About the disk format for Instant VM Recoevey

[Asahi]

Hi ,

I would like someone to tell me what disk format will be used for Instant VM Recovery to VMware environment.
For Instant VM Recovery of a physical Windows machine and a Hyper-V VM to VMware, which disk format will be restored?

In the case of physical machine backup data acquired by the Agent, we found that it is created by Thick provisioning.
post360011.html?hilit=Thin%20Instant%20 ... ry#p360011

Will the Hyper-V VMs be restored with Thick disks as well?

Best Regards,
Asahi,
Climb Inc.

[Mildur]

For VmWare, you can choose the disk type in the Migrate to Production Wizard
For HyperV, I have todo a little research.

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110

By default, Veeam Backup & Replication saves disks of relocated VMs in the thin format. If necessary, you can change the disk format. For example, if the original VM uses thick disks, you can change the disk format of the relocated VM to thin provisioned and save on disk space required to store VM data.

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In the Disk Type Settings section, choose the format that will be used to restore VM disk files: same as the source disk, thin or thick.

[Asahi]

Hi Mildur,

Thank you for information!

Sure, with Quick Migration, I can change the disk format.
But I was thinking of using Storage vMotion for the migration...
※Because I want to migrate my VMs online and fast!

If Quick Migration is not used, in which disk format will Hyper-V VMs be restored?

Kind Regards,
Asahi,
Climb Inc.

[Mildur]

You can choose the disk Type.
Quick Migration Wizard will always be open, if you are choosing the "Migration to Production" button.
Vm will be moved with "Storage vMotion", if you have the license. If you don't have the license, Veeams own migration process with shutdown/PowerOn VM process will be used.
One feature of vMotion is to change the disk type in the move process.

Quick Migration Overview:
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110

Quick Migration Type 1:

vMotion and Storage vMotion
vMotion and Storage vMotion are native migration mechanisms of VMware vCenter. Veeam Backup & Replication uses these methods whenever it is possible.

Quick Migration Type 2:

Veeam Quick Migration
Veeam Quick Migration is the Veeam Backup & Replication proprietary technology. Veeam Backup & Replication uses this method when VMware vCenter methods cannot be used. For example, if your VMware vSphere license does not provide support for vMotion and Storage vMotion, or you need to migrate VMs from one standalone ESXi host to another.

I don't have the answer for hyperV yet. I haven't a hyperV Server to test this. I can imagine Veeam always checking the source format with hyper V and restoring it that way. But I'm not sure yet

[Asahi]

Hi Mildur,

Thank you for reply!

I understand that Storage vMotion can be used in Quick Migration.
Incidentally, am I correct in understanding that Storage vMotion can be used during migration even when "Redirect write cache" is enabled in a vSphere 6.7 environment?

Kind Regards,
Asahi,
Climb Inc.

[Mildur]

Hi Asahi

Yes, Storage vMotion can be used in this scenario. But you are right, there are some limitations.
I have tested the redirection with another datastore. With separate datastores for Cache and Migration Target, Storage vMotion will be used. With both Modes (vMotion, Veeam Quick Migration), disk type can be configured.

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110

• If you migrate workloads to the same datastore cluster that is used as the destination for redirecting virtual disk updates, you must enable the Force Veeam transport usage check box at the Transfer step of the Quick Migration wizard. Otherwise, your migrated workload may be deleted.

• If you migrate workloads to the same datastore that is used as the destination for redirecting virtual disk updates, Veeam Backup & Replication uses Veeam Quick Migration instead of Storage vMotion. Such behavior prevents data loss due to a bug in VMware Storage vMotion. For more information on migration, see the Quick Migration section.

Another Datastore like the redirect cache disk:
SERVER_restored
[Mode] VMotion
[Host] HOST01 > HOST01
[Resource pool] Resources > Resources
[VM folder] vm > vm
[Datastore] VeeamBackup_BACKUPSERVER > DATASTORE02

Same Datastore like the redirect cache disk:
SERVER_restored
[Mode] SmartSwitch
[Host] HOST01 > HOST01
[Resource pool] Resources > Resources
[VM folder] vm > vm
[Datastore] VeeamBackup_BACKUPSERVER > DATASTORE01

[tyler.jurgens]

I don't have the answer for hyperV yet. I haven't a hyperV Server to test this. I can imagine Veeam always checking the source format with hyper V and restoring it that way. But I'm not sure yet

Did you ever find an answer for this @Mildur? From what I can tell, there is no way to force Veeam to do an "Migrate to production" and have it force a thin provisioned disk when doing an Instant VM recovery from a Hyper-V backup to VMware.

Now, given that I cannot migrate the VM to production and force a thin provisioned disk (at least, not that I can find) - what would happen if I use vSphere to perform a storage vMotion of that VM to the datastore of my choice. Would Veeam handle that gracefully?