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failover/backup for physical server hosting 4 vms?

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  • 01-12-2014 9:43pm
    #1
    dingdangdoo22
    Registered Users Posts: 125 ✭✭


    hi, i need to work on geting our physical server in work (hyper v installed running 4 vms) backed up to possibly another physical server.
    is this the best way to do it for failover purposes? looking for the cheapest way to do it. new enough to virtualisation so looking for opinions on how best to do this.


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    #2
    jimgoose
    Registered Users Posts: 20,174 ✭✭✭✭jimgoose


    Fast. Cheap. Effective. Pick two. Ideally what you want is a cluster. Personally I'd run with at least four CPUs and plenty disk spindles - at least eight -, comprising a straight-mirror of the OS filesystem(s) and a RAID-10 for the rest of it.


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    #3
    Mr. Fancypants
    Registered Users Posts: 1,892 ✭✭✭Mr. Fancypants


    If all you want is failover then you could run hyper-v replica which is included within hyper-v 2012 to replicate the vms from one hyper-v server to another. This would not be a backup however as it doesnt allow for long term retention.

    If it was me i would look into Veeam for running backups and replicas. The backups to a NAS (and possibly off to a second NAS for longer term retention offsite) and replicas to the second server. Veeam is priced per cpu and is fairly competitive. Fairly easy to set up too.


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    #4
    dingdangdoo22
    Registered Users Posts: 125 ✭✭dingdangdoo22


    yeah forgot to mention its server 2008r2 so i think replica is out of the question there. correct me if im wrong but i think that a 2012 feature.
    ideally i think i will order another poweredge server and export the existing vms to the new one. sound ok?
    the reason for geting another server is the current one is out of warranty very soon, its about 5 years old at this stage so in could go at any stage. there are some critical vms running on it. we have veeam in place so im guessing that might be able to take the vms off the existing server
    and onto the new one providing redundancy. how does that sound, pretty new to hyper v etc...


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    #5
    Nelbert
    Registered Users Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭Nelbert


    dingdangdoo22 wrote: »
    yeah forgot to mention its server 2008r2 so i think replica is out of the question there. correct me if im wrong but i think that a 2012 feature.
    ideally i think i will order another poweredge server and export the existing vms to the new one. sound ok?
    the reason for geting another server is the current one is out of warranty very soon, its about 5 years old at this stage so in could go at any stage. there are some critical vms running on it. we have veeam in place so im guessing that might be able to take the vms off the existing server
    and onto the new one providing redundancy. how does that sound, pretty new to hyper v etc...

    If you can take it offline you could upgrade the host to hyper-v 2012 (your vm licenses wouldn't be affected).


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    #6
    CountyHurler
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,657 ✭✭✭CountyHurler


    We had to get rid of Backup Exec because it didnt backup virtual machines... we moved to ArcServe instead, and there is a fairly steep learning curve.... But after spending a lot of time on it... I am now able to take my laptop on to our clients sites, plug their RDX in to my laptop and restore their VMs to my laptop (which is running Hyper-V, ArcServe, RDXTools.. i.e. everything needed to restore the backup)..

    When I say "steep learning curve" with ArcServe, I mean:
    - Deploying the virtual machine agents can be troublesome.
    - The software has SO many options, it can be confusing.
    - When you are restoring, there are a few tricks to getting ArcServe to reading the header of the tape and merging it to your catalog.
    - Getting the file level restore option can be tricky...

    I've spent many, many hours working with the software, but it does work.. DPM is the Microsoft Solution but this requires that you buy the System Center Virtual Machine Manager which is an enterprise solution.


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    #7
    ObeyTheSuit
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭ObeyTheSuit


    For HA I would create a HyperV failover cluster between the two boxes. This is proper failover solution. for backups I Would simply snapshot the VM's and back those up. There are better options then what I have written. There's the thing, best practice vs the cheapo way.

    CountyHurler wrote: »
    DPM is the Microsoft Solution but this requires that you buy the System Center Virtual Machine Manager which is an enterprise solution.

    DPM works without VMM, I assume you are referring to the licensing meaning you have to buy the System Center Suite (SCOM, SCSM, SCCM, App Controller, SCVMM, SCORC)? There are cheaper licensing models for the suite for SME's


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    #8
    CountyHurler
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,657 ✭✭✭CountyHurler


    ObeyTheSuit wrote: »
    for backups I Would simply snapshot the VM's and back those up.

    Snapshots are not meant for backups.. And are not recommended for Domain Controllers... Do you backup the snapshots and use them like a System Restore?
    DPM works without VMM, I assume you are referring to the licensing meaning you have to buy the System Center Suite (SCOM, SCSM, SCCM, App Controller, SCVMM, SCORC)? There are cheaper licensing models for the suite for SME's

    I went through the Server Virtualization videos for the 74-409 exam and they said that you need SCVMM but maybe this has changed... We had to make a decision to get some sort of backup, and that is why we chose ArcServe and it does work in fairness...


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