Backup ESXi

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KuJaX

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I have a Dell server that has VMware ESXi 5.1.0 on it that is running a Windows Server 2008 VM and a few Ubuntu VMs.

I have scripts to encrypt and backup data to Amazon AWS but only hard files (and scripts for the databases). At the end of the day if the hard drive crashes we have the valuable information.

However, what we don't have is the current structure of the valuable information. In other words, although I could reassemble everything the way it is now, the installation of Windows, Ubuntu with appropriate packages and versions, etc will need to be redone and certainly that is time consuming and potential mistakes could take place.

I wanted to reach out to [H] community to see what others are doing for whole system (bare metal) backup. I realize that there is an onslaught of companies willing to sell their wares but figured that there has to be a golden child in this industry for VMware VMs or even just servers in general.

Not super price sensitive although the budget for something that can be automated is capped at $500 to $1000. I'm looking for something that is completely automated, can backup off site (encryped to the cloud) and has the ability to do local backup as well (network transfer / USB / NAS, etc).

Any suggestions and your real life experience with recommended product?

Thanks in advance. :)
 
Veeam is good, though it needs a Windows server to run. Nakivo is a good competitor at a lower price point and comes with a Linux based virtual appliance. Both have trial versions and I'd definitely recommend to try any software before you buy. That will cover your VM backup. Backing up ESXi isn't commonly done because it's just so easy/quick to redeploy it if need be.

I am not sure whether there's any bare metal backup that would backup ESXi and the VMs that run within it. It's just not necessary to do that.
 
On the subject of backups, what do people use in larger environments for file level backup, we currently use vembu storegrid, but we are looking around.

Are things like AppAssure / gfimax the sort of things we should be looking at.

We have machine level backups using veeam and that works very well for us, its the file level stuff that we are pushing the boundaries of right now. we back up multiple systems, and have around 10-15 million files protected.
 
Are you using the free or a paid version of ESXi?
The free version does not support VM based backups.

My only experience has been with dells vRanger software.
I works great, but I'm not sure of the pricing on it.
 
Using the FREE version of ESXi. I am not opposed to using the paid version of ESXi (although I must admit, I don't know the price of features) because free at the time to get setup was enough for us.

Seems like a lot of people are recommending Veeam. I have looked into that and will take a serious look but as justinjja mentioned, I may need a paid verison of ESXi for Veeam.

Has anyone used GoodSync Enterprise (server) version? May be a good alternative as well
 
KuJaX said:
Using the FREE version of ESXi. I am not opposed to using the paid version of ESXi (although I must admit, I don't know the price of features) because free at the time to get setup was enough for us.

Seems like a lot of people are recommending Veeam. I have looked into that and will take a serious look but as justinjja mentioned, I may need a paid verison of ESXi for Veeam.

Has anyone used GoodSync Enterprise (server) version? May be a good alternative as well
Click to expand...

You can get VMware vSphere Essentials Plus for under $5K, which covers up to three hosts and gives you all the good features minus the ones you don't at that size.

http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/compare.html

You will need a paid version of ESXi to use the full version of Veeam, but both are most definitely worth the low cost IMO. We use Veeam to protect about 150TB of data from our main datacenter cluster.
 
Any other solutions or recommendations? :)

Spending $5k for VMware vSphere Essentials Plus and then another $1k for Veeam seems a bit overkill for a single physical server with a couple of VMs running.

It is in a production environment but figured there would be some more economical ways since this isn't like mission critical VMs
 
You could use something like StrorageCraft (someone already mentioned it) or an appliance that does block-level backups. I've used a device from Datto and it worked well. It's a server that runs Ubuntu with StorageCraft as the backup engine. Allows BMR recovery, , file level restore, export backup to VMDK and reverse incremental chains. Also has cloud replication as an option.

A small device wouldn't be that expensive. or stand up your own server and install StorageCraft server.
 
KuJaX said:
Any other solutions or recommendations? :)

Spending $5k for VMware vSphere Essentials Plus and then another $1k for Veeam seems a bit overkill for a single physical server with a couple of VMs running.

It is in a production environment but figured there would be some more economical ways since this isn't like mission critical VMs
Click to expand...

