Optimizations options (VMware)
The following options set the type and scope of the VMware virtual machine backup.
Table: Optimizations
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Enable file recovery from VM backup | This option allows restore of individual files from the backup. With or without this option, you can restore the entire virtual machine. You can also use this option for incremental backups: in the policy schedule, select differential incremental backup or cumulative incremental backup. To perform a VMware backup to a deduplication storage unit, select this option. This option provides the best deduplication rates. To back up a virtual machine that contains Veritas Storage Foundation Volume Manager volumes, disable this option. Also make sure that the option is disabled. Note: For a Linux virtual machine, the name of an LVM volume can include any of the following special characters: . (period), _ (underscore), - (hyphen). No other special characters are supported. If other special characters are in the volume name, the option does not work. As a result, you cannot restore individual files from that volume. Note: During an incremental backup, any files that had been moved or renamed are not backed up. Those files are not available when you browse to restore individual files from the incremental backup. However, when you restore the entire VM from a block-level incremental backup, note: the file metadata is updated and the moved or renamed files in the restored VM reflect the updated metadata. |
Enable block-level incremental backup | For block-level backups of the virtual machine. This option reduces the size of the backup image. For the Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint Agents, this option is selected and grayed out if you enable . On the Attributes tab, is automatically selected and grayed out. |
Exclude deleted blocks | Reduces the size of the backup image by excluding any unused or deleted blocks within the file system on the virtual machine. This option supports the following file systems: Windows NTFS, and Linux ext2, ext3, and ext4. This option uses proprietary mapping technology to identify vacant sectors (allocated but empty) within the file system. See About reducing the size of VMware backups. To back up a virtual machine that contains Veritas Storage Foundation Volume Manager volumes, disable this option. Also make sure that the option is disabled. |
Exclude swap and paging files | Reduces the size of the backup image by excluding the data in the guest OS system paging file (Windows) or the swap file (Linux). Note: This option does not exclude the swapping and paging files from the backup: it only excludes the data in those files. If the files are restored, they are restored as empty files. Note: For a Linux virtual machine, this option disables the swap file when you restore the virtual machine. You must reconfigure the swap file after the virtual machine is restored. To allow the virtual machine to be restored with its swap file enabled, do not select . |