Backup w/ ISCSI...use SAN feature?

[szwicker]

I now have my vmstore running on an iscsi based SAN.
Up until now I've been running veeambackup using the basic network mode.
Should I switch to SAN and if so what config changes should I implement?
And should I use the VCB as well?

[Gostev]

No need for VCB, from Veeam Backup standpoint only thing you need to do is switch the backup job's processing mode to vStorage API SAN mode.

But of course (as it was with VCB), to allow for direct SAN access you need to disable automount on your backup server, and mount your iSCSI LUNs to the backup server according to your iSCSI SAN documentation. For that you will need iSCSI HBA, or you can use iSCSI Software Initiator bundled with Windows (worse performance). As soon as you do this and see those VMFS LUNs in the Windows Disk Management snap-in, you are ready to go.

[jgremillion]

I would definitely switch to SAN based backup. It'll be much faster and less painful. As far as changes to make, you'll need to make sure your VM datastore LUNS are masked to your Veeam backup servers. VCB is not supported on Vsphere 4. Veeam uses the new VMware API for Data Protection which shipped with Vsphere 4. You'll need VSphere to Backup ESX 3.x though.

[Gostev]

Joe, if you meant to say "You'll need VCB to Backup ESX 3.x though", this is not correct as vStorage API works with ESX 3.x just fine... this is covered in more details in the stickied FAQ thread on top of this forum.

[jgremillion]

Opps. My bad. I forgot. ...

[wksantiago]

I am running Veeam 4.1 on a server that has two interfaces. One is a 100Mbps and the other is 1000Mbps. The gigabit one is connected to a gigabit switch where my SAN and ESXs are also connected. The 100Mbps one is connected tow 100Mbps switch.

When I run a SAN backup or restore, my transfer rate is an average of 79Mbps so obviously it is not utilizing the gigabit speed that the switch can provide on the NAS side.

On this server I have iSCSI Software Initiator bundled with Windows. Is this the type of performance I can expect as indicated above as "worse performance"?

Cheers,