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VM DATA PROTECTION
BASICS
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VIRTUAL MACHINE DATA PROTECTION BASICS
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WHAT ARE THE BACKUP OPTIONS?
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A DIFFERENT KIND OF ANIMAL
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A COMPLETE SOLUTION
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A DIFFERENT KIND OF DATA PROTECTION
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WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?
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VIRTUAL MACHINE DATA PROTECTION BASICS Virtual machines have been spreading like smartphones throughout the world’s businesses. They make good financial sense by greatly reducing the number of physical machines required to handle the ever-increasing data demands of a modern 24/7 organization. VMs simplify management by consolidating servers into a single control panel. Even the smallest companies are taking advantage of this leading-edge technology.
simplify management by consolidating servers into a single control panel
Virtualization means that one physical computer can host multiple virtual machines (VMs). Each VM appears to the network, and functions, as if it were a physical server, complete with operating system, software applications and data. An administrative application such as VMware manages this process by allocating memory, CPU time, storage and other resources as necessary. The software control system that supervises all this sharing is called a hypervisor.
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Discrete virtual machines, complete with isolated operating systems and applications, share physical server resources like CPU, memory and disk, through the management layer of a hypervisor.
Smart technology managers already know that backing up the company’s data is crucial to survival in case the business is hit by fire, theft, data corruption or other catastrophes. But the very convenience offered by VMs can set a trap for the unwary, leading them to believe that their systems are protected when in fact they are not.
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A DIFFERENT KIND OF ANIMAL Superficially, your company’s virtual machine system may look like the same old server sitting in the corner, but in fact it’s quite different than before. There are a lot of important pieces moving around inside that computer, and keeping track of them is no simple task. Everything that might occur on a physical server also happens inside a virtual machine, but the VM content is much more than just the data files. There are also operating system files, logs, services, and all of the components that allow the VM to fool other software applications into thinking that it’s a server like any other. Virtualization can also sneak up on you, which greatly complicates the backup process. New VMs are so easy to deploy that they tend to pop up as needed, but are not necessarily part of the policies you have so carefully created. And the widespread use of VMs in test or development environments can mean new challenges when the development data suddenly becomes mission-critical.
Backup processes that treat this dynamic environment as if it were just another plain vanilla computer are asking for trouble!
I THOUGHT THAT SYSTEM WAS PROTECTED...
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A DIFFERENT KIND OF DATA PROTECTION Virtual machines are dynamic, and tend to move around. By design, VMs are easy to set up, so they can appear whenever an administrator needs to try something out before deploying it on a large scale. Moving an entire VM from one physical machine to another is simple, and is a logical way to deploy a test system or continue operations while maintaining or upgrading the physical server. In addition, much of the contents of VMs are redundant. Start with the fact that each VM needs its own copy of an operating system. That could mean, for example, 25 identical copies of Windows, all backed up separately. Then there are the application software files, many of which may be common to multiple VMs.
working with virtual machines, there will be a huge waste of backup disk space, as well as unnecessary use of CPU processing power. And with VMs appearing, disappearing, and moving, it is difficult to feel confident that the data crucial to your business is being backed up properly.
To make matters worse, VMs create a lot of temporary files that aren’t always cleaned up when they should be. This adds to the complication of data protection. Thus, the dynamic, redundant and transient nature of VMs has major implications for a backup strategy. If your data protection system is not optimized for
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VMs are very easy to move from one physical server to another, remaining live, with no downtime. This may occur to better balance workload, or perhaps enable a hardware upgrade. VM movement can even be configured to occur automatically at pre-defined thresholds. This dynamic aspect of VMs can create a challenge to conventional backup approaches.
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WHAT ARE THE BACKUP OPTIONS? Now that you’re convinced of the importance of protecting virtual machines and their data, what are the options? SNAPSHOT The most basic approach is the snapshot, which is usually a built-in feature of the VM software itself. This captures a moment in time, including not only all the software (OS, applications and data) but also the contents of the VM’s memory. One difficulty with this approach is that the snapshot is typically stored on the same physical server as the VM, offering no protection against disk crashes or natural disasters. Another drawback is that snapshots are so storage-intensive that few people retain them for long. And finding an individual file is a tedious process.
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Snapshots store an image of the VM at a particular instant. Snapshots are great tools but alone they do not provide an adequate level of data protection.
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TRADITIONAL BACKUP SOFTWARE A more comprehensive option is to use traditional backup software. These applications often treat each VM as a real, physical server, with a backup agent deployed on each VM. This approach has the disadvantage of consuming large amounts of resources, which is problematic as VMs share physical resources. In addition, the backup application doesn’t know anything about the VM itself, so those files are not backed up, nor is it aware of redundant data across VMs.
