Posts Tagged ‘vdr’

VMware announces VDR 1.2: Even more reasons to use it with CloudArray

Friday, June 11th, 2010

By Greg Roody

VMware announced a new version of VDR today that has a lot of improvements and new functionality.  In a nutshell, the new release supports:

  • a file level restore client for Linux virtual machines
  • ability to run up to 10 VDR appliances per vCenter Server instance
  • ability to fast switch between the deployed appliances via the vSphere Client plug-in
  • Better deduplication performance


They also addressed a lot of issues reported by customers since the initial release.

In support of this new release, we have placed a new release of CloudArray on our download site.   If you haven’t evaluated VDR yet, now is a good time.  Combined with CloudArray, you can quickly and easily store your VMware restore files on Cloud Storage, wither Public or Private with complete security.

This can extend your BC/DR capabilities to offsite storage without the expense of provisioning a second site or handling and managing tape.

Details of VDR 1.2 can be found at http://blogs.vmware.com/uptime/2010/06/new-vdr-release-out-today.html.

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VMware Backup: VDR to Cloud Storage might be just right for you

Friday, June 4th, 2010

by Greg Roody

VMware Data Recovery (VDR) isn’t new, it’s been around since the release of vSphere as a no-charge option, but it is gaining some new attention as a means of not only doing de-duplicated B2D but also as a means of storing those backups remotely to Cloud Storage.  In effect, combining VDR with a Cloud Storage option like CloudArray™ will achieve B2D2C in a simple, secure, and cost effective way.

VDR has its limitations to be sure; it only supports 100 VM’s and 2TB of de-du[ped/compressed target data (VMware does see up to a 10:1 comptression ratio however) per VDR instance and it doesn’t support linked vCenter servers or linked clones.  But even within those limitations (it’s a first generation product, and you can be sure VMware will improve it and expand its reach), it can be a very viable solution to real headaches you are fighting today.

One big win for VDR is that not only does it perform de-duplication, but it also does changed track updates.  What this means is that the notion of Weekly Full backups and Nightly Incremental is gone.   After you create the first image backup (and remember, it is doing block level de-dupe so even that is a much smaller image than your source), every backup after that only sends the changed data which is again also de-duped.   VDR also maintains restore points based on every backup run, so you still have multiple restore points to choose from, just like with traditional backup solutions.  Of course, it’s all disk based so there is no need to manage tapes.

Now combine that capability with CloudArray, and you can remotely replicate those backups to a Cloud Storage provider (Public or Private).   This provides a critical element for a BC/DR strategy without the direct expense of maintaining a second location.

With CloudArray, you have the option to maintain a full local copy in CloudArray cache, or a partial copy. The advantage of maintaining a full local copy is that you will never have to go to cloud storage to retrieve your backed up VM's unless you have a major site disruption. In either case, you have the option to take snapshots in the cloud, thus preserving older restore points and allowing you to maintain the consistency of the backup set in the event something happens to your on-line copy.

If needed, these remote backups can be restored to any location you choose, even from instances running on Amazon EC2.  This greatly expands your options if a disaster recovery site ever needs to be stood up.

Of course, being a B2D2C solution, the need for tape is eliminated, as is the need to manage those tapes or transport them to offsite storage facilities.  And since the backups are on-line, you can restore from either local cache or the Cloud without having to schedule a truck to go and try to find them.

It’s non-disruptive

There is no need to upgrade or rebuild your current environment to start using VDR.  It’s a simple appliance deployment and a plug-in, both included with vCenter and vSphere.  From the CloudArray side, it’s a simple appliance deployment and client UI install.  Along with some simple configuration steps, that’s all you need to start backing up your VM’s to cloud storage.  You can even retain your current backup environment, using VDR on only those VM’s you want at any given time and slowly converting over.

Fast. Simple. Secure.

You  can literally go from no solution to a complete VDR solution with CloudArray in under 30 minutes.   Included will be full AES 256 bit encryption to the target Cloud Service Provider.   You can watch a short 10 minute demo here (http://www.twinstrata.com/VideoCloudArrayVMwareVDR) of the major steps required to configure and use it.

And once you have CloudArray installed, you can also use it as primary VMFS storage or as RDM devices for any use with VMware.  That means that you can use SVmotion, cloning templates to cloud storage for safe keeping, or just build new VM’s directly onto cloud storage.

More Information.

Visit http://www.twinstrata.com/VMwareVDR.html for more information on using Cloud Storage with VMware, including customer use cases and real world applications.  You can learn more about VMware Data recovery at http://www.vmware.com/products/data-recovery/ , and you can follow discussions about VDR at VMware’s blog, http://blogs.vmware.com/uptime/.


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