IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware, Version 4.1

Integrating Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments

Tivoli® Storage FlashCopy® Manager for VMware can be integrated with the Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments to offload VMware image hardware snapshot backups on Tivoli Storage Manager server storage.

Backup overview

IBM® Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager snapshot backup versions of virtual machines are stored as hardware snapshots for most recovery scenarios. This scenario is the standard backup feature of Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware. However, when Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments is installed, snapshot backup versions of virtual machines can also be sent to Tivoli Storage Manager for long-term retention. This archive capability can be integrated with various disaster recovery strategies. When a backup of a virtual machine is sent to Tivoli Storage Manager, the actual data movement is performed by a data mover node. This movement minimizes the impact on resources available to the virtual machines in the vCenter. In addition, multiple data mover nodes can be used so that the Tivoli Storage Manager backup workload can be distributed. You can also schedule backup operations to a Tivoli Storage Manager server.

When you monitor this task, from the Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware GUI the status shows when the Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager snapshot backup is complete. After this task is completed, the movement of the snapshot to Tivoli Storage Manager occurs asynchronously. This task occurs a few minutes after the Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware snapshot is finished. The following tasks are initiated when snapshots are sent to Tivoli Storage Manager:

Attach the datastores and register the VMs to send to the auxiliary ESX host.
Run the backup.
Unregister the VMs and detach the datastores.

Restore overview

When snapshot backup versions of virtual machines are available, they can be restored from Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager storage or from Tivoli Storage Manager storage. The following restore destinations are available:

The original location
The same datastore but to a new virtual machine with a new name
A different datastore by using the same virtual machine name
A different datastore to a new virtual machine with a new name

Components

Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware uses the following components with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments:

Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware GUI

The GUI is integrated with the VMware vSphere Client.

There are two methods to access this GUI:

A plug-in that integrates with the VMware vSphere Client. This plug-in is accessed as a vCenter Client extension in the Solutions and Applications panel of the vSphere windows client or the Classic Solutions panel in the vSphere Web Client.
A stand-alone web browser GUI. This GUI is accessed through a URL bookmark to the GUI web server. For example:
```
https://guihost.mycompany.com:9081/TsmVMwareUI/
```
Note: The port number to access the GUI web server is specified during the installation.

Use this GUI as the primary interface from which to complete these Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments tasks:

Initiate a backup of your virtual machines to a Tivoli Storage Manager server, or schedule a backup for a later time
Initiate a full recovery of your virtual machines from a Tivoli Storage Manager server
Issue reports concerning backup, restore, and configuration activity

Data Protection for VMware command-line interface

This component provides specific parameters for Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments to complete these tasks:

Initiate a backup of your virtual machines to a Tivoli Storage Manager server, or schedule a backup for a later time
View configuration information about the backup database and environment.
Initiate a full recovery of your virtual machines, virtual machine files, or virtual machine Disks from a Tivoli Storage Manager server.

The Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware GUI is the primary interface to use for Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments tasks, the Data Protection for VMware command-line interface provides a useful secondary interface. For example, the Data Protection for VMware command-line interface can be used to implement a scheduling mechanism that is different from the one implemented by the Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware GUI. Also, the Data Protection for VMware command-line interface is useful when you are evaluating automation results with scripts.

Requirements

See the following web page to view the hardware and software applications that are required by Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21427692.

If you want to offload a virtual machine template to IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, the option VMENABLETEMPLATEBACKUPS must be enabled (VMENABLETEMPLATEBACKUPS Yes) on the data mover node. The VMENABLETEMPLATEBACKUPS option specifies whether the client backs up VMware template virtual machines when it protects virtual machines in a vCenter server. Depending on the operating system, this option is set in the dsm.opt or dsm.sys options file.

Feedback