NetVault Bare Metal Recovery 10.5 - User Guide for Plug-ins

Backup: Backup lets you target a Windows-based system, and perform a full and complete backup of its contents while the system remains online and available to users.

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Recovery: Recovery requires that you use the included Plug-in Offline Client boot utility to take the protected Windows-based system offline, which allows for complete access to its hard disk for restore operations.

In addition, the Plug-in Live Client also provides the following features:

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VSS-based snapshots: For VSS-enabled applications such as SQL Server®, Exchange, and SharePoint®, the software uses VSS to quiesce these applications before taking the snapshot. Using VSS to quiesce the applications reduces the amount of application crash recovery that must be performed after recovery of the image file. This method is only supported on Windows Server® 2008.

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Eliminate backup ‘whitespace’: This feature lets you back up only the used blocks on the partition. For example, if a machine has a “C:” drive of size 10GB and only 6GB is used, the plug-in only backs up 6GB (the used space). This feature saves a considerable amount of time and space.

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Restore as VMDK Image: This feature restores the backup of a physical machine to a VMDK Image that can be used to create a virtual machine.


	IMPORTANT: This plug-in works with the Plug-in Server. Before backing up with the Plug-in Live Client, install the Plug-in Server and verify connectivity between target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Clients and the NetVault Backup Server where Plug-in Server is installed. In addition, the Plug-in Server is required to perform all restores of Plug-in Live Client backups.

Plug-in Live Client environment overview

The processes required to set up and use the Plug-in Live Client must be followed in a specific order. The following list offers a rough outline of how to establish a Plug-in Live Client environment.

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Required components: Verify that you have the Plug-in Server, Plug-in Live Client, and Plug-in Offline Client.

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Configure the Plug-in Server.

Install the Plug-in Server on the NetVault Backup Server.

Create a Plug-in Offline Client Boot System (for example, to a writable CD).

Add the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Clients to the Plug-in Server on the NetVault Backup Server.

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Verify access to the Plug-in Server: Verify that all target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Clients are accessible to the Plug-in Server. Failure to do so may result in an inability to perform a restore.

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Boot the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client system with Plug-in Offline Client.

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From the NetVault Backup Server, access the Plug-in Server to ensure that the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client is accessible to the Plug-in Server.

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Configure the Plug-in Live Client for Windows®.

Add client machines to be backed up by the Plug-in Live Client to the NetVault Backup Server (that is, by using the Manage Clients page in the NetVault Backup WebUI).

Install the Plug-in Live Client on any NetVault Backup Heterogeneous Client machine requiring active DR backups (for example, the clients added in Step 1, but not the NetVault Backup Server itself).

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Perform online backups with the Plug-in Live Client: From the NetVault Backup Server, perform online backups as required, of each NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client using the Plug-in Live Client (for example, OS, applications, system settings).

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Recovery: Perform an offline restore to the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client.

Boot the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client system with Plug-in Offline Client.

From the NetVault Backup Server, administer restores to the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client by selecting data included in the Plug-in Live Client backups.

Configuring Plug-in Server

The second phase of setting up the Plug-in Server involves environment configuration. The sections that follow fully illustrate the procedures that must be followed to complete both of these steps.

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Creating a Plug-in Offline Client Boot System

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Adding a NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client to the Plug-in Server


	NOTE: The only configurations required apply to the use of the Plug-in Server. There are no configuration requirements necessary with the Plug-in Live Client (and there are no configuration options available).

Creating a Plug-in Offline Client Boot System

The initial backup requirement with the Plug-in Server, and all restore operations, require the use of the Plug-in Offline Client Boot System to boot the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client. This minimal OS loads to a target machine’s memory, rather than to its hard drive. This process leaves the hard drives inactive (offline) and in a suitable state for backup or restore.

The Plug-in Offline Client is created on a writable CD. The Plug-in Server lets you create a bootable CD that can be used to prepare a client machine for the restore process.

Creating a Linux®-based Boot System

The following items are required for this procedure:

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VaultOS ISO image (obtained through download)

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A writable DVD and CD-ROM drive

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A blank DVD and CD

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DVD- and CD-generation software

To create the system:


	NOTE: Dell recommends that you shut down all applications running on this machine before starting this procedure

Download the Plug-in Offline Client from the Dell website.

Note the name and location of this file (for example, “\home\vaultos_x86_vxxx.zip” where xxx represents the software version number).

Insert a blank CD in the writable drive.

Create a CD with the CD-generation software using the “vaultos_x86_vxxx.iso” file.

For details on this procedure, see the relevant documentation for the CD-generation software in use.

Creating a Windows® PE-based Boot System

The second phase of setting up the Plug-in Server involves environment configuration. The sections that follow fully illustrate the procedures that must be followed to complete both of these steps.

•

Creating a Plug-in Offline Client Boot System

•

Adding a NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client to the Plug-in Server


	NOTE: The only configurations required apply to the use of the Plug-in Server. There are no configuration requirements necessary with the Plug-in Live Client (and there are no configuration options available).

Creating a Plug-in Offline Client Boot System

The Plug-in Offline Client is created on a writable CD. The Plug-in Server lets you create a bootable CD that can be used to prepare a client machine for the restore process.

Creating a Linux®-based Boot System

The following items are required for this procedure:

•

VaultOS ISO image (obtained through download)

•

A writable DVD and CD-ROM drive

•

A blank DVD and CD

•

DVD- and CD-generation software