Backup Exec 20.1 Administrator's Guide
- Introducing Backup Exec
- Installation
- Methods for installing the Agent for Windows
- Using a command prompt to install the Agent for Windows on a remote computer
- Using a command script to install the Agent for Windows
- Installing the Remote Administrator
- Installing Backup Exec using the command line (silent mode)
- Backup Exec license contract information
- About upgrading to Backup Exec
- Getting Started
- Backups
- Backing up data
- Restores
- How Backup Exec catalogs work
- Job management and monitoring
- Alerts and notifications
- Enabling active alerts and alert history to display on the Home tab
- Adding a recipient group for alert notifications
- Sending a notification when a job completes
- SNMP traps for Backup Exec alerts
- Disk-based and network-based storage
- Configuring disk storage
- Configuring disk cartridge storage
- Backup sets
- Cloud-based storage devices
- Amazon S3 cloud-based storage
- Google cloud-based storage
- Microsoft Azure cloud-based storage
- Private cloud-based storage
- About S3-Compatible Cloud Storage
- About the Backup Exec™ CloudConnect Optimizer
- Legacy backup-to-disk folders
- Legacy backup-to-disk folders
- Legacy backup-to-disk folders
- Tape storage
- Robotic libraries in Backup Exec
- Creating robotic library partitions
- Managing tapes
- Creating media sets for tapes
- Labeling tape media
- Default media vaults
- Storage device pools
- Storage operations
- Conversion to virtual machines
- Configuration and settings
- Using Backup Exec with firewalls
- Deleting DBA-initiated job templates
- Backup Exec logon accounts
- Reports
- Creating a custom report
- List of Backup Exec standard reports
- Troubleshooting Backup Exec
- Troubleshooting failed components in the SAN
- Generating a diagnostic file for troubleshooting Backup Exec
- Using Backup Exec in cluster environments
- Configurations for Backup Exec and Microsoft Cluster Servers
- Disaster recovery of a cluster
- Simplified Disaster Recovery
- Setting or changing the alternate location for the disaster recovery information file
- Creating a Simplified Disaster Recovery disk image
- Preparing to recover from a disaster by using Simplified Disaster Recovery
- Recovering a computer with Simplified Disaster Recovery
- Performing manual disaster recovery
- Integration with Veritas™ Information Map
- Appendix A. Backup Exec Agent for Windows
- About the Backup Exec Agent Utility for Windows
- Appendix B. Backup Exec Deduplication Feature
- Creating or importing deduplication disk storage
- Selecting storage devices for direct access sharing
- Appendix C. Backup Exec Agent for VMware
- Backing up VMware virtual machines
- About instant recovery of a VMware virtual machine
- About Recovery Ready for VMware virtual machines
- Appendix D. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Hyper-V
- Backing up Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines
- About instant recovery of a Hyper-V virtual machine
- About Recovery Ready for Hyper-V virtual machines
- Appendix E. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft SQL Server
- Backing up SQL databases and transaction logs
- Restoring SQL databases and transaction logs
- Disaster recovery of a SQL Server
- Appendix F. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server
- Backing up Exchange data
- Appendix G. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft SharePoint
- Backing up Microsoft SharePoint data
- Appendix H. Backup Exec Agent for Oracle on Windows or Linux Servers
- Configuring the Oracle Agent on Windows computers and Linux servers
- Configuring an Oracle instance on Windows computers
- Viewing an Oracle instance on Windows computers
- About authentication credentials on the Backup Exec server
- About backing up Oracle databases
- About restoring Oracle resources
- Appendix I. Backup Exec Agent for Enterprise Vault
- About backup methods for Enterprise Vault backup jobs
- Restoring Enterprise Vault
- About the Backup Exec Migrator for Enterprise Vault
- Configuring the Backup Exec Migrator
- About retrieving migrated Enterprise Vault data
- About the Partition Recovery Utility
- Appendix J. Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Active Directory
- Appendix K. Backup Exec Central Admin Server Feature
- About installing the Central Admin Server feature
- What happens when CAS communication thresholds are reached
- About job delegation in CAS
- How to use Backup Exec server pools in CAS
- How centralized restore works in CAS
- Appendix L. Backup Exec Advanced Disk-based Backup Feature
- Appendix M. Backup Exec NDMP Feature
- About restoring and redirecting restore data for NDMP servers
- Viewing the properties of an NDMP server
- Viewing storage properties for an NDMP server
- Appendix N. Backup Exec Agent for Linux
- About installing the Agent for Linux
- About establishing trust for a remote Linux computer in the Backup Exec list of servers
- Editing configuration options for Linux computers
- About backing up a Linux computer by using the Agent for Linux
- About restoring data to Linux computers
- Editing the default backup job options for Linux computers
- Uninstalling the Agent for Linux
- Appendix O. Backup Exec Remote Media Agent for Linux
- About installing the Remote Media Agent for Linux
- About establishing trust for a Remote Media Agent for Linux computer in the Backup Exec list of servers
- About the Backup Exec operators (beoper) group for the Remote Media Agent for Linux
- About adding a Linux server as a Remote Media Agent for Linux
- Editing properties for the Remote Media Agent for Linux
- Creating a simulated tape library
- Viewing simulated tape libraries properties
- Appendix P. Accessibility and Backup Exec
- About keyboard shortcuts in Backup Exec
- Backup and Restore tab keyboard shortcuts
- Storage tab keyboard shortcuts
About instant recovery of a VMware virtual machine
Backup Exec lets you recover a virtual machine instantly without waiting to transfer the virtual machine's data from a backup set. Backup Exec starts the instantly recovered virtual machine directly from the backup set and users can access it on the vCenter or ESX/ESXi host immediately. The startup time on the Backup Exec server depends on the network speed and storage speed, not on the size of the virtual machine.
