[raymann]

I wanted to get someones thoughts and possible solutions on back up procedures for a single server running ESXi 5.0.

Can i backup the VMs or do I have to continue using backup procedures within each VM OS as if it were a physical machine?

[Dumber]

There are multiple solutions, one of them is the one you mentioned. Agent based backup as it was a physical machine.
Other options are products like VDR http://www.vmware.com/products/data-.../overview.html, VEAAM etc. There are many products and methods, but you are going to need to know what your current infra is.

[PiroNet]

Originally Posted by raymann

I wanted to get someones thoughts and possible solutions on back up procedures for a single server running ESXi 5.0.

Can i backup the VMs or do I have to continue using backup procedures within each VM OS as if it were a physical machine?

First you need to understand the 3 different levels of quiescing you can achieve especially in a virtual environment.

1-Crash-consistent quiescing. That is, the image is equivalent to the image left on the system if the power is unexpectedly cycled. Some transactions in progress may not complete. In addition, image-based backup does not allow for file-based restoration.

2-File-system consistent quiescing. That is, VMware will quiesce the file systems. This ensures that no file system writes are pending at the time the snapshot is taken, allowing the creation of file-system consistent backups.

3-Application-consistent quiescing. That is when VMware tells the application that is has been backed up so that it can clear its transaction logs.

Read more at http://deinoscloud.wordpress.com/201...ng-mechanisms/

VeeamZIP is an excellent option though and free (http://www.veeam.com/virtual-machine...e.html?ad=menu

[raymann]

Thank you both for the replies! I have plenty of options to research now.

[jceb3167]

I would recommend you to create a cluster with one node and publish the same LUNs to the other ESXi (free) nodes. That way you could do all use at the useful features of the Advanced edition when you need them.