VMware vSphere Data Protection (VDP) is a backup and recovery solution that was introduced with vSphere 5.1. VDP leverages mature, proven technology from EMC Avamar to provide reliable, space-efficient, disk-based data protection for VMware virtual machines (VMs). VDP is fully integrated with VMware vCenter Server and the vSphere Web Client. One of the real beauties of VDP is its ease of deployment and management which explains why thousands of VMware customers have already downloaded VDP since it was introduced just a little over six months ago. Today, VMware released VDP 5.1.10 which enhances the capabilities of VDP. Here are the highlights of the new functionality found in the latest version:
Configure tab in the VDP UI now includes a Log tab, which provides more detailed log information. This information can also be exported to a file.
Integration with vCenter alarms and alerts notification system
Ability to clone backup jobs
New filters for Restore tab
Added more post-restore options (automatically power on, NIC reconnect)
Restore rehearsal can be started by right-clicking a virtual machine > All VDP Actions > Restore Rehearsal
There are also multiple resolved issues including the Windows Server 2008 R2 error requiring the disk.EnableUUID=false .vmx configuration parameter. The complete list of resolved issues and known issues can be found in the VDP 5.1.10 Release Notes.
A new feature unique to VDP 5.1.10 (not included in VDP Advanced) is the VMware Data Recovery (VDR) to VDP migration utility. This utility can be used to migrate existing VDR backup data to a new VDP appliance. Here is a high-level migration process summary:
Verify the VDR appliance is idle, then shut it down
Connect to https://<IP_address_VDP_Appliance>:8543/vdp-migration/
Attach the VDR appliance to VDP (one button in the VDP Migration UI)
Select the VM restore points you wish to migrate to VDP
Be patient – it takes time to move large amounts of data
Detach the VDR appliance (again, one button in the VDP Migration UI)
Verify (in VDP) the restore points were migrated
Perform at least one test restore to verify the data migration was successful
Note that there is some preparation that must be done and prerequisites that must be met prior to performing the migration. It is also important to understand only restore points (backup data) are migrated, not the backup job configurations. You will have to create new backup jobs in VDP. These items and more are documented in the vSphere Data Protection Administration Guide. As always, I encourage you to thoroughly read the documentation and closely follow the steps and recommendations.
If you are already using VDP, you can perform an in-place upgrade to the latest version. Details on the upgrade process can also be found in the vSphere Data Protection Administration Guide.
Here are a few additional links that may be useful:
