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VERSION 1.1 / NOVEMBER 2015
Nutanix VMware Protection Best Practices Guide
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Table of Contents
Overview .................................................................................................................................. 4
Commvault Components & Sizing .................................................................................................. 4
Commserve ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Media Agent ................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Virtual Server Agent (VSA) ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Requirements................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Deployment Models.................................................................................................................... 5
VMware Transport Methods....................................................................................................................................... 5
VSA on Proxy VM ........................................................................................................................................................... 6
Media Agent on VM ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Physical Media Agent.................................................................................................................................................... 8
Disk Libraries ............................................................................................................................. 8
Nutanix............................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Other Disk Targets ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Cloud Storage ................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Backup Types and Schedules ........................................................................................................ 9
DASH Full ......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Incremental Forever Approach.................................................................................................................................10
Best Practices List ..................................................................................................................... 10
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Revision History
Version Data Changes 1.0 October 2015 Initial Document Publication 1.1 November 2015 Minor Updates & Revisions
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Overview
This document will serve to provide architecture examples and best practices for using Commvault to
protect VMware on Nutanix.
The scalability of the Nutanix solution matches well with the architecture and flexibility of Commvault
software. Together, these products create an optimum solution to manage filesystem and application
data across multiple hypervisors. Commvault can be deployed on a Nutanix cluster, in combinat ion with
physical machines, or entirely on physical machines. This document will assume the architects and
administrators have some knowledge of each system.
At the time of publication, the latest versions are Commvault 10 SP12+ or 11 SP2+. Check with
Commvault for latest updates.
Commvault Components & Sizing
Commserve
The CommServe® is the command and control center. It contains the Microsoft SQL database
that stores the CommCell group members, settings, and other metadata. Because a distributed,
two-tiered indexing system for tracking managed data is used, the size of the metadata database
is controlled. The CommServe is responsible for managing administrative functions,
communicating with agents and Media Agents to initiate data protection, management and
recovery operations.
For details on Commserve requirements based upon environment size, follow the following link:
Commserve Sizing can be found here
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Media Agent
The MediaAgent is the data transmission server. It provides high performance data movement
and manages the data storage. MediaAgent tasks are coordinated by the CommServe. For
scalability, there can be more than one MediaAgent in a CommCell. The MediaAgent software
can be installed in physical, virtual, and clustered environments.
Refer to the Media Agent sizing guidelines here: Media Agent Sizing
Virtual Server Agent (VSA)
The Virtual Server Agent (VSA) provides a unified protection and recovery vehicle for all virtual
machine data. In addition to complete protection of entire virtual machines for disaster recovery,
the Virtual Server Agent also provides granular backup and recovery options.
Requirements Windows Server 2008 or higher
CPU and Ram based on TB of data being protected
If performing backups with the granular recovery option enabled, the location of
the Job Results folder should contain additional space to accommodate at least 2
percent of the total amount of data being backed up.
Deployment Models
VMware Transport Methods Commvault will utilize the vStorage API (VADP) to backup VMware environments. During
backups, the Virtual Server Agent requests a snapshot of the virtual machine hosted on the
datastore. The snapshot VMDK and virtual machine configuration files are then copied to the
storage media without requiring any dedicated disk cache on the proxy server.
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Commvault recommends using network block device (NBD) as the transport mode rather than
Hot-Add or San mode. This ensures optimal performance and reliability when using the Nutanix
platform. This method will also allow for the greatest ease in scaling the system as the Nutanix
cluster grows. While Hot-Add mode is possible, NBD has proven to be a better choice in most
Nutanix environments.
An important consideration here is the network interface. When using NBD mode, data will
transfer over ESXi management interfaces. For this purpose, the management interface should be
configured on the 10Gb NICs rather than 1Gb. If using physical Commvault Media Agents or VSA
proxies, best performance will be achieved by utilizing 10Gb NICs in those machines as well.
Additionally, the data path should not be routed or pass through any software firewalls.
VSA on Proxy VM Deploying the VSA directly on a Windows VM running on a Nutanix node allows for greatest
flexibility, while reducing hardware footprint. Creating a virtualization client with multiple proxies
is useful to force VMware transport modes across all proxies and provides greater fault tolerance.
Commvault dynamically distributes virtual machines for backup across available VSA proxies, both
at the beginning of the backup job and while the backup is running. When a backup operation
starts, the first VSA proxy listed for the Virtual Server instance acts as a coordinator, controlling
traffic for backups across all proxies. Dynamic distribution improves performance, enhances
scalability, and ensures fault tolerance for backup operations. The figure below illustrates
multiple VSAs in a group under a single management point.
