FileServer VM with alot Datastores - 14TB Restore from tape

[Uglybob]

Hi,

We have a couple fileserver VMs (2012R2 with dedupe), that have up to 20 datastores on each. This is to seperate the data from the different divisions etc but what has me worried is that one big backup job, if restored from tape to restore some simple small files is going to take forever.

I could create multiple backup jobs to stagger the datastores by excluding some from each of the backups. ie: Filserver Backup job 1 backups up OS and Datastore 1-10, backup job 2 backups up datatsores 11-20. Effectively halving the restore time.

Are there concerns or a better way to do this?

Thank in advance.

Cheers.

[Shestakov]

Him
Couuld you tell more about restore process? Do you restore guest files, application items or VM files? Are we dealing with huge number of small files?
Thanks!

[foggy]

In any case, the entire VBK file still needs to be restored from tape to disk prior to the actual file-level restore. So splitting the job could help here.

[Uglybob]

Hi,

The likely scenario for us would be a mix of multiple small files and restoring deleted folders etc. I would keep monthlies on a dedupe disk if I could but we are way low on space at the moment.

I think splitting the job would be best but what would be the best way to do this so I can get them to tape etc without conflicts? Can I do multiple backups from the same snapshots?

We use VMware, HP 3PAR snapshots and Exgrid.
Normal backup job to run every night with active full on Fridays and inc every other day, Push to tape after the active full is completed.

thanks!

[veremin]

I think splitting the job would be best but what would be the best way to do this so I can get them to tape etc without conflicts? Can I do multiple backups from the same snapshots?

Each job will create its own helper snapshot. So even if you start multiple jobs at the same time, there will be some difference in time when the helper snapshots will be taken.

However, since the datastores are independent on each other (spread among different divisions), this second-worth difference should not matter that much.

Thanks.