Introducing Arcserve Backup › Arcserve Backup Functionality › How to Protect Virtual Machine Environments

How to Protect Virtual Machine Environments

Use the following methods to protect virtual machine environments using Arcserve Backup:

• Arcserve Backup Agent for Virtual Machines--The Agent for Virtual Machines lets you protect environments that rely on virtual machines (VMs) residing in Windows Server Hyper-V systems, VMware ESX/ESXi Host systems, and VMware vCenter Server systems to protect data.

  For VMware-based systems, VMware provides a mechanism called Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) that lets you protect the files and data stored in the VMs in VMware ESX Host systems and VMware vCenter Server systems. To integrate Arcserve Backup with VMware VDDK and Windows Server Hyper-V systems, you install and license the Agent for Virtual Machines.

  Note: For information about system requirements and supported platforms, see the readme file. For information about installing and configuring the agent, see the Agent for Virtual Machines Guide.

• Scripted Solution for VMware ESX/ESXi Host Systems--The best method of protecting your VMs and VMware ESX Host systems is to install the Agent for Virtual Machines. However, the scripted solution lets you integrate Arcserve Backup with VMware ESX/ESXi without installing the Agent for Virtual Machines. The scripted solution helps to ensure that your VMs and Vmware ESX Host systems are protected as securely as any other server in your environment.

  Note: To use the scripted solution, you must install and license the Arcserve Backup Client Agent for Windows.

  For information about how to use a scripted solution to protect VMware ESX/ESXi Host systems, see the Best Practices Guide for VMware ESX Server Backup on the Arcserve Technical Support website. The best practices guide describes common methods that you can use for data backups on VMs, and any considerations relating to the different methods.

• Install Arcserve Backup Agents on the VM--To back up and restore data that resides in your VMs, you can install the Arcserve Backup agents that correspond with the guest operating systems and the applications that are running in your VMs.