What to use ?

[Damian Netspeed]

I am wondering what is the best type of backup/copy/replication to use to backup VMs(vmware) from SAN storage to local storage on hosts
I have 2 hosts running VMs from a SAN but also have local storage on the hosts in case there is an issue with the SAN.
What would be the best option to use ? I would have used "replication" in the past but not sure if "copy" is a better option ?

Thanks

[Vitaliy S.]

To be on the safe side, I would recommend at least running replication jobs from your SAN storage to the local datastores of the ESX(i) hosts. In addition to this, I would suggest running backup jobs to either NAS device or any physical spare Windows box. This will protect you from losing your production SAN and will allow you to perform quick FLR operations if required.

Besides, since backups are stored in compressed and deduped format, those files are the best candidates for long term backup archival purposes.