Guidance - Reconfiguring a Server with the help of Veeam

[XpertEssentials]

Thank you all for the attention here. I am a lone IT pro and need to bounce a plan off the experts to make sure this is GTG.

Let me begin with the specs:


Server in Question

Dell T420 with 8 300GB SAS drives (2 of which are hot spares)
RAID 1 Array, RAID 5 Array
ESXi 5.5
RAID1 Datastore- SBS 2011
RAID 5 Datastore-Storage Server 2012, Windows 7 (*contains Veeam Installation), Exchange DB from SBS 2011 install, vCMA

*Add'l Resources

Dell PE 2850 Server
Synology NAS containing the Veeam Backups for the VMs on T420

Goal:

What I am looking to do is expand the storage capability of the T420 by replacing the 300GB drives with 600GB drives and changing the array configuration to a RAID 10. Looking at the expansion of our business, 2x the storage space while improving performance and redundancy should last our organization some time.

I believe what I can do here is this:

-Obviously, make sure all VMs are backed up and validated
-Install Veeam on the PE 2850 to get it off the ESXI host
-Replace the drives in the T420 and create a RAID 10 array
-Reinstall ESXI 5.5

This is where I get turned around a little bit. I am guessing I can now access the new host from the Veeam install on the PE and restore the VMs from the Synology Volume? Do I need to restore the configuration backup of the ESXI host after reinstalling on the new array? Do I need to backup and restore the Datastores instead of the individual VM's

PLEASE TAKE PARTCULAR NOTE that on the current setup the SBS VM has virtual hard drives on 2 datastores. I guess that wont matter as there will still be 2 datastores on the restore, just on the same array, whcih ESXi doesnt care about?

Mind is rambling at this point. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

[Vitaliy S.]

Hello Steven,

This is where I get turned around a little bit. I am guessing I can now access the new host from the Veeam install on the PE and restore the VMs from the Synology Volume?

Not sure I fully understand this question, if you can backup to this NAS box, then you can also restore from it.

Do I need to restore the configuration backup of the ESXI host after reinstalling on the new array?

Why do you want to re-install the ESXi host? Because of the hardware disk replacement? Our lab ESXi installation is running on the USB stick, so I don't need to re-install anything when upgrading the hardware. As to using configuration backup to transfer your current backup jobs, then, yes, you can do that, but you will need to rescan the entire virtual infrastructure after that.

Do I need to backup and restore the Datastores instead of the individual VM's

Yes, the recommended way of backing up VMs is to use VM containers, such as VM folders, resource pools, datastores.

PLEASE TAKE PARTCULAR NOTE that on the current setup the SBS VM has virtual hard drives on 2 datastores. I guess that wont matter as there will still be 2 datastores on the restore, just on the same array, whcih ESXi doesnt care about?

Yes, when restoring VMs you can choose any datastores for VM virtual disks.

Thank you!

[XpertEssentials]

XpertEssentials wrote:
This is where I get turned around a little bit. I am guessing I can now access the new host from the Veeam install on the PE and restore the VMs from the Synology Volume?

Not sure I fully understand this question, if you can backup to this NAS box, then you can also restore from it.

I am currently backing up from a VM on the host. I was implying that after I re-install on the PE, Ill be able to access those backups. Im answering my own question here, as its on the network, of of course I will...

Why do you want to re-install the ESXi host? Because of the hardware disk replacement? Our lab ESXi installation is running on the USB stick, so I don't need to re-install anything when upgrading the hardware. As to using configuration backup to transfer your current backup jobs, then, yes, you can do that, but you will need to rescan the entire virtual infrastructure after that.

Another "duh" moment. That is EXACTLY what I do in production. So yeah, obviously we are good here.

XpertEssentials wrote:
Do I need to backup and restore the Datastores instead of the individual VM's

Yes, the recommended way of backing up VMs is to use VM containers, such as VM folders, resource pools, datastores.

Ok, so currently in my backup jobs I am individually choosing each VM to back up. I should be choosing the datastores instead as BP?

XpertEssentials wrote:
Do I need to restore the configuration backup of the ESXI host after reinstalling on the new array?

What I was speaking of here was not the Veeam Configuration, but the ESXi configuration. I now "remember" that ESXi will not be wiped out because its on a USB drive, but its current config file will be looking for 4 VMs that are now not there because of the hardware changeout. Will this effect the bootup of the hypervisor?

As for the Veeam config, I was figuring I would just rebuild the backup job after I restored all the VMs from the backups. Ya?

[Vitaliy S.]

I was implying that after I re-install on the PE, Ill be able to access those backups. Im answering my own question here, as its on the network, of of course I will...

Yes, that's' correct. On a side note, you may consider having virtual proxy deployed on the ESXi host, this will allow you to backup and restore VMs through HotAdd mode. This mode provides better performance compared to network backup mode.

Ok, so currently in my backup jobs I am individually choosing each VM to back up. I should be choosing the datastores instead as BP?

I would choose either datastores or any other container (resource pool, VM folder). If you do this, your backup job will automatically pick up and process new VMs you provision to the infrastructure.

What I was speaking of here was not the Veeam Configuration, but the ESXi configuration. I now "remember" that ESXi will not be wiped out because its on a USB drive, but its current config file will be looking for 4 VMs that are now not there because of the hardware changeout. Will this effect the bootup of the hypervisor?

No, it will not.

As for the Veeam config, I was figuring I would just rebuild the backup job after I restored all the VMs from the backups. Ya?

This should also work fine.

[XpertEssentials]

Thank you for all your help. Seriously, its greatly appreciated!