HP 3PAR Application Software Suite for VMware - Manual (Page 20)

About Virtual Copy Management
NOTE: HP 3PAR Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere is not functional without the HP 3PAR
Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere license. Additionally, the HP 3PAR Virtual Copy license
is required for virtual copy operation and the HP 3PAR Virtual Lock license is required for using
the volume retention policy.
HP 3PAR Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere allows you to take LUN-level virtual copies of
Virtual Machines (VMs), datastores and remote copy groups. A datastore is created on one HP
3PAR volume, and a VM is created on one or more datastores. During VM virtual copy creation,
Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere will identify all the underlying HP 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. Remote Copy virtual copies are based
at the Remote Copy group level (storage system), versus the virtual machine or datastore level
(VMware perspective).
NOTE: VMware Tools must be installed on the Guest OS in order for HP 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.
Virtual Copy Data Consistency
Several types of data consistency are possible for VM virtual copies and backup.
NOTE: The current version of HP 3PAR Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere supports system
crash, VM and application consistent virtual copies.
•
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. Data not flushed 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 the memory of a VM before a virtual
copy is taken. This ensures that no file system data is lost if the VM crashes. Checking of file
system (fsck) is not required after recovery. No application data is flushed from memory before
the virtual copy is taken
•
Application Consistent - Application consistency is provided for HP 3PAR snapshots of Virtual
Machines for data compatibility with supported applications.
Virtual Copy Policy
Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere allows the creation of virtual copy policies for VMs and/or
datastores. Only one policy is permitted for every VM and/or datastore. Datastore and VM policies
exist independently; meaning a VM’s policy is independent of the policy of the datastore(s) of
virtual disks it is using.
In Recovery Manager for VMware vSphere, the virtual copy policy contains the following attributes:
•
Maximum Number of Virtual Copy Sets - You can choose how many virtual copies to be
retained. Once this limit is reached, the earliest virtual copy will be deleted to allow the latest
virtual copy to be created.
•
Enable expirable virtual copies - Allows you to specify that created virtual copies are removed
according to a specified schedule and are not affected by the maximum count.
•
Retain Virtual Copy Set - The supported number of hours, days, weeks, months, and years
that a virtual copy set is retained.
20 Overview