» Dakota Backup FAQs » Virtualization

• How does Dakota Backup protect ESX servers?
  Dakota Backup uses the Linux Dakota Backup DS-Client to perform backup and recovery of virtual machines at the VM-level. The Dakota Backup DS-Client interfaces agentlessly with ESX server or Virtual Center to perform backup without the need for any other 3rd party products. Recovery can be performed to any ESX server.
• Can Dakota Backup DS-CLIENT run on a virtual machine?
  Yes. Dakota Backup DS-CLIENT can run on Windows, Red Hat or SUSE native or virtual machines.
• If I backup both VMWare ESX host side and guest OS side, will files that are backed up from the guest side be de-duplicated when you backup the VMDK file from the host side?
  Dakota Backup de-duplicates at the block level. Since all the guest OS files appear as one large VMDK file from the host side, individual files backed up from the guest side will not be de-duplicated within the VMDK file. However, if the same file was stored in multiple different directories on the guest side, these would appear as repeating blocks within the VMDK file and these blocks would be de-duplicated.
• Can I backup VMWare environment with a windows Dakota Backup DS-CLIENT?
  If you want to backup the VM from the host side (i.e. backup the VMDK and associated files), you must use the Linux Dakota Backup DS-CLIENT. However, a Windows Dakota Backup DS-CLIENTcan backup and restore Windows Virtual Machines through the guest Windows operating system. A Windows Dakota Backup DS-CLIENT can also be used to backup and restore via VMWare Consolidated Backup and File System Backup Sets.
• I want to backup the same VMguests via VMDK and system/file level. If I backup a VMDK, and the same system via file level, that has for example ~100 Word docs, will the VMDK dedupe against the file level backup or just against the other VMDK?
  VMDK refers to extension of the files that implement virtual machines. Thus, the VMDK is normally a single file (depending on configuration a VMDK can also be split into chunks) and looks for duplicate VMDK files. It is doubtful that any two VMDK files will be identical. Therefore, VMDK will not dedupe against files backed up from the guest. The incremental VMDK backups will only backup the blocks that change within the VMDK file.
• Is Dakota Backup capable of restoring one file within an ESX without restoring the entire guest?
  Yes. However, VM-level backups of ESX hosts are recommended for DR purposes and whole machine recoverability. File-level backup sets may be necessary to meet the most granular restoration requirements. Often a hybrid approach of both VM-level and file-level specific backups makes sense.