vRanger 7.8 - Installation/Upgrade Guide

Repository storage devices

Slow disk performance has been shown to negatively impact the backup performance of vRanger. When configuring repositories, special attention should be paid to the type of storage devices used.

The use of SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) disk drives are recommended. SAS drives typically offer a 30% performance improvement over SATA drives.

The use of external USB drives or low quality NAS devices is not recommended. If these types of storage are used, the vRanger configuration settings must be adjusted to accommodate the slow devices. Recommended configuration settings for slower repositories are shown in the following list. These configurations can be made on the vRanger Configuration Options dialog box, available on the Tools > Options menu.

•	Maximum number of tasks running off a LUN = 3

•	Maximum number of tasks running off a host = 1

•	Maximum number of tasks running per repository = 2

If no errors are received with these settings, increment the tasks per repository value by 1 to find the best fit for your environment.

Bandwidth to repositories

While performance varies based on environmental factors, data throughput during a single backup task can reach up to 100 MB/s. If you assume a standard case of a repository connected by using a Gigabit network, as little as 10 concurrent jobs can saturate the link to that repository.

Although there is no ability to throttle data transmissions from a source server, vRanger can limit the number of simultaneous backup tasks on a per-repository level.

 

NOTE: This configuration is a global configuration, meaning that it applies to all repositories.

Repository size

There is no limit to the number of savepoints that can be stored in a vRanger repository. There are, however, environmental limits on the size of a single directory. The available options, and their limits, are described in the following list.

 

NOTE: The volume limitations described in this topic are limitations within the Windows® environment.

•	Default configuration: A standard volume, with an MBR partition on a basic disk, has a limit of 2 TB. This configuration is the default for Windows Server® 2003. In this configuration, the vRanger repository cannot exceed 2 TB.

•	Dynamic disks: Dynamic disks contain dynamic volumes, including simple volumes, spanned volumes, striped volumes, mirrored volumes, and RAID-5 volumes. A repository on dynamic disk volumes can be as large as 64 TB.

•

GPT volumes: GUID partition table (GPT) volumes provide a more flexible mechanism for partitioning disks than the older Master Boot Record (MBR) partitioning scheme that has been common to PCs. GPT partitions are supported on Windows Server 2003, SP1 and later, and can reach up to 256 TB. For more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/GPT_FAQ.mspx

Configuring vCenter permissions

vRanger requires a VMware® vCenter™ account to function properly. To comply with security best practices, Quest recommends creating a vCenter user account with the minimum required permissions for vRanger to use.

To create a vRanger user on vSphere 5 or later:

1	Navigate to Administration > Roles.

2	Select Add Role.

3	Enter a name for the role, such as vRanger Non-Admin.

4	In the Privileges section, set the permissions according to the following table:

 

Section	Privileges
Datastore	• Allocate space • Browse datastore • Low level file operations • Remove file
Global	•   • Licenses • Log event
Host > Local Operations	• Create virtual machine • Reconfigure virtual machine
Host > Inventory	• Modify Cluster
Network	• Assign network • Configure
Profile-driven storage	• Profile-driven storage view
Resource	• Assign vApp to resource pool • Assign virtualmachine to resource pool
vApp	• Add virtual machine • Assign resource pool • Create • Delete • Import • Move • Power Off • Power On • Rename
Virtual Machine > Configuration	• Select all privileges in this section
Virtual Machine > Interaction	• Configure CD media • Configure floppy media • Console interaction • Device connection • Power Off • Power On • VMware Tools Install
Virtual Machine > Inventory	• Create new • Remove •
Virtual Machine > Provisioning	• Allow disk access • Allow read-only disk access • Allow virtualmachine download • Allow virtualmachine files upload • Clone template •
Virtual Machine > Service Configuration	• Modify service configuration
Virtual Machine > Snapshot management	•   • Select all privileges in this section

5	Navigate to the Inventory view.

6	Right-click the applicable level to grant user permission, such as the main vCenter level, and click Add Permission.

7	Add and locate the applicable user account, select the recently created User Role, and click Add.

8

Click OK.

 

NOTE: When you add the vCenter to the vRanger inventory, use this account for authentication.