BackupExec 2010/12 for Hyper-V

[mcrompton01]

Afternoon,

 

I'm hoping someone will be able give me a hand at working out what backupexec license I'll need in a virtualised environment (Hyper-V). Our setup after the summer will be:

 

• 4x Virtual Server Hosts (Running 2008R2 Core - with the Hyper-V role)
  
• 3x Physical Servers - Forest Root / SIMS&SQL / Exchange
  
• Each of the Virtual Servers will host 3/4 VMs
  

 

Our backup routine is and is based on BackupExec 2010 (v12.5) but there is money available to upgrade to 2012:

• Monday - Thursday - Deferential Backups
  
• Friday - Full Backup (then taken offsite)
  

 

At the moment I have the following BackupExec Licenses:

• 1x Media Server License
  
• 1x Advanced Disk-Based Backup Option
  
• 8x Windows Remote Agents
  

 

Would I need to purchase 4 copies of the Hyper-V agent or could i just install the existing server agents on to the virtual servers (not the hosts)?? The idea is to keep the exisitng backup schedule if possible.

 

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Mark @ Kingsmead

[sukh]

Would it be easier if you just contacted sales directly?

[mcrompton01]

It might be, but i wanted to go with at least an idea of what license I might require.

[Rozzer]

I would recommend playing with DPM 2012 before going for symantec. Its cheaper and just as effective

[RabbieBurns]

Cant answer your bexec question but if you are open to alternatives, Ive gone with Storage Craft ShadowProtect for backing up our VM's.

 

VMWare Backup & Replication - ESX Backup - VM Backup | ShadowProtect Virtual

[FN-GM]

The agents for Hyper-V for backup Exec are very expensive! I would also recommenced looking at DPM.

[Valyyn]

Each Hyper-V licence comes with unlimited standard windows agents for the VMs it is running.

 

Obviously if you want to back up the actual VMs for complete restoration than you will need the Hyper-V licences for the servers.

 

My understanding though is that if you're not too bothered about that and just want to back up the files, then you would be fine just buying a standard windows agent for each VM.

 

I would double-check with their sales guys, but that's how I understand it at least

[m25man]

The 2012 VRay Edition License includes all of the VM's and the Physical Host Server - PER PHYSICAL SERVER

 

If you have a 3 node cluster you will need 3 x 2012 VRAY Edition at around £600 each!

 

You DO NOT need ANY additional Agents for Virtual Machines such as Exchange/SQL these are included in VRay Edition.

 

YOU DO NEED ADDITIONAL AGENTS if you want to backup/include any other servers that are NOT hosted on the Hyper-V Hosts.

 

Backup Exec 2012 VRay Edition is the replacement for BE 2010 Virtual Edition.

It uses a clever combination of BE, BESR, CDP in an attempt to provide a single solution for both Physical and Virtual Servers.

 

The Physical Nodes can backup the VHD's hosted on them or each Virtual Server can have the Agent deployed on it allowing it to be backed up in a traditional manner.

 

Restoring files, disks or volumes is easy you just browse the backups from an enabled host and mount the back up as another Disk the Drag and Drop files/folders.

Full DR is done by booting from a special DVD on the server to be restored browsing to backups and restoring the image.

You can also do V2P P2V conversions.

 

I wouldnt say it is any better or worse than several other solutions I have tried, they claim it is the only solution that will do all of the above in a single package, Veem I think only backs up VM's not Hosts.

 

I found out all of the above as I am a BESR user and was trying to get Symantec to offer the same 40% discount to BESR Users that want to migrate to VRay but stupidly they only give the discount to competetive trade up's not to existing loyal users who want to switch from System Recovery to Backup Exec, it appears they would rather loose customers that keep them.

 

The Manual is around 1650 pages long, if thats not enough to dicourage you then you can try it free for 60 days at least.

[timzim]

Check your support agreement with Symantec - we also had BackupExec 2010 and, when I logged into the Symantec licensing site, I found we had a free upgrade to the 2012 version as part of our agreement.

Watch out though as the 2012 version is a totally different bottle of chips to the 2010 - even though it all upgraded fairly easily I'm still trying to work it where everything is & how it works...groan.

[mcrompton01]

Thanks all for your advice at least I've got something to go to suppliers with.

 

Thanks again

Mark

[DMcCoy]

Only one thing to note Backup Exec, any version, cannot backup to disk, or removable disk *AND* encrypt the contents if GRT is used. This means exchange, AD, SQL, Hyper-V VHDs etc (anything in an IMG*) folder is not encrypted. The only way is to backup to LTO4/5 where the key is handed to the tape at the start of the job (at least according to the documentation).

