HP 3PAR Application Software Suite for VMware - Manual (Page 32)

2.22 About Virtual Copy Management
3PAR Management Plug-In and Recovery Manager 2.1.0 for VMware vSphere User’s Guide
2.7 About Virtual Copy Management
3PAR Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere allows you to take LUN-level virtual copies of
Virtual Machines (VMs) and datastores. A datastore is created on one 3PAR volume, and a VM
is created on one or more datastores. During virtual copy creation, Recovery Manager for
VMware vSphere will identify all the underlying 3PAR volumes and take virtual copies
simultaneously for all volumes to ensure consistency. Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere
manages this set of virtual copies as a single entity.
2.7.1 Virtual Copy Data Consistency
Several types of data consistency are possible for VM virtual copies and backup.
■ Crash Consistent - A simple virtual volume virtual copy without quiescing the memory
blocks inside the guest OS results in a crash consistent virtual copy of the VM. Un-flushed
data will be lost, but all data written to the file system will be available. Sanity checking of
file system (fsck) is needed after recovery.
■ VM Consistent - All file system blocks are flushed from a VM's memory before a virtual copy
is taken. This ensures that no file system data is lost if the VM crashes. No fsck is needed
after recovery. No application data is flushed from memory before the virtual copy is taken
NOTE: 3PAR Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere is not functional without the
3PAR Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere license. Additionally, the 3PAR
Virtual Copy license is required for virtual copy operation, as well as the 3PAR
Virtual Lock license for using the volume retention policy.
NOTE: VMware Tools must be installed on the Guest OS in order for 3PAR
Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere to create successful VM/Application
consistent virtual copies. Refer to VMware documentation for more information
about VMware Tools setup instructions.
NOTE: The current version of Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere supports
both file system crash and VM consistent and application consistent virtual copies.