The document discusses the differences in virtual machine backups, emphasizing hardware independence and the advantages of image-level backups over traditional file-level backups. It covers features like change block tracking (CBT) that enhance backup speed and efficiency, enabling functionalities such as fast restores, replication, and virtual labs. Traditional backup methods are inadequate for virtualization, necessitating tools designed specifically for VM environments.

1. Why Virtual Machine
Backups Are Different
David Davis
Twitter: @davidmdavis
Blog: www.VMwareVideos.com

2. About the speaker
 Previous VMware Customer, IT Manager, Server &
Network Admin with 18 years in IT
Contributor to industry publications

3. Agenda
Hardware Independence
Image Level vs. File Level Backups
Change Block Tracking (CBT)
New Possibilities With VM Backups – Fast Restore,
Replication, Virtual Lab, and more
Traditional Backup Doesn’t Understand Virtualization
What is the Right Tool for the Job?

4. Hardware Independence
Traditional architecture
Totally different approach required for virtualization

5. Hardware Independence
Virtualization architecture

6. Hardware Independence
 Abstracts OS from being tied to the hardware
 Guest OS now uses virtual hardware that works no
matter the underlying server hardware
 Allows you to move VMs from server to server (within
processor family)
 Hardware independence makes the benefits of
virtualization possible
Completely changes how you should look at backup

7. Image Level vs. File Level Backups
With virtualization, you can backup the entire “image” of
the server
No agent is required in the guest OS
No load is put on the guest OS
No end users are affected when the backup occurs
Backing up the image of the server is much faster and
less disruptive than backing up the files in the guest OS
Image level restores are much faster
Backup
Restore options and speed are critical
Restore

8. Change Block Tracking (CBT)
 With VMware ESX/ESXi 4.0 or later and virtual
machine HW version 7 or later, change block
tracking is possible
 Virtual machine disk blocks that are changed are
tracked outside of the guest OS
 CBT allows virtualization backup software to
backup only the changed blocks (software that
takes advantage of this feature)
Allows backups to only process changed blocks

9. New Possibilities with VM Backups
 VM portability (HW independence)
 vMotion / svMotion / DRS / VMHA
 Fast backup (change block tracking)
 Fast restore (mount for backup repository & image
level restore)
 Simplified disaster recovery
 Replication of only changed blocks to DR site
 Virtual Lab using backups of production VMs for
test & development
All made possible with use of virtualization

10. Traditional Backup Doesn’t
Understand Virtualization
 You need backups of the VMDK (virtual machine disk)
as well as the VMX (virtual machine configuration)

11. Traditional Backup Doesn’t
Understand Virtualization
 The VMX contains the VM’s virtual hardware and
configuration

12. Traditional Backup Doesn’t
Understand Virtualization
 Virtual machines move around thanks to vMotion and
Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)

13. What is the Right Tool for the Job?

14. What We Covered
Hardware Independence
Image Level vs. File Level Backups
Change Block Tracking (CBT)
New Possibilities With VM Backups – Fast Restore,
Replication, Virtual Lab, and more
Traditional Backup Doesn’t Understand Virtualization
What is the Right Tool for the Job?

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