vRanger 7.7.1 - User Guide

Transport selection order: VM backup

Transport selection order: VM backup

When backing up VMs or other virtual objects — hosts, clusters, and so on — the vRanger Backup Wizard includes an Automatic option which lets vRanger select the best available method for your configuration. When determining the best transport, vRanger uses two key criteria:

•	Whether VAs are deployed.

•	Where vRanger is installed.

The logic used to select a transport differs slightly based on whether vRanger is installed in a VM or on a physical server. The following topics describe the steps taken to select an automatic transport.

•	vRanger: installed on a VM

•	vRanger: installed on a physical machine

vRanger: installed on a VM

vRanger: installed on a VM

When installed on a VM, vRanger checks the possible transports in the following order, selecting the first option available to ensure the best performance possible.

1	VA on source host: vRanger first checks the source host for a VA. If available, that VA is used.

Is VA-based HotAdd available?: vRanger checks the local VA for HotAdd support. If the host is not properly licensed, or the VA cannot access the storage for the source VM, HotAdd is not available.

 

IMPORTANT: If a VA is configured and HotAdd is not available, a network backup is performed from the VA. No further transport checks are performed.

2	VA on source cluster: If the source host does not have a VA, vRanger determines whether the host is a member of a cluster, If so, vRanger checks for a shared VA on that cluster.

Is VA-based HotAdd available?: vRanger checks the cluster VA for HotAdd support. If the host is not properly licensed, or the VA cannot access the storage for the source VM, HotAdd is not available.

 

IMPORTANT: If a VA is configured and HotAdd is not available, a network backup is performed from the VA. No further transport checks are performed.

3	Machine-based HotAdd: If there is no VA configured, vRanger determines whether HotAdd is available for the vRanger VM. If the vRanger VM is on a host which is not properly licensed, or if the VM cannot access the storage for the source VM, HotAdd is not available.

4	Machine-based LAN: If a VA is not available, and HotAdd is not supported on the vRanger VM, a network backup is performed from the vRanger machine.

vRanger: installed on a physical machine

vRanger: installed on a physical machine

When installed on a physical machine, vRanger checks the possible transports in the following order, selecting the first option available. The preferred transports are checked first, ensuring the best performance possible.

1	VA on source host: vRanger first checks the source host for a VA. If available, that VA is used.

Is HotAdd available?: vRanger checks the local VA for HotAdd support. If the host is not properly licensed, or the VA cannot access the storage for the source VM, HotAdd is not available.

 

IMPORTANT: If a VA is configured and HotAdd is not available, a network backup is performed from the VA. No further transport checks are performed.

2	VA on source cluster: If the source host does not have a VA, vRanger determines whether the host is a member of a cluster, If so, vRanger checks for a shared VA on that cluster.

Is HotAdd available?: vRanger checks the cluster VA for HotAdd support. If the host is not properly licensed, or the VA cannot access the storage for the source VM, HotAdd is not available.

 

IMPORTANT: If a VA is configured and HotAdd is not available, a network backup is performed from the VA. No further transport checks are performed.

3	Machine-based SAN: If there is no VA configured, vRanger determines whether the vRanger server is configured for SAN backups.

4	Machine-based LAN: If a VA is not available, and SAN backups are not supported on the vRanger server, a network backup is performed from the vRanger machine.

Hyper-V backup transport options

Hyper-V backup transport options

When backing up Hyper-V® VMs, backup activity is processed by the vRanger Hyper-V Agent on the Hyper-V host. Backup data is read by the agent and sent from the source server directly to the repository.

When performing backups of Hyper-V VMs, or backup groups containing Hyper-V VMs, the Transport Selection portion of the Backup Wizard is not shown, as there is only one available option.