About protecting SQL Server data with VMware backups
Through a VMware backup policy, NetBackup can create consistent full backups of an SQL Server database that resides on a virtual machine. To protect a supported application with a VMware policy, there is a new job or phase during the backup. An Application State Capture (ASC) job executes after the VMware discovery job and before the snapshot job(s). This ASC job contacts the NetBackup client on the guest virtual machine. The ASC job collects and catalogs the specific data that is needed for application recovery.
You can do the following with VMware backups:
Perform single pass VMware backups that can quiesce all instances of SQL Server in that guest OS and their databases.
Use the existing SQL Server restore process to restore and recover data from VMware backups. From one VMware backup the following restore options are available: volume-level restore, file-level recovery, or database restore. You can also choose whether or not to truncate logs.
Restore and recover databases from VMware backups to alternate clients. The target destination client can be a physical computer or a virtual machine.