Host-based backup of VMware vSphere VMs.
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sandroalves
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PRTG Network Monitor on vSphere backup - Agentless or via Agent

Post by sandroalves »

Hi,

we have an application that has a proprietary database.

The vendor's recommendation is that to ensure a complete backup of the application, the ideal is to turn off the service to copy the files to another place.

So I thought...

What would be the best data protection option with Veeam? Use without agent or with agent?

I remember that we have a serious problem in backing up these critical servers using the (Application-aware processing) option, as applications are frozen and require connectivity, so this option is not an alternative.

Thank you.
wishr
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Re: Agentless or agent backup in a vSphere environment

Post by wishr »

Hi Sandro,

Could you please let us know what application is it and what is the underlying DB? Also, it would be great to know how the application architecture looks like (single server, distributed, etc.).

In most cases, you'd like to use our agentless backups to back up any VMs except a few rare cases and just prepare the app and the DB (using AAIP or scripts) to make the backup application-consistent.

Thanks
sandroalves
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Re: Agentless or agent backup in a vSphere environment

Post by sandroalves »

Hi,

the solution is PRTG Network Monitor.

The database is internal to them.

They are small files with the extension (.prd).

Thank you.
sandroalves
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Re: Agentless or agent backup in a vSphere environment

Post by sandroalves »

Hi,

After I talked to the Paessler support team (PRTG) they instructed me to turn off the solution to copy the files for a guarantee of integrity.

So, I thought ... if they advise doing this, is my Veeam agentless backup complete?

the problem is that Veeam is not backing up the VM because the disks need to be consolidated after a bad succession of a snapshot has been removed and it is a critical 24x7 application.

I need to update the application and I need a backup of the VM.

As I can't do it via agentless, I thought about installing the agent and doing it with an agent. Any problem I can recover the VM with protection via agent.

Thank you.
wishr
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Re: Agentless or agent backup in a vSphere environment

Post by wishr »

Sandro,

Thank you for the inputs.

I dug a little into this and I do not think there is a way to back up that VM without stopping PRTG. The problem is the app does not support Microsoft VSS and VMware snapshots nor offers scripts to prepare the app and the DB for the backup. Thus, there is no guarantee you'll be able to maintain the integrity of the app data during backup unless the VM is powered off. There is an article that states what kind of backups are supported officially by PRTG and none of them includes VMware snapshots / Microsoft VSS snapshots (the latter is the technology behind Veeam Agent for Windows).

I would suggest consulting with PPTG technical support team one more time on whether the app supports VMware snapshots and Microsoft VSS snapshots and take it from there.

I hope it helps.
sandroalves
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Re: PRTG Network Monitor on vSphere backup - Agentless or via Agent

Post by sandroalves »

Hi,

yes, i have already requested an orientation again.

But I believe that they will limit themselves to saying that it is necessary to stop the service and this for a 24x7 solution is very bad.

I remember that in another solution we used the recommendation for applications with these characteristics was to use the agent because the method of protection was different from the agentless.

For example: AD, Exchange, VMs with very large disks that failed with agentless, VMs that did not have VMtools installed.

The recommendation was "use agent", but we know that the restoration process is slower because the data needs to be rehydrated.

But honestly, I prefer to guarantee a slower full backup than a fast one without integrity.

I believe Veeam works with this recommendation concept similar to other solutions.

Thank you.
wishr
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Re: PRTG Network Monitor on vSphere backup - Agentless or via Agent

Post by wishr »

Sandro,

Veeam Agent for Windows uses Microsoft VSS snapshots for backups (refer to the article above for more info). If this is a supported backup method for PRTG then there should not be any issues, but I would doublecheck it.

Thanks
sandroalves
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Re: PRTG Network Monitor on vSphere backup - Agentless or via Agent

Post by sandroalves »

Hi,

sorry for my ignorance.

I understand what you say where the agent uses the shadow copy of windows to take a photo of the files and save them in Veeam.

When we do it by agentless, the method is via API VDDK and even then the windows shadwo copy is still used to take a "photo copy" of the files in the S.O layer?

Why do I ask that?

I understand that regardless of the method, if it is agentless or agent it will not help, because the solution does not support this method of "photo copy" of the files, right?

Thank you.
wishr
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Re: PRTG Network Monitor on vSphere backup - Agentless or via Agent

Post by wishr »

Sandro,

VM backup is different. We operate vSphere APIs to create a snapshot of the VM and also offer several optional ways to preserve the consistency of application running inside of the VM and it's data. (Application-aware processing via Microsoft VSS, VMware Tools Quiescence and use of scripts). Basically, in this case, you need to confirm which of the aforementioned technologies are supported for backing up the desired application.

Thanks
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