Host-based backup of VMware vSphere VMs.
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doomi
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Restore VMDKs from Netapp snapshot

Post by doomi »

a customer wants to clone a 2TB VMDK of his SQL server for using with a test VM.
as the storage system is a Netapp, this can be done with Netapp snapshotting which does not use space on the storage.

I tried to do that with a restore of the VMDK, but the restore wizard does not show VMDKs from Netapp snapshots :(
so as a workaround, I did a "Instant Recovery" of the whole VM and manually attached the VMDK to the test VM.
this is technically exactly what I want to achieve, but I'd like to have only the VMDK instead of the whole VM.

it seems that Veeam B&R cannot do instant recoveries of single VMDKs directly out of the Netapp snapshot. is this really true or do I missing an option?
I don't see a technical reason why this couldn't work, I think it's just not implemented in the restore wizard.
so may this be implemented in v9?


tldr:
single VMDK restore not possible with Netapp snapshots?
will it be possible with v9?
foggy
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Re: Restore VMDKs from Netapp snapshot

Post by foggy »

Dominic, available restore options are listed in the corresponding user guide section. Thanks.
doomi
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Re: Restore VMDKs from Netapp snapshot

Post by doomi »

so it's not possible to restore VMDKs from snapshots.

what about question 2? will it be possible in v9 or maybe in a later version?
technically it's the same as an instant VM recovery. or with Netapp, it could even use the fileclone feature.
veremin
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Re: Restore VMDKs from Netapp snapshot

Post by veremin »

Version 9 should not change anything in regards to available restore options. Plans for next version are yet to be determined. Thanks.
rennerstefan
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Re: Restore VMDKs from Netapp snapshot

Post by rennerstefan »

The customer could use the Oncommand Sandbox for Storage Snapshot coming with Version 9 to do the tests.
With it we can build up a test lab fully automatically.
It's a bit differnt but an alternative.
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dellock6
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Re: Restore VMDKs from Netapp snapshot

Post by dellock6 »

This however involves all the steps like the virtual lab power on and configuration, the creation of the application group and the surebackup job, just for a vmdk restore.

I think the option of the instant recovery without the final power on, followed by the remapping of the vmdk is still the best option, even if not automated as desired by the user. But the process is exactly like this I decribed (http://www.virtualtothecore.com/en/rest ... -recovery/), simply the source will be a storage snapshot instead of a Veeam backup.
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rennerstefan
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Re: Restore VMDKs from Netapp snapshot

Post by rennerstefan »

doomi wrote:a customer wants to clone a 2TB VMDK of his SQL server for using with a test VM.
as the storage system is a Netapp, this can be done with Netapp snapshotting which does not use space on the storage.
@Luca: My suggestion was more to use the Ondemand SandBox for the whole SQL testing. For just restoring the VMDK it is not the right way and for sure Instant recovery with mounting the VMDK is better.
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foggy
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Re: Restore VMDKs from Netapp snapshot

Post by foggy »

Keep in mind that the same limitation will still apply to On-Demand Sandbox from Storage Snapshots in v9: VM virtual disk files should be located on the same datastore as the VMX file. Disks residing on different volumes will not be available on the VMs running in the lab.
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