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Tag Archives: Vmware

Avamar vs. Quantum Backups

February 18, 2011 3:06 pm / Albertech.net

Time to replace the LTO3 Tapes for something better

I’ve been working on a quick list of pros and cons for each backup solution. Pricing, backup time, network traffic, hardware, and software are key differences between Avamar and Quantum.

Avamar

  • Client backup software is included in the “capacity license”. This means you are licensing by the amount of storage you are using and not per server. This means you only need to deal with a single vendor for supporting both the backup software and hardware. Avamar has the edge if you have several servers/workstations to backup. The capacity license is around $10,000 per TB. Source: http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?edc=1290159
    Downsides: Cost is high if you have lots of non-redundant data (several TB worth) and can’t take advantage of the de-dupe.
  • De-dupe is done at the client side. The main advantages to this are that it will reduce the backup time and lower the amount of traffic going through your network. This is especially useful if you have a file server with a lot of redundant data and your network is the bottleneck. Also, its a good solution for backing up clients in remote offices. Downsides: this is that it will increase the amount of CPU usage on the client end. De-dupe is not very effective for databases (or data centers)
  • Integration with VMWARE. Support for VMWare Consolidated Backup. In a virtual environment with traditional Windows VMs (non database/Exchange boxes), VMCB is a good option to prevent virtual machines from taking up all the hardware resources during a backup.
  • Faster backups (see de-dupe reason)
  • Reduced network traffic (see de-dupe reason)
  • Avamar hardware cost. The hardware cost is higher compared to other solutions.  They highly recommend their RAIN setup, which means you will need to purchase at least 4 Avamar storage nodes. Three active data nodes are required with one spare/utility nodes. The advantage of the RAIN setup is that if a server node fails, the backups will continue to work.  A lower cost setup is their single node configuration with 2 active data nodes. If high availability is important, the RAIN setup is probably one of the best out there.
    Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/41238949/Avamar-5-Operational-Best-Practices
  • Scalability. Increasing the amount of space in an Avamar environment requires the purchase of additional Avamar storage node(s) and Avamar capacity licenses.

Quantum

  • Client software is not included. If you have an established backup environment and looking for more space or replacing a tape-based system, the Quantum is a good option. If you are starting from scratch, the client backup software agents such as Symantec NetBackup will considerably add to the cost. Avamar has the edge for pricing once you factor in the cost of licensing backup agents for 20-40 servers.
  • Pricing. Quantum pricing is very competitive since you don’t have to purchase capacity licenses. Client backup software is not included (to keep the price down), so its a better solution for an established backup environment. Quantum has the pricing advantage if you need to backup large amounts of data that cannot be de-duplicated.
  • De-dupe is done on the backup server end. The full data set is sent to the backup server first before de-duplication occurs. The data is stored in memory on the backup server before writing to disk (added in DXi 2.0). The CPU usage of the client systems are minimally affected since de-dupe is done on the server. Ideally, de-dupe should not be done on database servers since they usually have high CPU usage. Downside: This does not reduce the backup time/window and won’t reduce the amount of network traffic.
  • Backup time is still limited by the amount of traffic going through the network and the speed of the backup device. The performance on Quantum devices are 1-2TB/hour.
  • Network traffic is not reduced. Not ideal for remote locations with slow networks.
  • Integration with VMWARE is a 3rd party product. Quantum supports VMCB for an additional cost. Source: http://searchdatabackup.techtarget.com/news/1362208/Quantum-adds-VMware-data-backup-encryption-key-management-device
  • Flexibility. You can utilize existing backup software, servers, tape drives. One can use specialized backup agents that are designed to work with Exchange, SQL server, or other data that changes often. The Quantum is marketed as a storage target.
  • Hardware cost. The Quantum hardware cost is less than Avamar. One reason is that the Quantum storage device capacity is much larger than the Avamar 2TB or 3.3TB nodes, so  fewer storage appliances are needed. Downside: If you only purchase 1 Quantum backup appliance and it goes down, you won’t have backups.  They do offer Gold support with 24 hour, 7 days a week, 4 hour turnaround time. If you need high backup availability, then two Quantum backup appliances are needed — which ends up costing more than the Avamar.

