Best backup plan for my VMware setup

Currently I have 3 VMware hosts (2 Mac Minis and a Dell Server) with a pair of Synology NAS units running in high availability mode. As I found out the hard way - it turns out a backup is still required as my datastore got corrected and I narrowly escaped some serious dataloss. Perhaps not using the high availability mode is best and breaking them up into two separate NAS units with a primary and backup. I'm not sure how backing up virtual machines works so please run me through my options for software and all. This is a home office setup (I go all out with my stuff) so there is something to be said for being budget conscious.

huntsonAsked: 2016-07-29

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Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert / EE Fellow)VMware and Virtualization ConsultantCommented: 2016-07-29

there's no real best!

it's based on your requirements and budget, and you will get many say Veeam is best..... yes yes yes, it maybe.... but lots of other vendors are catching up, Veeam also has lots of bells and whistles you may not use.

Have a look at my article, where I review 12 products...which are ALL available for evaluation, so no excuses, to download, try a backup and restore, and see what you like.

12 commercial software backup products for VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) you should be evaluating today

As you have a Synology NAS, you may want to look at Nakivo Backup and Replication which installs on your NAS and does the backup to itself.

BUT, make sure you put it on a different NAS, to where your VMs are located!

It makes no sense in backing up to the same NAS, your VMs are located.

You can read an EE Article here from Nakivo Vendor

Turn Synology NAS into a High-Performance Backup Appliance

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huntsonAuthor Commented: 2016-07-29

The one that runs on my Synology NAS seems perfect. Not tooooooo bad on the price either.

LVL 132

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert / EE Fellow)VMware and Virtualization ConsultantCommented: 2016-07-29

Nakivo is very good.

Evaluate it!

huntsonAuthor Commented: 2016-08-02

While I haven't gotten a chance to fully play with Nakivo I have already purchase a few licenses and am moving forward with it since it runs on Synology and can utilize systems I already have.