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EMC Avamar 6.1 for VMware User Guide
Protecting the vCenter Management Infrastructure
Overview
This chapter covers how to protect the actual vCenter management infrastructure (not the
virtual machines within that environment).
Avamar provides support for backing up the following vCenter management infrastructure
components:
◆
License files
◆
SSL certificates
◆
Audit logs
◆
Windows guest customization (sysprep) files
◆
Database-hosted configuration settings
◆
UpdateManager database
◆
Site Recovery Manager (SRM) database
The vCenter runs on a 32- or 64-bit Windows host. It also comprises a database server
which can run on a different host. Some optional vSphere components require additional
databases that can be hosted on the same host as vCenter or on different database server
hosts.
The basic methodology for protecting vCenter management infrastructure is to implement
either guest backup or VMware image backup on each virtual host using a custom dataset
that only backs up important vCenter management infrastructure components.
Recovering vCenter management infrastructure using Avamar backups is a two-step
process in which you first create a restore target virtual machine with a fresh operating
system image, then restore the vCenter management infrastructure components from the
latest Avamar backup.
One advantage to protecting your vCenter management infrastructure with Avamar is that
you can also use the Avamar backup to facilitate vCenter upgrades (for example,
upgrading the vCenter host from a 32-bit to a 64-bit Windows virtual machine).
Backing up the vCenter management infrastructure
As previously mentioned, the basic methodology for protecting vCenter management
infrastructure is to implement either guest backup or VMware image backup on each
virtual host using a custom dataset that only backs up important vCenter management
infrastructure components.
You should then add the vCenter Avamar clients to a group and schedule these backups at
regular intervals.
A comprehensive discussion of groups, group policy, datasets, schedules, and retention
policies is beyond the scope of this publication. The
EMC Avamar Administration Guide
provides detailed information.
Summary of Contents for Avamar 6.1
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