vRanger 7.8.1 - User Guide

Recommended additional reading

Recommended additional reading

The following documentation is also available:

•	Quest vRanger Installation/Upgrade Guide: This guide details the system requirements for installing and operating vRanger, and describes how to install and upgrade the vRanger application and components.

•	Quest vRanger Integration Guide for EMC® Data Domain® Boost (DD Boost™): This guide describes how to configure vRanger to work with a Data Domain Boost repository to achieve source-side deduplication of backup data.

•	Quest vRanger Integration Guide for Quest DR Series Disk Backup Appliance: This guide describes how to configure vRanger to work with a Quest DR series appliance to achieve deduplication of backup data.

•	Quest vRanger Integration Guide for Quest NetVault SmartDisk - vRanger Edition: This guide describes how to configure vRanger to work with a NetVault SmartDisk - vRanger Edition repository to achieve deduplication of backup data.

•	Quest vRanger Integration Guide for Quest QoreStor - This guide describes how to configure vRanger to work with QoreStor to achieve deduplication of backup data.

 

vRanger overview

vRanger overview

vRanger provides backup, recovery, and backup management for virtual and physical environments. Featuring a new platform technology, vRanger reduces the backup window, provides smarter backup options, and offers more scalability features while using fewer resources.

vRanger capabilities include:

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Protect entire VMware® and Hyper-V® environments in minutes: Deploy vRanger’s simple installation wizard and auto-discovery tool to locate both VMware and Hyper-V assets, and safeguard entire virtual environments in minutes. Leverage vRanger’s agentless architecture to reduce time spent managing virtual backup, restore and recovery operations, and to detect and back up new VMs automatically for complete protection.

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Deliver high-speed, storage-thrifty backup and restore for VMware, Hyper-V, and physical Windows® servers: Employ the fastest I/O path available to back up and restore VMware, Hyper-V, and physical Windows servers quickly, with minimal disruption to production systems. vRanger’s patented Active Block Mapping feature reduces data streams, network utilization and backup storage requirements. Leverage client-side and target-side deduplication options with the support for the Quest DR disk-based backup appliance and EMC™ Data Domain integration to dramatically shrink backup storage costs.

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Quickly locate and restore individual files from virtual and physical backups: Locate and restore specific versions of VMs, files, and folders in minutes. Use vRanger’s integrated catalog and wildcard search features to find individual files quickly, whether they are located within VMware, Hyper-V, or physical Windows Server backups. Manage virtual and physical servers from a single, easy-to-use user interface (UI), minimizing the effort, complexity and cost of backing up your data.

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Replicate key VMs for offsite disaster recovery preparedness: Replicate VMware virtual machines both on-site and at remote locations for flexible and efficient disaster recovery preparedness. Combine backup and replication jobs to ensure that you meet your organization’s recovery time and recovery point objectives. Perform fast VM failover and recovery at all your sites, no matter where they are located.

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Deploy scalable data protection for even the largest virtual infrastructures: Leverage parallel job execution capabilities to complete backup and recovery operations faster, and use resource governing to ensure optimal production application performance. Deploy the vRanger virtual appliance (VA) to distribute VMware workloads for better scalability. Use vRanger’s LAN-free mode to move backup and restore operations off local-area networks (LANs) for improved virtualized application performance.

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Use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)-256: vRanger uses AES-256 encryption to encrypt backup archives and replication traffic. In vRanger, AES is a symmetric key algorithm that uses a 256-bit encryption key. This combination is approved for the encryption of secure government data, and complies with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS).

vRanger requires credentials for several connection types; namely local machine credentials, vCenter and host credentials, and credentials for the vRanger database. These credentials are encrypted using AES-256 encryption before they are written to the vRanger database or Windows registry.

Encryption for vRanger backups is configured at the repository level, meaning that rather than selecting encryption for each job or task, you configure that job to write to an encrypted repository. For each backup task, vRanger read the encryption status of the target repository. If encryption is selected, the data blocks are read and encrypted before they are sent to the repository.

During replication tasks, vRanger sends data over a secure shell (SSH) tunnel encrypted with AES-256 encryption.

Installation overview

Installation overview

The installation of vRanger is a simple process requiring no additional components or configuration. vRanger can be installed on either a physical or VM meeting the requirements specified in the Quest vRanger Installation/Upgrade Guide.

•	Before installing

•	Downloading an evaluation copy of vRanger

•	Installing vRanger

Before installing

vRanger can be installed in various configurations depending on your environment. Some common configuration options include:

•	Database installation

•	Backup architecture:

▪	VA-based HotAdd

▪	Machine-based HotAdd

▪	VA-based LAN

▪	Machine-based LAN

▪	Machine-based SAN

•	Virtual appliance (VA) deployment

Before installing vRanger, review each of your architectural options, and decide on the best fit for your environment.

For more information, see the Quest vRanger Installation/Upgrade Guide.

Downloading an evaluation copy of vRanger

Downloading an evaluation copy of vRanger

Evaluation versions of Quest products, including vRanger, are freely available from the Quest website. Evaluation versions are full applications limited only by licensing.

To download an evaluation copy of vRanger:

1	From an internet-connected PC, access http://quest.com/products/vranger/.

2	Click Download Free Trial.

3	Register or log in as appropriate.

4	Accept the License Agreement, and click Submit.

5	Select vRanger, and save the file to the desired location.