ESX Servers Datastores - HP EVA81000 RSM Commandview - Backup - How to

[TODD SMITH]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone out there are their datasstore attach as 4 * 500GB to as ESX 3.5 Update 3 servers so that the total volume under ESX is 2TBs.

If so how do you handle the HP EVA snapshot of these 4 individual drives.

I would like to be able to snapshot all the volumes that make up the 2TB at once, so I can use netbackup 6.5.3 to backup the volumes.

Is this even possible?

Virutal center 2.5 Update 4.

HP Commnandview 8.0

HP RSM Version 4.0.124

Thanks in advance

[Uwe Zessin]

> the total volume under ESX is 2TBs.

Maybe I'm misreading this, but the 2 TeraByte limit is per disk, not total. If I remember correctly ESX can address up to 64 TB.

> snapshot ... at once,

SSSU provides a 'multisnap' command (don't knw off-hand about RSM's ability), but it is not required unless you need a crash-consistency across multiple datastores, because a VM is split.

[Paul Szelesi]

Hi, if you are wanting to present 2TB to a VMFS volume (two terabyte still largest Lun presentable but larger volumes capable of being used if you use extents, another issue can arise there. simplest form of snapshotting if your doing this is to use Vmware consolidated backup which will snapshot into the VMFS and not unused space. a presented volume to a backup machine can handle the B2D of the image file and backup to tape later. dont forget the 4 drives will not exist as the storage will be virtualised over at least 8 disks on your 8100 so you should have some spare capacity anyway on the 8 disks unless your double sparing on a 8 disk diskgroup, in which case you have 0 space.

hope this helped

[Paul Szelesi]

Re-read and I understand slowly this time!
you have 4 datstores sized at 500GB each.

still use same methodolgy with using VCB and use the Netbackup agent to snapshot the VM's and not the datstores, or even just snapshot the datastores and all the contents, either way it keeps the snapshots off the array so to speak and inside the datstores or presented Luns

cheers

paul