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Backup method for Veritas clustered VMs with RDM LUNs

  • 29 October 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 496 views

Hello,

I am looking for best method/practices to perform the backup & restore of the infrastructure as detailed below.

VMWare environment with Datastores coming from NetApp storage.

NetApp LUNs are also presented to ESXi servers and mapped to multiple Linux VMs (generally 4 VMs) as RDM LUNs in the physical compatibility mode. OS can see the LUNs as Direct Access LUNs.

4 x VMs are in Clustered environment running Veritas Cluster. The clustered file system are on either of the node at a time and application run from that node.

We are not using IntelliSnap, even if I configure IntelliSnap (NetApp) I think taking image level backup of the VM including RDM LUNs would not be sufficient.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Regards,

Jaspreet

Hi @Jaspreet,

You are right that you need Intellisnap to backup RDMs. That is documented here. I think the only real option you have without Intellisnap is to install an agent in the VM and protect it using a conventional file system backup. You are also right that Intellisnap would be taking a ‘blind’ snap of the RDM on the NetApp which could make it inconsistent and require extra work to recover from.

FS agent has support for veritas clusters to ensure content discovery & backups.

When it comes to recovery, you could restore the VM and re-attach the RDM. If you need to restore the RDM data, recover it using the FS agent instead. The FS method should be consistent than a dirty 

Not the most elegant solution, but a solution none-the-less. Blended VM snap + FS backup will get you the most consistent backup.

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