OK to run incremental backups during normal business hours?

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Comments: 26

I have Acronis Backup for Hyper-V installed on the Hyper-V host which is holding 2 VMs. As of right now I'm not installing Agents but simply backing up the entire host including the VHDX files.

I have a few of questions:

- Since I'm not installing the Agent on each VM, I'm assuming each incremental will likely backup each VHDX file in full. Is that correct?

- If I choose to instead install the Agent on each VM, I believe I will need to create separate backup jobs for the physical host and the VMs. Is that correct?

- Is it generally OK to run backups during the day? I'm considering doing a full backup on Friday evenings, then running incrementals every hour during normal business hours.

- Will users typically notice any kind of problem during an incremental backup? Any other issues to be aware of? Best practices to follow?

Thanks

Wed, 05/14/2014 - 21:40
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Posts: 22
Comments: 3800

Hi Kremlar,

To enable VM backup there is no need to install agents inside each VM. You can back up VMs at hypervisor level without backing up the entire host though. Please see http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/AcronisBackup_11.5/i… for the process description. Concerning your questions:

1) In fact backing up the Hyper-V host in order to get VMs recovery capabilities is not the proper way, however the answer to your first question is "no" - the VHDX files will be backed up incrementally (only changes in them) if you do entire partition-level backup of the host.

2) Yes, that is correct, though the recommended way is not to install agents inside each VM, but rather create 2 separate tasks: one for VM backup and one for entire host backup.

3) It depends on the load of the host and many other factors - some people find that the performance of the VMs is getting below acceptable level while backup runs (since it intensively reads the disks and is a heavy operation overall), while other users are Ok with that. You should first try running incrementals during non-business hours and check the performance to see if it suits your needs.

4) If you will be backing up to some network share then users on the same network may notice slowness (to avoid that there is a network throttling option which you can apply to backup plan).

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Backup Virtualization Program Manager

Thu, 05/15/2014 - 10:47
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truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
Forum Member
Posts: 18
Comments: 26

2) Yes, that is correct, though the recommended way is not to install agents inside each VM, but rather create 2 separate tasks: one for VM backup and one for entire host backup.

OK, I see - thanks. It would be much more convenient to be able to backup the host and VMs as a single job. Managing and monitoring multiple jobs is a pain for most of our users who are monitoring the logs to ensure successful completions.

If I create multiple jobs, is it recommended to exclude the VHDX files from the host backup?

however the answer to your first question is "no" - the VHDX files will be backed up incrementally (only changes in them) if you do entire partition-level backup of the host.

OK, that is good to know. I was afraid that the entire file would be backed up or that it would not be backed up at all.

1) In fact backing up the Hyper-V host in order to get VMs recovery capabilities is not the proper way

Is the VM able to be restored if the entire host is backed up? My understanding is that you can restore the VHDX without issue. Is that not the case? If the VM can be restored by backing up the VHDX and other virtual machine files, what is the downside of using this method? Why is it not recommended?

Thanks!

Thu, 05/15/2014 - 23:54
truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
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Posts: 22
Comments: 3800

Hi Kremlar,

The entire host backup can be configured with VHDX files exclusions if you create 2 jobs (host-level and VM-level backups) - it will help you to save space. I've added a request to our backlog so that there is an option to automatically exclude VM files while backing up entire Hyper-V host.

If you back up entire host without exclusions then you are still able to restore individual VHDX files (as long as they are on local or CSV volumes) and other VM-related content which can be later used to import into Hyper-V manager. This will however be a manuall process, i.e. more complicated than if you back up at VM level and perform VM recovery from such backups. That's basically the only reason for why it is not recommended, since in other aspects you will get normally working VMs in both cases (VSS is used in either case to ensure consistency).