I haven't played with 2008 server much, but can it run Ubuntu VM's under hyper-v?
 
KuJaX said:
Any other solutions or recommendations? :)

Spending $5k for VMware vSphere Essentials Plus and then another $1k for Veeam seems a bit overkill for a single physical server with a couple of VMs running.

It is in a production environment but figured there would be some more economical ways since this isn't like mission critical VMs
Click to expand...

Have you thought about using a free ZFS SAN storage with snapshot capability for your datastore (shared NFS datastore)? You can then access/copy your VMs from a snapshot ex via Windows and previous version or you can replicate the datastore to a second machine in near realtime (can be something cheap like a HP Microserver).

The Storage can be a dedicated machine or you can virtualize the storage under ESXi. Beside an easy access to your VMs for backup/clone/move you have a better performance and datasecurity due the ZFS filesystem.

You can read my mini Howto about such a config:
http://www.napp-it.org/doc/downloads/napp-in-one.pdf:
 
KuJaX said:
Any other solutions or recommendations? :)

Spending $5k for VMware vSphere Essentials Plus and then another $1k for Veeam seems a bit overkill for a single physical server with a couple of VMs running.

It is in a production environment but figured there would be some more economical ways since this isn't like mission critical VMs
Click to expand...

What about VMware vSphere Essentials Kit (837.20 USD) and then use vSphere Data Protection?

edit: uhm looks like the essential does not include Data protection (link). Can't find how much it costs as stand-alone..
 
Last edited:
_Gea said:
Have you thought about using a free ZFS SAN storage with snapshot capability for your datastore (shared NFS datastore)? You can then access/copy your VMs from a snapshot ex via Windows and previous version or you can replicate the datastore to a second machine in near realtime (can be something cheap like a HP Microserver).

The Storage can be a dedicated machine or you can virtualize the storage under ESXi. Beside an easy access to your VMs for backup/clone/move you have a better performance and datasecurity due the ZFS filesystem.

You can read my mini Howto about such a config:
http://www.napp-it.org/doc/downloads/napp-in-one.pdf:
Click to expand...

This is not possible on a free version of ESXi 5.1.... correct?

I'm happy to get to a paid license version of ESXi but not if there is a more cost effective way of backing up the VMs.
 
KuJaX said:
Any other solutions or recommendations? :)

Spending $5k for VMware vSphere Essentials Plus and then another $1k for Veeam seems a bit overkill for a single physical server with a couple of VMs running.

It is in a production environment but figured there would be some more economical ways since this isn't like mission critical VMs
Click to expand...

vsphere essentials (not plus), $560:
http://store.vmware.com/store/vmwar...00&src=WWW_eBIZ_productpage_Essentials_Buy_US

Then figure ~$400 for something like nakivo, $800 or so for veeam. veeam is rock solid and been in development longer and has more features, but more $$. I use nakivo for most clients, because my clients are cheap. It's come a long way in the past year, still under heavy development, but seems to be a pretty quality product.
 
Also, keep in mind that if you need basic backup, VeeamZIP free edition works very well. Yes, you need VMware licensing, so you have to do that, but VeeamZIP is 100% free and may meet your needs.
 
KuJaX said:
This is not possible on a free version of ESXi 5.1.... correct?
Click to expand...

Not correct, ESXi free is fine.
All storage functions (NFS/SMB shares, snapshots, replication etc) are on ZFS

You can use newest 5.1 or 5.5 without a RAM limit in the free version.
If you use 5.5, you need the newest (5.5U1 with the ESXi NFS patch)
 
I'm getting conflicting information here. Some have said that I can use FREE version of ESXi to use Veeam and other backup tools, and then some people are saying that I need to have a paid version of Vmware to use backup tools such as Veeam.

I must admit I am very confused with the many products vmware produces. I'm willing to spend about a $1,000 to have a consistent, automated backup mechanism in place for all of my VMs found on my free version of ESXi. If that means some vmware licensing and backup software licensing, so be it. If it means using free tools but having to get a NAS or separate hardware to sync to the server, so be it.

Anyone have specific solution with cost? :) I realize there are many ways to accomplish this, each having their own pros and cons.
 
i'm using Veeam for 2 years, it's enough for my use. but Veeam not support IPv6
 
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