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Media Agent on VM The Media Agent software can be installed in physical, virtual, and clustered environments. For
protection of hyper converged environments, the recommended deployment is on a VM. Unless
direct tape-out is necessary, a VM running on a Nutanix node will provide the same feature set as
a physical machine. The figure below illustrates the Media Agent, VSA proxy and Commserve all
running as virtual machines on the Nutanix platform. Note that cloud storage is supported using
the native cloud connector in the Commvault software.
In order to provide optimal performance for the deduplication database hosted on
the MediaAgent, the Solid State Disk pinning feature should be used. Currently
(Nutanix version 4.5.1) the administrator must enable this from the Nutanix
command line, as the option is not visible in the PRISM interface.
To pin a disk to SSD, you must know the id of the disk, as well as the tier. To get these attributes,
use the virtual-disk list and list tier commands. Once you have this information the following
command can be used to pin a disk to SSD. Follow the media agent sizing guidelines to determine
the amount of storage necessary for the database.
virtual-disk update-pinning id=”diskid” tier-name=”tierid” pinned-space=”amountofGBforDDB”
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Physical Media Agent
When a physical Media Agent is desired, such as instances requiring direct tape-out,
simply install and configure the Media Agent according to Commvault
documentation. A virtual machine can still host the VSA, and the data will be
transferred to the physical MediaAgent at the time of backup. Source-side
deduplication and compression will assist in minimizing the impact to production
networks. See the example below of multiple options for writing to a physical media
agent with disk and tape libraries. Note the optional data flow, as the data would be
directed to the physical machine absent a virtual proxy.
Disk Libraries
Nutanix If storing the backup data on a disk library inside a virtual machine, use the VMware PVSCSI
controller. This is generally only recommended for vSphere 5.5 and higher as previously virtual
disks are limited at 2TB. For larger scale deployments, it may be recommended to deploy the
Commvault Media Agent and disk libraries on a separate Nutanix cluster. This allows for
expansion without interruption as well as increased redundancy. The diagram below illustrates a
secondary Nutanix cluster hosting Commvault infrastructure and storage, while receiving data
from VSA’s on production Nutanix clusters.
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Other Disk Targets
If using disk storage outside of Nutanix is desired, either for primary or secondary copy storage,
simply configure the disk library according to Commvault documentation. Examples of external
libraries would be CIFS, NFS or SMB based network storage, block based storage using isci, or
even removable hard disk devices. Some consideration is needed when creating external libraries
and using Media Agents hosted on a Nutanix cluster. Although possible, using scsi or fibre
channel attached devices with virtual machines can require extra configuration. For this reason, it
is generally ideal to use physical Media Agents if possible when needing to control tape libraries.
Refer to VMware support for more information.
Cloud Storage
Commvault enables the use of many Cloud Storage providers as locations for data storage and
recovery. No separate gateways or appliances are needed; the client computers are connected to
the cloud library through the MediaAgent. During a data protection operation, the MediaAgent
sends the client data directly to the cloud storage.
All data is transferred through secured channels using HTTPS protocol and can be further
encrypted during network transfer as well as at rest. Additionally, the deduplication feature
enables you to reduce cloud storage space usage and use network bandwidth efficiently.
Backup Types and Schedules
DASH Full
Synthetic full backups consolidate the data from the latest full or synthetic full backup together
with any subsequent incremental backups into one archive file, instead of reading and backing up
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data directly from the client computer. Since synthetic full backups do not back up data from the
client computer, this operation imposes no load on the client computer.
When using Commvault deduplication, synthetic full backups can be created in an accelerated
mode to significantly reduce the copy duration. This is done by identifying and transferring the
data signatures (instead of the data itself) to the target wherever possible. This is referred to as a
DASH Full backup.
For more information on accelerated Synthetic Full backups see the documentation here: DASH
Full Backups
Incremental Forever Approach
For most virtual protection jobs, Commvault recommends using an incremental forever
approach, where DASH Full backups are scheduled periodically. In the case of incremental
backups, Change Block Tracking (CBT) helps quickly identify the data blocks on the virtual
machine that have changed since the last backup. When combining CBT with Commvault
deduplication and compression, the amount of data and load on the virtual machines during
incremental backups is minimal resulting in the fastest and most efficient backup.
Best Practices List
Use Network Mode (NBD) as the transport mode whenever possible.
Configure the management interfaces to use the 10Gb NICs
Pin DDB disk to SSD when running Media Agents as virtual machines
If using Nutanix as a disk library, or when desiring to use an all Nutanix deployment, place media
Agents and disk libraries on secondary cluster.
Use DASH full backups and the incremental forever approach.
Make sure to apply latest service packs and hotfixes from Commvault before deployment.