Symantec Backup Exec storage options
We have a small server environment:
- Two VMWare ESXi free hosts, in two remote offices connected with a site-to-site VPN that gets about 3MBPS of bandwidth
- Each ESXi host is running 3-4 Windows Server 2012 virtual machines. Generally, this is a domain controller, exchange server, an application server and a VPN server
- We can have a maximum of 500GB of data per ESXi host. We don't expect this to grow very much.
- There's about 15 employees who travel between the offices. 10x desktops, and 5x laptops. But... we aren't too concerned about backing up end-user PCs this time, they store all important data on the network drive.
We have been given the opportunity through a charity program to legally license the full version of Symantec Backup Exec 2012 Enterprise - with an unlimited number of agents, all the bells and whistles, etc. and this will help solve our backup problems. Wow!
I'm guessing we'll have to configure Backup Exec to backup each of our Windows Server 2012 machines as if they were physical servers, because VMWare ESXi 5.1 free edition doesn't have the vStorage APIs and I imagine Backup Exec's VMWare agent probably needs that.
So my question is - what is the most reasonable hardware option for storage of these backups for our small two-office company?
Do we need a new physical server to install Backup Exec on with it's own storage for the backups? How powerful does that server have to be, could it just be a re-purposed desktop PC? Would we need a backup server for each location?
Can Backup Exec be installed as a new VM on our ESXi hosts? And if so, where does the storage go? Do we put in a NAS? Plug in a USB external hard drive?
What's an appropriate way to do this for our small organization?
- Two VMWare ESXi free hosts, in two remote offices connected with a site-to-site VPN that gets about 3MBPS of bandwidth
- Each ESXi host is running 3-4 Windows Server 2012 virtual machines. Generally, this is a domain controller, exchange server, an application server and a VPN server
- We can have a maximum of 500GB of data per ESXi host. We don't expect this to grow very much.
- There's about 15 employees who travel between the offices. 10x desktops, and 5x laptops. But... we aren't too concerned about backing up end-user PCs this time, they store all important data on the network drive.
We have been given the opportunity through a charity program to legally license the full version of Symantec Backup Exec 2012 Enterprise - with an unlimited number of agents, all the bells and whistles, etc. and this will help solve our backup problems. Wow!
I'm guessing we'll have to configure Backup Exec to backup each of our Windows Server 2012 machines as if they were physical servers, because VMWare ESXi 5.1 free edition doesn't have the vStorage APIs and I imagine Backup Exec's VMWare agent probably needs that.
So my question is - what is the most reasonable hardware option for storage of these backups for our small two-office company?
Do we need a new physical server to install Backup Exec on with it's own storage for the backups? How powerful does that server have to be, could it just be a re-purposed desktop PC? Would we need a backup server for each location?
Can Backup Exec be installed as a new VM on our ESXi hosts? And if so, where does the storage go? Do we put in a NAS? Plug in a USB external hard drive?
What's an appropriate way to do this for our small organization?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
Backup to a NAS
ASKER
Hancocka / Patrick - what protocol does Symantec use to backup to a NAS? NFS? SMB?
Thanks,
Thanks,
I think SMB and NDMP
Without the API's ,your backup is gonna suck.
Dump the free Vmware and use the MS hyper v bulit into 2012.
It's a whole lot better than the "free" Vmware stuff.
M$ has become very good at VM's and r2 is just around the corner and if you guys have an upgrade license,worth the hassle.
Takes M$ about three releases to get a decent product out the door and this is a decent one.
Dump the free Vmware and use the MS hyper v bulit into 2012.
It's a whole lot better than the "free" Vmware stuff.
M$ has become very good at VM's and r2 is just around the corner and if you guys have an upgrade license,worth the hassle.
Takes M$ about three releases to get a decent product out the door and this is a decent one.
Hello,
As you are using VMware environment so you should not look for other backup solutions. There are multiple options to back up your small business.
1) You need to configure one more ESXI server. From which you can use the VMware tool like HA, DRS, VMHA, DPM, FT.
The Vcenter server also takes snapshot of the VM.
I will recommend you to hire a VMware Administrator who will help you to setup the VMware Environment.
2) If you do not want to invest more on one more ESXI server then you can go with server backup like Storage craft backup solution. You need to install it on your server and point on one singly storage on a network.
If in case you’re server crash then you can use the backup image to create a VM on any other server where the agent is installed. Just you need to get the backup images and create VM from the installed tools.
For more information you can contact me on yatinkapoor3@gmail.com
As you are using VMware environment so you should not look for other backup solutions. There are multiple options to back up your small business.
1) You need to configure one more ESXI server. From which you can use the VMware tool like HA, DRS, VMHA, DPM, FT.
The Vcenter server also takes snapshot of the VM.
I will recommend you to hire a VMware Administrator who will help you to setup the VMware Environment.
2) If you do not want to invest more on one more ESXI server then you can go with server backup like Storage craft backup solution. You need to install it on your server and point on one singly storage on a network.
If in case you’re server crash then you can use the backup image to create a VM on any other server where the agent is installed. Just you need to get the backup images and create VM from the installed tools.
For more information you can contact me on yatinkapoor3@gmail.com
He's still gonna need the paid product to use Storagecraft properly.
No API,no block level backup.
If he goes all M$ hyper v 2012 ,it also gives him the equivalent of vmotion and you can do vm replication.
Since it's a non profit,I would go the M$ route because it's cheaper and "good enough".
No API,no block level backup.
If he goes all M$ hyper v 2012 ,it also gives him the equivalent of vmotion and you can do vm replication.
Since it's a non profit,I would go the M$ route because it's cheaper and "good enough".
ASKER
Hi guys,
With all due respect - uprooting the VMs in our server to move to Hyper-V is not an option, too much downtime and labour involved. Similarly, licensing ESXi + some other third party backup product which is not Symantec Backup Exec is also not an option. We're a charity that survives mostly from tech donations, and in this case we've received a cost-reduced license to Symantec Backup Exec. We can justify a small hardware purchase (e.g. a SOHO NAS) if necessary, that's about it.
I don't expect to backup VMWare bare metal because of the lack of storage API, so the plan was to backup each VM as if it were a physical server. In our case since the number of VMs we have is small, that should be "good enough".
The question is where to store those backups - and it seems like a NAS is the answer to that question.
With all due respect - uprooting the VMs in our server to move to Hyper-V is not an option, too much downtime and labour involved. Similarly, licensing ESXi + some other third party backup product which is not Symantec Backup Exec is also not an option. We're a charity that survives mostly from tech donations, and in this case we've received a cost-reduced license to Symantec Backup Exec. We can justify a small hardware purchase (e.g. a SOHO NAS) if necessary, that's about it.
I don't expect to backup VMWare bare metal because of the lack of storage API, so the plan was to backup each VM as if it were a physical server. In our case since the number of VMs we have is small, that should be "good enough".
The question is where to store those backups - and it seems like a NAS is the answer to that question.