ESXi supported construction

[systeembeheerder]

Hi,

I am currently using Vmware Vsphere 4.1 (enterprise plus) with three hosts, and Veaam backup 4.1.2. on a virtual machine.
Because of SAN constructions I am using virtual appliance mode.
Now we are thinking about buying a Esx4i in another network (connected with fiber). Will I be able to backup vm's on that Esx4i host?

Addy

[Vitaliy S.]

Hello Addy,

If you want to continue using Virtual Appliance mode please note that disks of a backed up VMs (which will be residing on the remote ESXi host) must be located on storage accessible by the host on which the VM with Veeam Backup & Replication is running.

If this is not the case, consider using other vStorage API modes to backup VMs from that ESXi host.

Hope it helps!

[systeembeheerder]

Hi Vitaliy,

Lets make it a little more clear from my side. The current Veeam is running inside a DRS cluster of 3 hosts. It uses the virtual appliance mode and connects to the vCentre server for backup. This is the current running configuration.
On another site, we have 2 servers. We want to install Esx4i on those, and use local disk storage. On server 1 we want to install the paid version of ESX4i, as this is needed to use Veaam to backup. On server 2 we just want to install the free version, and use it as the backup destination. Will this be possible? Where will I redirect my backup file to? VMFS?NTFS share?

The mode of backup is not really an issue. I put it in this case to clarify the current installation.
So what mode would best fit the backing up of the vm's in Esx4i? Will I be able to use change block tracking?
One last thing: the paid version of ESX4i, is that just the free version with a filled in support key, or is it a different installer?

Sorry, lots of questions. I want to make the right choice.

[Vitaliy S.]

Thanks for the clearing things up. Please take a look at the answers below.

On server 2 we just want to install the free version, and use it as the backup destination. Will this be possible? Where will I redirect my backup file to? VMFS?NTFS share?

Actually, you cannot use ESXi host as a destination for the backup job, you can only replicate to ESXi hosts as per our release notes. If I were you, I would probably try mounting ESXi storage to a Linux server and use it as the destination for your backups on the remote site.

So what mode would best fit the backing up of the vm's in Esx4i?

As regards to the backup mode, assuming that you have local storages on the remote site, I would either continue using vStorage API - Network mode with your current backup server, or deploy secondary Veeam backup server on the ESXi host and use Virtual Appliance to backup VMs. You may easily manage both servers with Enterprise Manager console.

Will I be able to use change block tracking?

Yes, change block tracking can be used within any vStorage API backup mode.

One last thing: the paid version of ESX4i, is that just the free version with a filled in support key, or is it a different installer?

Both free and paid versions of ESXi hosts have the same installation bits, you may always upgrade to any version of ESXi by applying a corresponding license key.

Hope it helps!