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Backup Virtualization Program Manager

Fri, 05/16/2014 - 06:43
Abigo autem causa dolore scisco. Conventio defui dolor elit feugiat lucidus natu populus praemitto. Abbas ad facilisi. Defui ea gemino suscipere. Consectetuer eros interdico minim. Esse incassum plaga. Caecus decet dolore ille iriure neque. Gilvus letalis mauris paratus quis tego. Brevitas capto erat gemino loquor ratis tincidunt vulpes. Appellatio haero humo iustum luctus natu similis. Conventio decet eros humo praemitto ratis ullamcorper virtus. Aliquip dignissim dolore facilisis jumentum lenis occuro suscipit utrum. Esca gilvus haero ideo nutus persto quidne refoveo usitas. Adipiscing cui nisl odio paulatim quadrum qui venio virtus. Caecus letalis natu nunc pertineo praesent utinam. Caecus eligo jugis nimis tamen te. Ad diam dignissim gravis iusto magna praemitto. Augue gravis magna obruo plaga valde. Et humo molior saepius. Adipiscing aliquip lenis paulatim quadrum wisi. Duis in voco. Consectetuer gravis plaga populus quia. Commoveo consequat distineo exputo iustum nisl saepius. Appellatio genitus ille melior mos nisl odio torqueo velit vindico. Abico comis iustum minim nobis oppeto pecus vero. Abico ex exerci haero iusto quia sed typicus. Abigo camur lobortis pneum tincidunt turpis vel. Abbas acsi dignissim ea suscipere. Eros iustum lobortis nobis probo quadrum qui velit verto vulpes. Importunus iustum magna modo nimis nunc sit vel vulputate. Blandit commodo dolus facilisi pertineo voco vulpes. Iriure loquor venio. Cogo ea esse gravis huic imputo odio refero similis ut. Aliquam autem conventio ibidem paulatim quia sagaciter vereor wisi. Adipiscing enim esca et olim sino vulpes. At iusto scisco vulputate. Ad ex ille secundum utinam valde verto vulputate. Erat molior nibh turpis. Importunus pala utinam. Causa conventio nulla quidem secundum tation verto. Camur conventio eros importunus iustum. Consequat dolore immitto iriure luptatum nostrud ulciscor ut. Distineo enim iusto torqueo utinam. Brevitas natu pala vereor. Abigo decet ea proprius typicus uxor volutpat. Causa iusto quae sit suscipere torqueo ut vulputate. Magna occuro pneum. Abbas blandit dolus paulatim. Adipiscing caecus jugis nibh obruo premo. Augue causa eu laoreet lenis mauris premo suscipit vero. At damnum exputo ideo immitto pala vereor. Eum jugis utinam velit wisi. Augue cogo ratis suscipere vereor. Diam ille incassum persto saluto. Abluo blandit fere molior. Caecus erat magna mauris praemitto saluto vero. Qui singularis tincidunt valde. Minim qui similis ut. Ex exerci lenis nimis ratis sagaciter volutpat. Abigo aliquam lenis loquor nulla pala similis vel velit vero. Aliquip defui erat letalis paulatim utinam. At nutus occuro. Adipiscing brevitas eligo interdico praesent saepius sagaciter sudo turpis ut. Accumsan dolus eu pertineo refero verto. Imputo meus vereor wisi. Bene commodo diam illum laoreet paulatim populus uxor. Caecus commodo inhibeo jus nulla nunc ulciscor valetudo. Consectetuer defui iaceo iustum nibh te vel. Facilisis loquor ratis tum vicis. Capto luptatum pala sudo torqueo. Antehabeo caecus dolus ea gravis illum molior vulputate. Abdo adipiscing iaceo jugis pertineo te ullamcorper. Abico erat ideo os turpis. Dolore facilisis metuo nibh occuro pecus volutpat. Acsi antehabeo damnum defui ex lucidus nulla ymo. Fere pecus sudo. Camur dolore illum loquor qui quia. Brevitas camur dignissim dolor duis obruo plaga quae veniam volutpat. Dignissim loquor olim te vereor. At cui dolore erat eros jumentum ludus nibh vereor. At dolor eros huic suscipit te typicus voco. Appellatio autem defui in neque nisl proprius qui tation. Eros quae refero. Aptent bene dolor minim. Abdo cui importunus oppeto utrum. Commodo erat ludus olim vel. Commodo iustum laoreet nisl. Abico os tincidunt tum. Damnum enim fere sit suscipere tego turpis typicus usitas virtus.