vRanger 5.2 introduces hotadd functionality for ESXi host for faster speed, but there are centain requirements for using hotadd feature, like vRanger 5.2 has to be running on a VM , please refer to vRanger 5.2 Deployment guide for more information and also vRanger 5.2 User guide.
This is from vRanger 5.2 deployment guide on page 50.
ESXi Backups
vRanger includes support for VMware's HotAdd disk transport functionality which
enables faster backup speeds for network backups of ESXi.
You can also test connection speed between ESX host and Repository, please refer to page 69 on "Test connection speed" on the attached vRanger 5.2 deployment guide.
Please verify if customer is doing LAN Free backups where the VMFS volumes are presented to the vRanger server, or LAN backups where the vRanger server does not have direct access to the VMFS LUNS on the ESXi host?
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LAN based backups from an ESXi host are considerably slower than from an ESX host. Due to the lack of a Service Console the vRanger server must act as a Proxy in order to perform the backups.
With ESX lan backups the ESX host would connect directly to the repository through the service console. With ESXi the vRanger server must act as a proxy, connecting to the vStorage API port on the ESXi host and performing the backup.
With LAN Free mode, vRanger still acts as a proxy but we connect directly to the VMFS volume and copy the files directly. This does require that the VMFS volumes be located on a SAN (iSCSI or Fiber) and the vRanger server must be on a Physical server, it will not do LAN Free from a VM
The throughput limitation is due to the use of vStorage API through the ESXi vmkernel. One thing to check is make sure that your ESXi servers are configured to our recommended specs:
1. Increase the Service Console CPU Reservation to 1500 MHz
- In the vSphere Client inventory, select the ESX host > Configuration tab > System Resource Allocation > Edit
- Adjust the CPU Resources Reservation slider up to 1500 MHz.
- Select Expandable Reservation and Unlimited.
- Click OK to save.
2. Increase the VIM CPU reservation (2500-3200 MHz):
- In the vSphere Client inventory, select the ESX host > Configuration tab > System Resource Allocation > Advanced > vim > Edit Settings
- Adjust the VIM Resource CPU Resources reservation slider up to the equivalent of one core (2500-3200 MHz).
- Select Expandable Reservation and Unlimited.
- Click OK to save.
If vRanger is installed on a physical computer and your ESXi datastores reside on a FC/iSCSI SAN, you would get performance if you present the ESXi datastore LUNs to the physical vRanger computer and configure the backup jobs to perform FC/iSCSI backups.