Got it. You can do VM replication to another host natively with Hyper-V 2012, and it works a treat. That wasn't an option in this case because I'm not replicating this particular VM to our DR site. I was just asking what Damien meant by "clone the existing VM" without backup.
On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 11:56 PM, Daniel Chenault <[email protected]>wrote: > I was in that original discussion you referenced and have done the hot > standby VM solution. > > There are a few products out there that can do this. The one I’ve hands-on > time with is Zerto. It runs in the VMWare kernel and hooks into the file > system. After the initial seeding it will then transmit all filesystem > deltas to the target system hosting the standby (also running VMWare and > using the VMWare API). It’s like RAID 1 for servers. > > If the fit hits the shan the standby can be spun up in the time it takes > to start a VM (typically less then four minutes, varies) and, voila, your > server is back up and running with data current to the last transmitted > packet. This is what you’re calling a “hot clone.” > > That’s the 10,000 foot view. > > *From:* Richard Stovall <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Wednesday, September 11, 2013 10:26 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [NTSysADM] In defense of image-based VM backups > > Hot backups are definitely still part of the arsenal. I was asking > about hot-clones, which seem to be an implied possibility? I don't know > how to create one. Damien, maybe this question is for you. Is it possible > to clone a running VM without going through the backup and restore > process? (I don't use any System Center products, if that helps.) > > Thanks, > RS > > On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 11:14 PM, Jon Harris <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hot-backups were possible for Hyper-V under 2008, I only did them by >> whole hardware backup and never tried to pull just the hot VMs. I would >> hope that has been improved. >> >> Jon >> >> ------------------------------ >> Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 23:05:12 -0400 >> Subject: Re: [NTSysADM] In defense of image-based VM backups >> From: [email protected] >> To: [email protected] >> >> Perhaps. This is in Hyper-V 2012. I am still on the fat part of that >> learning curve, so, perhaps. Is there a way to do a hot-clone? >> >> The restore to sandbox is a clone, it's just a new vm made from a >> backup of the source. >> >> >> On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 10:58 PM, Damien Solodow < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> Couldn't you have just cloned the existing VM to make your sandbox; no >> VM backup required? >> >> DAMIEN SOLODOW >> Systems Engineer >> 317.447.6033 (office) >> 317.447.6014 (fax) >> HARRISON COLLEGE >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* [email protected] [[email protected]] >> on behalf of Richard Stovall [[email protected]] >> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 11, 2013 10:53 PM >> *To:* [email protected] >> *Subject:* [NTSysADM] In defense of image-based VM backups >> >> There was a discussion here a few weeks ago that centered on >> image-based backups for entire VMs vs data-based backups of applications >> only. My recollection is that most of us smaller guys prefer (or at least >> lean toward) the image-based variety, and the bigger, more mature orgs >> prefer data backups. >> >> I'm going to offer an example of the utility of image-based backups for >> small shops. >> >> My IT department consists of one other admin and me. We support a fairly >> complex IT environment for a company of our diminutive size. We recently >> went whole hog into MSCRM (on-premises), and our developers (we have more >> of them than IT staff) are working hard to customize it to suit the >> company's needs. >> >> Today I had to roll back a CRM org database to an earlier point in time >> for the devs, and at first blush it appeared to be a successful endeavor. >> Some funky issues arose, however, so I was faced with a difficult problem >> and no clear direction on how to solve it. (MSCRM is an enormous beast, >> btw.) >> >> Long story short, having the ability to (almost) immediately spin up a >> brand new, sandboxed copy of the CRM server allowed me to experiment and >> figure out how to resolve the problem without touching the one the devs >> actually use. This helped me document the proper fix and apply it in their >> environment in (literally) a few minutes. I could not have done this >> without the benefits of A) virtualization and B) the ability to create an >> exact clone of the affected machine. >> >> There are lots of benefits to virtualization, and private clouds, and all >> of the rest of the buzzwords currently on the IT bingo cards. But, to me, >> the greatest of these accrue to rank and file admins when confronted with >> the kind of situation I faced today. >> >> It's really cool stuff that could not have been accomplished quickly >> without virtualization *and* image-based backups. >> >> PS Full disclosure. I also do native SQL backups of the CRM databases >> within the VMs, and the restoration of one of these in SQL Management >> Studio was an integral part of the final solution. I guess this is a >> blended/hybrid solution, but it wouldn't have been easy without being able >> to instantly create a sandbox to test in, and that's an example of the >> power of image-based backups for the small IT shop. >> >> >> >> >> > >
