same data center cannot run concurrently. If multiple sessions are
started, one session waits for the other to complete.
The remaining configuration steps are standard configuration settings such as:
• Define a target backup device
• Define backup options such as protection time
• Define a backup schedule
Performing a Zero Downtime Backup
Despite providing an effective way to back the virtual machine and its content, VCB is not application
aware, thus it does not provide consistent backups of application data. Application level backup can
be accomplished using HP Data Protector software Zero Downtime Backup and Instant Recovery. This
paper will demonstrate how backup of an Oracle Database is performed using Zero Downtime
Backup. Zero Downtime Backup, allows two types of backups: Local and remote. Local copies can be
instantaneously played back using Instant Recovery and remote copies protect against disasters.
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