[FN-GM]

Only one thing to note Backup Exec, any version, cannot backup to disk, or removable disk *AND* encrypt the contents if GRT is used. This means exchange, AD, SQL, Hyper-V VHDs etc (anything in an IMG*) folder is not encrypted. The only way is to backup to LTO4/5 where the key is handed to the tape at the start of the job (at least according to the documentation).

 

For people who require this you could but locker the server

[Max_Power]

The 2012 VRay Edition License includes all of the VM's and the Physical Host Server - PER PHYSICAL SERVER

 

If you have a 3 node cluster you will need 3 x 2012 VRAY Edition at around £600 each!

 

You DO NOT need ANY additional Agents for Virtual Machines such as Exchange/SQL these are included in VRay Edition.

 

YOU DO NEED ADDITIONAL AGENTS if you want to backup/include any other servers that are NOT hosted on the Hyper-V Hosts.

 

Backup Exec 2012 VRay Edition is the replacement for BE 2010 Virtual Edition.

It uses a clever combination of BE, BESR, CDP in an attempt to provide a single solution for both Physical and Virtual Servers.

 

The Physical Nodes can backup the VHD's hosted on them or each Virtual Server can have the Agent deployed on it allowing it to be backed up in a traditional manner.

 

Restoring files, disks or volumes is easy you just browse the backups from an enabled host and mount the back up as another Disk the Drag and Drop files/folders.

Full DR is done by booting from a special DVD on the server to be restored browsing to backups and restoring the image.

You can also do V2P P2V conversions.

 

I wouldnt say it is any better or worse than several other solutions I have tried, they claim it is the only solution that will do all of the above in a single package, Veem I think only backs up VM's not Hosts.

 

I found out all of the above as I am a BESR user and was trying to get Symantec to offer the same 40% discount to BESR Users that want to migrate to VRay but stupidly they only give the discount to competetive trade up's not to existing loyal users who want to switch from System Recovery to Backup Exec, it appears they would rather loose customers that keep them.

 

The Manual is around 1650 pages long, if thats not enough to dicourage you then you can try it free for 60 days at least.

 

Sorry to bump old thread - Just wondering if anyone is using 2012 v-Ray to good effect? Is it worth the $$?

 

Currently on backup exec 2010 which has been fine, and upgrade is available through our licence to 2012 for agents etc, but wondered if its worth paying out for the v-ray edition. We utilise 4 VMware hosts with a number of VMs on each etc.

 

Any feedback on the producu or info would be useful. Thanks

[m25man]

I think you will find the general consensus regarding the V-Ray product has been poor, mostly due to the radical redesign of the familiar BE way of doing things and a rather complex, buggy and fraught with issues upgrade process.

 

However after a complete rethink and a lot of code changes they may well be on the way to be making it usable.

We had real problems with it until the symantec engineers patch the software to make the Tanndberg removable library work properly to the point where we had considered dropping it.

 

The best approach is to clean install the latest version and start from scratch.

 

However if your using VMWare like so many others here you might as well look at the Veeam option for your Virtual Systems it will be a lot easier if its whole VM protection your looking for.

 

Your dilemma is with a current version and upgrade rights, switching vendors is not an easy choice.

It's sometimes a case of better the devil....

[Max_Power]

I think you will find the general consensus regarding the V-Ray product has been poor, mostly due to the radical redesign of the familiar BE way of doing things and a rather complex, buggy and fraught with issues upgrade process.

 

However after a complete rethink and a lot of code changes they may well be on the way to be making it usable.

We had real problems with it until the symantec engineers patch the software to make the Tanndberg removable library work properly to the point where we had considered dropping it.

 

The best approach is to clean install the latest version and start from scratch.

 

However if your using VMWare like so many others here you might as well look at the Veeam option for your Virtual Systems it will be a lot easier if its whole VM protection your looking for.

 

Your dilemma is with a current version and upgrade rights, switching vendors is not an easy choice.

It's sometimes a case of better the devil....

 

Thanks for the feedback - will conduct a little more research before making a decision.

[maark]

use Veeam: Modern Data Protection I use the free version and it does a good job of backing up hyper v servers

[zag]

We moved away from backupexec recently as well for our hyper v machines.

 

Use Veeam now and its so much better!

[Davit2005]

Would hold fire with Backup Exec 2012 until they have rolled out R2 and fixed any bugs with that. I regret having upgraded to 2012.

 

Consider DPM as you may get a good educational license.