To fully restore the virtual machine, use VMware Storage vMotion to migrate the virtual machine data files from the backup set to the vCenter or ESX/ESXi host. After you migrate the instantly recovered virtual machine, you can use the Agent for VMware to back up the virtual machine.
You can use an instantly recovered virtual machine to perform the same operations as a virtual machine. An instantly recovered virtual machine can be used to do the following:
Access and restore individual files and folders on a virtual machine.
Test a patch on an instantly recovered virtual machine before you apply the patch to production systems.
Troubleshoot a virtual machine or host, such as when the production ESX host is unresponsive. You can use the instantly recovered virtual machine until the production system is back online.
Verify the backup set for a virtual machine.
Copy a vmdk file, and then remove the virtual machine.
Verify an application on a virtual machine.
Recover the virtual machine permanently with Storage vMotion.
If you need to perform a disaster recovery, you can instantly recover a virtual machine and then schedule a migration to move it to permanent storage on the vCenter or ESX/ESXi host. The instantly recovered virtual machine remains available during the migration, which decreases the amount of downtime.
Instantly recovered virtual machines use Backup Exec server storage. If you remove an instantly recovered virtual machine, any changes that you made to the virtual machine are lost. In order to avoid losing your changes, migrate the virtual machine from Backup Exec server storage if any changes are made to the instantly recovered virtual machine.
Because Backup Exec has recently enhanced the resiliency of Instant Recovery, changes that you made to the virtual machine are no longer lost if you restart the Backup Exec server or encounter a network connectivity issue. However, the virtual machine cannot be used until the server restart is complete or network connectivity is restored.
Ensure that you remove the virtual machine from Backup Exec server storage when it is no longer needed or has been migrated.
The following table describes the instant recovery process for a virtual machine.
Table: Instant recovery process for a virtual machine
Step | Description |
---|---|
Step 1 | You run an instant recovery job from a backup of a VMware virtual machine. |
Step 2 | Backup Exec virtualizes the backup set. |
Step 3 | Backup Exec creates a share as an NFS datastore on the Backup Exec server. The datastore becomes accessible to the host where the virtual machine will be instantly recovered. The host uses the NFS datastore as read-only. Note: Since Windows Server for NFS is not secure, the share that Backup Exec creates will be available on the network. |
Step 4 | Backup Exec creates a virtual machine on the host and configures the virtual machine with write access to the datastore. |
Step 5 | Backup Exec creates a snapshot of the virtual machine. |
Step 6 | Backup Exec starts up the virtual machine automatically if you select the option to power on the virtual machine. |
Step 7 | You can use Storage vMotion to migrate the virtual machine from Backup Exec server storage if you want to save any changes that were made to the virtual machine. |
Step 8 | You can run a job to do one of the following:
|
The following table describes the differences between an instantly recovered virtual machine and a restored virtual machine.
Table: Differences between an instantly recovered virtual machine and a restored virtual machine
Item | Instantly recovered virtual machine | Restored virtual machine |
---|---|---|
Data transfer | Does not transfer virtual machine data to the instantly recovered virtual machine. | Transfers all data from the backup set to the host. |
Job time | Instant recovery takes less time and jobs are not dependent on the virtual machine size. | Restore time is dependant on the size of the virtual machine and the network and storage speed. |
Read and write operations | Uses the backup set image for all of the read operations. Uses a snapshot on the VMware host for all write operations. | Data is moved to the VMware host. |
Data storage | Uses Backup Exec server storage until you migrate the instantly recovered virtual machine | Uses Vmware host storage. |
Server restart | Because the Instant Recovery resiliency has been enhanced, if the Backup Exec server is restarted, the instantly recovered virtual machine remains accessible. As soon as the restart is complete or network is reconnected, the instantly recovered virtual machine is brought back online automatically. In the case of network connectivity issues, the instantly recovered virtual machine is accessible after connectivity is restored. | The Backup Exec server and the VMware host can be restarted. |
See Requirements for instant recovery of a VMware virtual machine.
See Notes about instant recovery of a VMware virtual machine.
See Creating an instant recovery job for a VMware virtual machine.