Release Notes

61 Dell Virtual Storage Manager: Installation Considerations and Local Data Protection | 2079-BP-V-VSM
7.4 Recovering virtual machines using VSM
Recovering a virtual machine may be necessary for a variety of reasons such as a bad patch or software build, file
corruption, or user error. However, recovering from backups often incurs a long RTO and RPO, resulting in significant
downtime. While snapshots are not a replacement for traditional backups, they can be used to complement them, and
provide a shorter RTO and RPO.
With Virtual Volumes, the recovery process is significantly faster than traditional backup recovery process, and faster
than recovering a virtual machine from a VMFS datastore snapshot. The short recovery time is because the traditional,
lengthy part of the recovery (the movement of significant amounts of data), is replaced by unmapping the data virtual
volume and then remapping it to the selected snapshot. This recovery process is handled by the array in a few minutes.
7.4.1 Recovering complete virtual machine
Regardless as to how the VSM snapshot of the virtual machine was initialized (manually, as part of a scheduled, or
included within a virtual machine folder object), the recovery process is the same.
1. Initializing a recovery from a snapshot using one of the following methods:
- From the Dell VSM button under a virtual machine or virtual machine folder Manage tab, and then select
Snapshots.
- From the Dell VSM page, select Data Recovery under VSM Inventory. Select Snapshots from the Object
Type dropdown, and click the Search button. If there are a large number of virtual machines being
protected with snapshots, filter the results by putting a suitable search term in the Managed Object
Name textbox. Select the desired object to be recovered.
Note: An individual virtual machine can be recovered when the protected object is a virtual machine folder without
impacting or altering the other virtual machines protected within that virtual machine folder.
2. Select the particular snapshot to restore from, and click the Selective Restore icon . When a snapshot is
selected, the Restore Details pane displays information about the contents of the snapshot. For example, if
the object that was protected was a virtual machine folder, then details of the virtual machines and their
virtual disks will be displayed.
3. From the Selective Restore Inventory dialogue, select the virtual machine to be restored, and click Next to
continue.
4. Review the summary of the task, and click Finish.
7.4.2 Recovering individual files or virtual disks
Occasionally, it is preferable to not restore an entire virtual machine, but to restore individual files or an individual
virtual disk. In such instances, a clone vVol VM from snapshot recovery action can be used to assist in this recovery.
This process will create a new virtual machine from the selected snapshot, from which the lost data can be recovered.