How to Protect a Windows Server with a Standby Virtual Machine (4034424)

This article describes how to create a virtual standby machine for a protected Windows Server.

The Virtual Standby feature enables you to export the latest recovery point to a VMware virtual machine. The virtual machine is updated continuously as new recovery points are created.

To protect a Windows server with a Virtual Standby machine

1. On the Summary tab, click the Virtual Standby link in the Control Panel or on the Recovery Points tab.  Right-click a Recovery Point and select Create Virtual Machine.

2. From the Create Virtual Machine wizard, select the type of Virtual Machine to create. This option creates the Virtual Machine in the format selected. For example, if VMWare Workstation is selected, the exported VM will consist of  .vmx and .vmdk which can be used to power up a copy of the protected server. Click Next.

3. Select whether the export to create the Virtual Machine will happen only one time, or will continuously update when there are new Recovery Points created. To keep a Virtual Standby updated with the latest Recovery Point data, select Continuous. Click Next.

4. Select the volumes to include in the export to the Virtual Machine. Include all dependent volumes to ensure that applications will function properly when the virtual machine is booted. Click Next.

5. Set the RAM  for the Virtual Machine. This value will be seen in the settings of the Virtual Machine once it is created. Click Next.

6. Enter the name of a folder to create the exported virtual machine files, and then click Finish.

7. Click the Summary tab. The status of the export to the Virtual Machine displays next to the Virtual Standby link in the Control Panel area. Status messages are logged on the Events tab for the Core. The updates will appear here as they occur.

After the export is complete, the exported files can be used to power on the virtual machine. For example, in the case of an export to VMWorkstation, launch VMWorkstation, browse to the .vmx file exported from the Recovery Point to open it, and then power on the machine.