ESX consolidated backup?

[ikotb]

I have an ESX installed on one server with consolidated backup add on how can I use it to backup ESX incase it get corrupted...etc? Does it backup the guest Os too?

[Dave_Mishchenko]

You'll want to take a read through the VCB manual which you can find here - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_vm_backup.pdf. A few things to note

1) VCB is meant for backing up VMs only. It does not do the ESX host itself. See page 17 of the above guide. In most cases, people opt not to backup ESX itself and in the case of a failure it is fairly easy and fast to rebuild the host from scratch.

2) With VCB you will need another Windows server which will function as the VCB proxy and supported backup software. For more details start at page 24 for how VCB works.

[weinstein5]

And to add to Dave's comments about VCB it also requires a SAN - either Fiber Channel or iSCSI

[ikotb]

Can i still backup the OSs that i have on ESX server and I dont have a SAN? Thx

[weinstein5]

NOt with VCB - one way would be to install a supported backup agent in the VMs themselves - that will allow you to backup the OSs

[Dave_Mishchenko]

VCB now supports two mode of backup - SAN mode for FC/iSCSI storage and LAN mode for NAS and local storage. See page 25 / 26 here http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_vm_backup.pdf.