Administrator Guide

VMware
Replay Manager supports backing up and restoring VMware datastores and virtual machines on VMware ESXi hosts that are
managed by a vCenter Server.
Backup Extensions for VMware
Two VMware-specific backup extensions, VMware Datastores and VMware Virtual Machines, support VMware integration.
Although both extensions provide flexible options to create VM embedded Replays, you should understand each backup
extension to determine which backup extension is best suited for a particular job or environment.
VMware Datastores
Use the VMware Datastores backup extension to create Replay Manager jobs based on vSphere datastores. This extension
allows large groups of virtual machines to be protected by a Replay simply by selecting the datastore or datastores the virtual
machines reside on. Any other data contained on the datastore is also included such as templates and .ISO files which are
commonly found in virtual datacenters. This extension is ideal for virtual machines that have a single virtual machine disk file
(.vmdk) or that have multiple .vmdk files residing on the same datastore.
NOTE: The VMware Datastore extension only supports the Expose data recovery action. It does not support the automated
Restore recovery action nor does it support physical or virtual RDMs or VMFS volumes.
When using the VMware Datastores backup extension, consider the following:
● If a virtual machine straddles multiple VMFS datastores, you may still use the VMware Datastores backup extension.
However, all datastores required to obtain a complete job must be selected.
● Because virtual machine protection is founded at the datastore layer, the Replay Manager job methodology should fit each of
the virtual machines on the datastore. Only one Replay Manager job is needed for a datastore. This practice helps to prevent
Replay Manager jobs from overlapping.
VMware Virtual Machines
Use the VMware Virtual Machines backup extension to create Replay Manager jobs with finer granularity based on individual
virtual machines. This extension supports both the Expose and Restore data operations.
The placement of the virtual machines or their virtual machine disk files (.vmdk) across datastores or the use of RDMs is not
a constraint because Replay Manager determines the necessary datastores and volumes to include at the time of job creation.
However, since vSphere cannot create a VMware snapshot of physical RDMs, the physical RDM Replays are unlikely to be
consistent with the Replay containing the .vmdk file for the same virtual machine. Additionally, the VMware Virtual Machines
backup extension supports including virtual machine memory in the VMware snapshot contained in the Replay.
NOTE: Use this extension if the virtual machine memory state is a requirement.
When using the VMware Virtual Machines backup extension, consider the following.
● Grouping by data protection characteristics
Replay Manager jobs created using the VMware Virtual Machines backup extension should be grouped by similar or identical
data protection characteristics to minimize the overlap of Replay Manager jobs in the queue and to ensure the required
protection and retention of virtual machine data.
● Backing up RDMs
To include RDM volumes when using the VMware Virtual Machines backup extension, select the virtual machine configured
to use the RDM.
● Backing up physical mode RDMs
To include pRDM volumes when using the VMware Virtual Machines backup extension, select the virtual machine configured
to use the pRDM. To include physical RDMs in a backup, select the Create Storage Center Replay of Physical RDMs
backup set option.
NOTE:
Windows guest virtual machines that store data for VSS aware applications (like SQL Server or Exchange) on
physical RDMs, or iSCSI volumes mapped directly to the guest, may fail to create snapshots when using the VMware
62 Replay Manager Best Practices