Backing up your virtual machines (VMs) is a crucial step in protecting your business against data loss and downtime. The size and technologies used in your data center will determine the backup and recovery products that are most suitable for your needs. While this article focuses specifically on the VMware environment, it is important to note that there are also solutions available for backing up and recovering other types of systems, such as bare-metal Unix servers, virtualized Unix instances, Linux servers, and Windows servers.
When it comes to backing up and recovering VMs, you have two main options: native VMware tools or third-party solutions. Native VMware tools are those that are developed and supported by VMware itself, while third-party solutions are developed by independent companies and may offer additional features or customization options.
VMware Native Backup Solution:
There are several methods you can use to back up VMware virtual machines (VMs):
VMware vSphere Data Protection (VDP): VDP is a backup and recovery solution that is included with VMware vSphere. It uses a proprietary backup format and allows you to create full, incremental, and differential backups of your VMs. VDP also includes deduplication and compression to help reduce storage requirements. Its an agenless solution to protect VMs. Unfortunaltely, VMware announced End of Availability (EOA) for VDP in 2017, and End of General Support (EOGS) was announced for March 2020.
VMware vSphere Replication: vSphere Replication is a built-in disaster recovery solution that allows you to replicate VMs between vSphere environments. It can be used to create ongoing replicas of your VMs and recover them in the event of a disaster.
VMware vSphere Snapshots: vSphere Snapshots allow you to capture the state of a VM at a specific point in time. You can use snapshots to restore a VM to a previous state if something goes wrong or to test changes to a VM without affecting the production environment.
Third-Party Backup Solution for VMware Environments
There are several third-party backup solutions that you can use to back up your VMware virtual machines (VMs). Here are a few options:
BDRSuite: BDRSuite by Vembu is a robust and comprehensive backup solution for VMware and various workloads like Virtual, Physical, Cloud workloads & SaaS Applications. BDRSuite addresses various backup, recovery, replication, and DR needs of your diversified IT infrastructure. It supports advanced use cases, thereby ensuring business continuity at affordable pricing.
Veeam Backup & Replication: Veeam Backup & Replication is a popular backup and recovery solution that supports VMware vSphere and other hypervisors. It includes features like incremental backups, data deduplication, and the ability to restore to a specific point in time.
Acronis Backup: Acronis Backup is a backup and recovery solution that supports VMware vSphere and other hypervisors. It includes features like incremental backups, data deduplication, and the ability to restore to a specific point in time.
Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery: Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery is a backup and recovery solution that supports VMware vSphere and other hypervisors. It includes features like incremental backups, data deduplication, and the ability to restore to a specific point in time.
NetBackup: NetBackup is a backup and recovery solution from Symantec that supports VMware vSphere and other hypervisors. It includes features like incremental backups, data deduplication, and the ability to restore to a specific point in time.
It’s important to carefully evaluate the features and capabilities of different backup solutions to determine which one is the best fit for your needs.
VMware Native Disaster Recovery Solution:
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is a disaster recovery solution that allows you to automate the process of recovering VMware virtual machines (VMs) in the event of a disaster. SRM provides a centralized management interface for configuring and testing disaster recovery plans, and it uses VMware vSphere Replication to replicate VMs between vSphere environments. SRM can help you minimize downtime and ensure that your VMs are quickly recovered in the event of a disaster.
Third-party Disaster Recovery Solutions:
There are several third-party disaster recovery solutions that you can use with VMware virtual machines (VMs). Here are a few options:
Veeam Backup & Replication: Veeam Backup & Replication is a popular backup and recovery solution that supports VMware vSphere and other hypervisors. It includes features like incremental backups, data deduplication, and the ability to restore to a specific point in time.
Acronis Backup: Acronis Backup is a backup and recovery solution that supports VMware vSphere and other hypervisors. It includes features like incremental backups, data deduplication, and the ability to restore to a specific point in time.
Zerto Virtual Replication: Zerto Virtual Replication is a disaster recovery solution that allows you to replicate VMs between vSphere environments. It includes features like continuous data protection, automated failover and failback, and the ability to restore to a specific point in time.
CloudEndure Disaster Recovery: CloudEndure Disaster Recovery is a cloud-based disaster recovery solution that allows you to replicate VMs to the cloud. It includes features like automated failover and failback, and the ability to restore to a specific point in time.
It’s important to carefully evaluate the features and capabilities of different disaster recovery solutions to determine which one is the best fit for your needs.
Choose products that support hybrid backup solutions:
A hybrid backup solution is a backup strategy that combines different types of backups, such as local backups, cloud backups, and data replication. Hybrid backups can provide a high level of protection for your data and allow you to tailor your backup strategy to your specific needs.
Here are a few examples of how you might use a hybrid backup solution:
Local backups for fast recovery: You might use local backups for data that you need to recover quickly, such as data from a production database. Local backups are typically faster to restore than cloud backups, but they may not provide as much protection against data loss.
Cloud backups for long-term protection: You might use cloud backups for data that you need to keep for an extended period of time, such as data that is subject to regulatory requirements. Cloud backups can provide a high level of protection against data loss, but they may take longer to restore than local backups.
Data replication for disaster recovery: You might use data replication to create a copy of your data in a different location, such as a remote data center or cloud storage service. This can help protect against data loss due to disasters or other events that affect a single location.
Overall, a hybrid backup solution allows you to choose the best backup strategy for each type of data and use a combination of different approaches to providing a high level of protection for your data.
Conclusion:
There are pros and cons to using native VMware backup tools versus third-party backup software. Here are a few things to consider when deciding which approach is best for your needs:
Native VMware backup tools:
In considering which option is best for your business, it is important to weigh the pros and cons of each. Native VMware tools may be more straightforward to use and integrate with your existing infrastructure, but they may not offer the same level of functionality or customization as third-party solutions.
Pros:
- Native tools are typically integrated with VMware vSphere and other VMware products, which can make them easier to use and manage.
- Native tools may be more familiar to VMware administrators and may be more closely aligned with VMware best practices.
- Native tools may be more cost-effective, especially for smaller organizations.
Cons:
- Native tools may not offer as many advanced features as third-party solutions.
- Native tools may not provide as much protection against data loss as third-party solutions.
- Native tools may not support other hypervisors or cloud platforms, which can limit their flexibility.
Third-party backup software:
Third-party solutions, on the other hand, may offer a wider range of features and customization options, but they may also be more complex to set up and manage. Ultimately, the best choice for your business will depend on your specific needs and priorities.
Pros:
- Third-party software may offer more advanced features, such as data deduplication and the ability to restore to a specific point in time.
- Third-party software may provide a higher level of protection against data loss.
- Third-party software may support other hypervisors and cloud platforms, which can increase its flexibility.
Cons:
- Third-party software may be more expensive than native tools, especially for larger organizations.
- Third-party software may require more training and resources to set up and manage.
- Third-party software may not be as closely integrated with VMware products as native tools.
Ultimately, the best choice for you will depend on your specific needs and requirements. It’s important to carefully evaluate the features and capabilities of different backup solutions to determine which one is the best fit for your organization.