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Applying the traditional approach of backing up physical servers, installing agents on each server and backing up through a media server, creates large demands on CPU and network resources, slowing down system and network performance.
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VM SPECIFIC SOFTWARE Significant advancements have been made by software applications designed specifically for protecting VM environments. These VM-aware applications understand the inner-workings of VM environments and integrate with the hypervisors to simplify the management and improve the efficiency of VM data protection processes. This approach eliminates the need for agents, significantly improving system and network performance, and reduces the amount of storage capacity required.
vmPRO
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IMPROVED SYSTEM AND NETWORK PERFORMANCE DXi4601
Reduces storage needs 95%
VM-aware applications leverage hypervisor tools to simplify the management and improve the performance of VM data protection.
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A COMPLETE SOLUTION The Quantum vmPRO software is a backup application designed to simplify the management of protecting VM environments. vmPRO installs as a virtual appliance in your existing VMware environment, eliminating the need for backup agents. Built on an innovative combination of technologies, vmPRO software has a number of advantages, including: → Progressive optimization filters out inactive data from each VM before storing it, resulting in up to a 75% reduction in storage space, network traffic and CPU overhead, which improves system and network performance while reducing storage costs. → Auto discovery of VMs on the network, to ensure new and moved VMs are protected, which is very important due to the dynamic nature of VMs.
→ Data is stored in native file format, enabling simple single-file or full VM restores; the stored data is bootable directly from the storage device or can be simply “dragged and dropped” to another device – unlike proprietary formats that complicate the file identification and restoration process. → File-system view provides a simple unified directory view of the entire VM environment, allowing easy navigation and access to all VM data.
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vmPRO provides direct, file system view of all VMs across multiple physical servers.
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vmPRO Software IDEAL TURNKEY SOLUTION The vmPRO 4000 is a complete VM data protection solution, including vmPRO software and a DXi4000 series deduplication appliance. Deduplication technology excels in VM environments, as they tend to have much more redundant data. The vmPRO 4000 is available in a 2TB configuration or in scalable configurations from 4TB to 12TB. The Capacity-onDemand (COD) scalability provided in the vmPRO 4601 models is unique in the industry as the only solution that scales with only a software license, extending the product life simply with no additional hardware to purchase or install. The vmPRO software is ideally suited for use with DXi deduplication appliances, providing the highest deduplication rates, with typically a 95% storage reduction.
Simplifies and accelerates the backup and restore process for VMware virtualized environments Reduces network traffic and CPU workload by 75%, improving backup performance without impacting other processes Supports backup for Microsoft SQL Server and Exchange Stores data in native file format, for simple file or full-system restores; enabling bootable VMs from the storage device Auto-discovers new and moved VMs ensuring all data is protected
vmPRO 4000 Features high-performance deduplication to reduce typical bandwidth requirements by a factor of 50 or more, turning existing WANs into effective disaster recovery networks The DXi4601 is the industry’s first Capacity-on-Demand deduplication appliance, starting at 4TB of capacity and scaling up to 12TB by simply activating a license key The vmPRO 4000 is a turnkey solution optimized for virtual machine environments, including both backup software and DXi storage to retain months of data The vmPRO software is a virtual appliance that simplifies the management while improving the performance of protecting virtual environments
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WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE? While virtual machines may be relatively new, Quantum has been protecting business data for more than 30 years. It is a pioneer in data deduplication technology as well as data storage, so you can have confidence in a proven and cost-effective backup and archiving solution. For more information about the vmPRO 4000 and VM data protection, consult a knowledgeable reseller in your area.
ABOUT QUANTUM Quantum is a proven global expert in Data Protection and Big Data management, providing specialized storage solutions for physical, virtual and cloud environments. From small businesses to major enterprises, more than 50,000 customers trust Quantum to help maximize the value of their data by protecting and preserving it over its entire lifecycle. With Quantum, customers can Be Certain they’re able to adapt in a changing world – keeping more data longer, bridging from today to tomorrow, and reducing costs. See how at www.quantum.com/BeCertain.
To learn additional product details, visit www.quantum.com and click on the Products tab. You will find publications, videos, slide presentations and podcasts to give you a complete background on the subject.
In North America, call a product representative at the Quantum Call Center, toll-free at 888-738-1533.
www.quantum.com • 1.888.738.1533 ©2012 Quantum Corporation. All rights reserved. Quantum, the Quantum logo and DXi are registered trademarks of Quantum Corporation and its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
BE CERTAIN
ST00900A-v01 August 2012
