jarrod
(JRC)
1
Ok, so about 2 years ago I posted asking for advice on a backup solution for Xenserver. Well I am back asking again.
Based on the feedback from the original post we ended up going with PHDVirtual, which worked very well. Since then they were acquired by Unitrends and the product has become completely unreliable (hitting maybe 38% success rate on daily backups). I even went so far as to completely redo the system from the ground up (fresh appliance, blank backup target NAS), but it looks like UEB is just not capable or reliable backing up Xenserver.
So here I am again, looking to evaluate some options for backup. I plan to take a deep look at Alike again, but was wondering what else may have popped up since the last time I looked. How do you guys that use Xenserver back them up?
7 Spice ups
ahoppe
(Anthony H.)
2
I am an Alike user and, although they have their own faults, the software has been doing a decent job backing up my environment. I believe we are pushing their software pretty hard. I have ~100 VMs across 19 hosts. Once we get over the initial deployment and first backup, things are relatively smooth after that. They’ve made some good progress with their software over the years. There were some rocky times in the Alike 3.x days, and we eventually found a sweet spot with Alike 3.5 which I was running for a good 6 months or so without issue. When I originally trialed the software back in 2014 they were really good about extending it without question. I believe I trialed the software for a good 3-4 months, and during my trial their support team treated me like I was a paid customer. My only wish is that their support was more reachable via phone (they like to communicate via email/tickets, which I understand)…but that’d drive up the cost of the software. When I’ve had major issues they’ve jumped on a conference call with me and done remote sessions.
I’m working on transitioning from Alike 3.5 to 4.2, which basically requires you to scrap and re-do your backups. Fortunately for me, I have the hardware to run both in parallel. I’m still working through the initial backups with 4.2, which are running into some snags (not unexpected), but their support has been responsive and helpful. I am hopeful things will iron out in sometime this week.
I’m curious to see what input from others may be. fires up the popcorn machine
2 Spice ups
Jarrod - I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had these issues. We’d like to see what else we can do to resolve the reliability issues you’ve had. Can you private message me your asset tag information so that I can do this for you?
@scottalanmiller often sings the praises of XenServer 5.x and is likely to have good input for you.
2 Spice ups
Xen Orchestra is a completely open source Single Pane of Glass.
It does everything. It’s offered for free or with support from the developer.
Here is the developers site , here is the Guide I wrote to building it from the sources.
I’ve been using the open source version for several months now and have had minimal issues with it. I even have an update script for it.
The installation is 1 line on a Debian or Ubuntu 15.10 or higher server.
So yeah… I mean… pretty simple, works great and is offered for free.
2 Spice ups
JRC - you may want to consider Asigra Cloud Backup as you develop your shortlist for backup solutions.
Asigra is an agentless, comprehensive cloud backup and recovery software solution that includes VM replication. The solution supports XenServer.
Do you have any other requirements other than support for XenServer? Is there anything else that you need to see within the solution for it to make your shortlist?
1 Spice up
Ouch! It’s a pity to hear that PHDVirtual has gone so bad. Before Unitrends, it was the only solid Xen option, particularly if you were doing VDI work with linked clones. As Tracy & John said, Asigra is one of the few options in the commercial mid-market backup space that supports Xen properly. It has the added benefit that you can buy it as a service from a local provider, rather than a boxed product that you have to figure out and support yourself. The other solid option is storage snapshotting and replication, which although expensive, should deliver a robust backup.
Full disclosure - I work for a DR & backup service provider and Asigra is one of our product lines.
1 Spice up
Hey there JRC! One option is Arcserve UDP, the Advanced license will do for you. UDP supports Xenserver and will allow you to manage the Xen VMs from the same console that you manage your other hypervisors as well as any physical servers you have.
Here is a download link to a full version of the software, includes 30 day license and if you like what you see there is no reinstall required you can just input your keys at the end of the 30 days—> UDP Backup and Disaster Recovery Free Trial - Arcserve
And here is a link to a playlist of 2 min video tutorials to help you get setup—> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbUO7BDhKkI&index=27&list=PLvv6a4xey9bcHEXJ66O3ikLvhuAjU_zgB
Please message me if you would like my help to guide you through setup although config and management is extremely easy and intuitive.
Hey JRC,
I have been using Asigra for over 2 years now and that is what I would recommend. I have never backed-up anything having to do w/Xen, but I know it is supported.
The program is an agentless, cloud-based, multi-tenanted solution. You can replicate VMs. They also have solutions for VMware as well as Hyper-V…
Greg
