Backup strategy for ESXi host with local storage

[ryan.kings]

Hi,

I've watched some Veeam webinars and read the documentation about how to implement Veeam in a VMWare environment, and I'm still left with a few questions. I'd appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

Here's my environment:

- One ESXi 5.1 host running multiple VMs including vCenter as an appliance. Host has one 7TB datastore using local storage.
- One physical workstation running Windows 7 with a licensed copy of Veeam installed. A mirroring backup unit is connected to it via eSATA.
- Backups from ESXi host to the physical workstation would run over a dedicated gigabit network.

Here are my questions:

- The documentation recommends the best practice of installing backup proxies on each VM if you're using the local storage option. If my backup performance is limited by the network anyway then wouldn't it be best to have the backup proxy be on the physical workstation to limit the CPU workload on the ESXi host?
- With this ESXi local storage scenario, will it be possible to back up the entire datastore at once instead of each VM separately?
- If I connect the eSATA device to the ESXi host, create a VM with Veeam on it, and back up locally on the host will this impact the host's CPU more than using the network method and offloading the work to the physical workstation?

Thanks!
Ryan

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Ryan,

- The documentation recommends the best practice of installing backup proxies on each VM if you're using the local storage option. If my backup performance is limited by the network anyway then wouldn't it be best to have the backup proxy be on the physical workstation to limit the CPU workload on the ESXi host?

Best practice does not tell you to install backup proxy on each VM, instead it says you need to install backup proxy on a VM that has access to the local storage. In this case you will be able to use HotAdd mode to perform backups and full VM restore operations, but you're right you can always use a default network proxy that will deployed on your Win7 box.

- With this ESXi local storage scenario, will it be possible to back up the entire datastore at once instead of each VM separately?

You can add your local storage as a source/container for your backup job and then backup all VMs hosted on this datastore.

- If I connect the eSATA device to the ESXi host, create a VM with Veeam on it, and back up locally on the host will this impact the host's CPU more than using the network method and offloading the work to the physical workstation?

Virtual proxy will, indeed, have some impact on your ESX(i) host performance, since your proxy server will be consuming CPU resources, but it's hard to say what would be better for your job performance without knowing your current workload and the hardware you're going to use.

Thanks!

[ryan.kings]

Awesome - thanks very much for your input!