Protecting Microsoft Azure Stack VMs using NetBackup
You can use NetBackup and NetBackup Parallel Streaming Framework (PSF) to protect your Azure Stack VMs.
The following diagram provides an overview of how Microsoft Azure Stack VMs are protected by NetBackup.
Also, review the definitions of terminologies.See NetBackup for Microsoft Azure Stack terminologies.
As illustrated in the diagram:
The VMs are backed up in parallel streams wherein, NetBackup fetches blob storage data of VHDs. Each backup host fetches data associated with one or multiple VMs. In case of multiple backup hosts, sets of VMs are distributed to each backup host. The job processing is accelerated due to multiple backup hosts and parallel streams.
Note:
One VHD's data is not fetched parallely by multiple backup hosts.
The communication between the Microsoft Azure Stack and the NetBackup is enabled using the NetBackup plug-in for Microsoft Azure Stack.
For this release, the plug-in is available separately and must be installed on all the backup hosts.
For NetBackup communication, you need to configure a BigData policy wherein, you need to use Application_Type=azurestack, and add the related backup hosts.
You can configure a NetBackup media server, client, or master server as a backup host. Also, depending on the number of VMs, you can add or remove backup hosts. You can scale up your environment easily by adding more backup hosts.
It is recommended that you use a NetBackup media server or a client as a backup host.
The NetBackup Parallel Streaming Framework enables agentless backup wherein the backup and restore operations run on the backup hosts. There is no agent footprint on the Microsoft Azure Stack VMs. Also, NetBackup is not affected by the Microsoft Azure Stack upgrades or maintenance.