In conclusion, there isn’t a solution that fits every need without some compromises such as cost or staffing. If you are considering using one of these appliances, expect to spend at least $30,000-$50,000 at the bare minimum and upwards of $100,000. The cost of running a backup appliance requires a hardware warranty contract, all necessary software (including backup agents if applicable), and setup.

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Posted in: Hardware / Tagged: avamar, backup, VMWARE

Debian on VMWARE: Installing VMWare Tools

May 15, 2009 4:54 pm / Albertech.net

Why install VMWARE Tools?
Improved display support with SVGA driver
Cut and paste from host onto the VMWare guest
Automation of guest operating system commands
Sync time
Shrinking disk space
Startup and shutdown scripts

In order to install VMWARE tools on Debian, you will need to make sure you have the package “linux-headers-[kernel version]” installed.

If not, you will get a prompt during the configuration asking for the path of the C header files.

To find the version of your kernel, type in:
uname -a

It should say something like Linux infomine 2.6.26-2-amd64 (with your current CPU architecture at the end)

****
NOTE: Do this at your own risk. If you put the wrong version of the kernel header files, things will break.
****

After identifying what kernel you are using, then add the linux header files
apt-get install linux-headers-[kernel version]
For instance,  apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.26-2-amd64

Then follow the Vmware documentation on installing VMWARE Tools:
http://www.vmware.com/support/gsx3/doc/tools_install_lin_gsx.html

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Posted in: Linux, VMWARE / Tagged: debian, install vmware tools, VMWARE

Debian on VMWARE: Troubleshoot Network

May 11, 2009 7:50 pm / Albertech.net

Ever change the Network MAC address setting in VMWARE and you can’t get the network to work?

Here’s a quick how-to on changing the MAC address on a Linux VM. This is useful if you want to clone an existing machine and want to have both machines running with network at the same time. I am using VMWARE Server 2.0. (free version)

1) Power down the VM that you want to change the MAC address on. (e.g. cloned computer)
2) On the VMWARE console, select your (cloned) VM machine on the left side. In the Summary tab, click on “Edit” in the Network adapter section. The MAC address needs to be set the “Manual”. In the textbox, set the MAC address. It will need to start with 00:50:56 and end with XX:XX:XX to a value between 00:00:00 and FF:FF:FF. For instance, you can use 00:50:56:FF:FF:FF as a MAC address.  Click on OK.

3) If you are using Static IP address. Follow this step: On your VM console, click on the Summary Tab for the VM you changed the settings on. On the Network Adapter 1, click on “Edit”. Uncheck the box that says “Connect at power on”  Click on OK.

Turn on Debian box. Login as root. If you are using static IP, you will first need to change the IP to a new one. Edit the “/etc/network/interfaces” file. On the “address” line of your network adapter (eth0, … eth5)  change the IP.  Shutdown computer. Go to VMWARE console, edit Network Adapter 1, check the network box that says “Connect at power on”.

4) Power on the VM. Login as root.

5) Go to /etc/udev/rules.d/

6) There should be a file called “70-persistent-net.rules”. Backup the file. Edit this file. Find the line that matches the MAC address that you entered in step 3.  If you can’t find it (that maybe the problem), edit the last network device on the list. In the “ATTRS{address}==” section, enter the MAC address that you added. Note what NAME it is.  It should be something like “eth0” or “eth….”  Save the file.

7) Now edit /etc/network/interfaces file. Your will need to make sure the “eth” matches the NAME of the hardware device in step 8. For instance, if the name is eth0 — make sure the name of the interfaces is eth0 and the allow-hotplug line is eth0 as well.

8) Run the command “ifup [NAME]” for instance ifup eth0. You should get a status message whether the network works.  If you get a conflict error, you are either using a MAC address that is on another VM or a static IP address of another computer. If its a conflict of IP, change the IP in step 3. To troubleshoot network device not working, stop the VM machine — look in the Network adapter field. Write down the MAC address. Go back to step 6.

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Posted in: Linux, VMWARE / Tagged: clone network, debian, network, VMWARE

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