Question on Reinstalling VMWare and Guest VMs
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I recently purchased Essentials at a client that had 3 VMWare servers with no VM level backups. Currently just using Veeam Free to create Veeam Zip files weekly until I get everything redone. This is all working well.
Today I received 8 shiny new 1TB drives that I will be installing as a 4TB RAID10 array to replace a 1.5TB RAID5 array (4x500GB disks). I have zero disk space for migration so I am planning to simply shut down the virtual machines on this server, create a final veeam zip of all of them and then shut down the host and yank the drives.
This server had VMWare installed on the RAID5 array, so I am also going to reinstall VMWare to a USB stick.
- Will I have any problem adding the VMWare Essentials License to this host? it will be the 4th time I apply it. Do I need to remove it from the current host first, prior to destroying the current host?
- The host is currently running 5.0. Should I reinstall 5.0, restore my Veeam zips then upgrade to 5.5? Or should I just install 5.5?
- Anything I am not asking that you think I should ask?
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Let me just say that when I upgraded from 5.0 to 5.1, some things went semi-haywire. I've not gone to 5.5 yet on any ESXi hosts, but if it were me, I would go straight to 5.5 with a clean install on a USB drive as you mentioned.
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- If you're tearing down the old server anyways, why not. It can't hurt. I don't believe it's necessary but play it safe.
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Go straight to 5.5 and just reconnect the VMware back into ESXi. Won't be a problem.
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- What is your long-term backup plan? Are you planning to stick with Veeam? Are you looking at options? If you work with Veeam right now and are comfortable with it, I would say go ahead and keep using it. If you're flexible to other options, grab an OVF template for Unitrend's UEB and try it out. If you have questions or need help, let me know. I'm actually an installer. I'd be more than happy to help a fellow...fruiter? Mangohead? Lassi Bar Hopper? Ok, we need a title for MangoLassi members.
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@ajstringham said:
- What is your long-term backup plan?
Depends on a few things. When I talked to Unitrends I got completely run around, AFTER getting Katie involved. It was a completely horrible experience.
That said, I am looking for a solution to handle offsite pushing of the backups so I am basically going to use Veeam or UEB. One thing I have not done with Veeam is actually see how the offsite functionality works. Not enough hours in the day it always seems. UEB was quoting me stupid numbers for backing things up using my own hardware both onsite and offsite, I was not impressed. Where my understanding of Veeam is a $1600 purchase of Essentials to handle 4 sockets (my two servers that i will be keeping) and then I can install the offiste side of that with no extra licensing needed.
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@JaredBusch said:
@ajstringham said:
- What is your long-term backup plan?
Depends on a few things. When I talked to Unitrends I got completely run around, AFTER getting Katie involved. It was a completely horrible experience.
That said, I am looking for a solution to handle offsite pushing of the backups so I am basically going to use Veeam or UEB. One thing I have not done with Veeam is actually see how the offsite functionality works. Not enough hours in the day it always seems. UEB was quoting me stupid numbers for backing things up using my own hardware both onsite and offsite, I was not impressed. Where my understanding of Veeam is a $1600 purchase of Essentials to handle 4 sockets (my two servers that i will be keeping) and then I can install the offiste side of that with no extra licensing needed.
You would do well to look at Enterprise Plus licenses of Veeam to get the WAN Accelerator for backup copy jobs here. I am hoping to try this out in the next 4-8 weeks since we just beefed up internet connections at 2 of our sites.
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@NetworkNerd said:
You would do well to look at Enterprise Plus licenses of Veeam to get the WAN Accelerator for backup copy jobs here. I am hoping to try this out in the next 4-8 weeks since we just beefed up internet connections at 2 of our sites.
The is only in the Plus? I may be able to swing the Enterprise, but the plus not so much. This is a SMB with 3 (well will be 2) VM hosts. They like the idea of offsite backup, but $4600 not counting hardware will be pushing it. Does Veeam require maintenance to be repurchased for it? I can probably make a case if it is a one time purchase.
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@JaredBusch said:
@NetworkNerd said:
You would do well to look at Enterprise Plus licenses of Veeam to get the WAN Accelerator for backup copy jobs here. I am hoping to try this out in the next 4-8 weeks since we just beefed up internet connections at 2 of our sites.
The is only in the Plus? I may be able to swing the Enterprise, but the plus not so much. This is a SMB with 3 (well will be 2) VM hosts. They like the idea of offsite backup, but $4600 not counting hardware will be pushing it. Does Veeam require maintenance to be repurchased for it? I can probably make a case if it is a one time purchase.
WAN Acceleration is only available in the Enterprise Plus edition.
Speaking about maintenance & support, as I know, 1 year is included and later you can renew your subscription, but it's not obligatory.
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@Maria-Levkina said:
Speaking about maintenance & support, as I know, 1 year is included and later you can renew your subscription, but it's not obligatory.
How much is maintenance? Not find ding it on their website.
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Install in process.
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two down. the big one now going (SQL Server)
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Did you end up using the Dell ESXi ISO here or just the one you can download from VMWare? This is more for my own curiosity than anything. I had some issues on a Dell R510 recently and could only resolve them by using the Dell ESXi ISO.
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@NetworkNerd said:
Did you end up using the Dell ESXi ISO here or just the one you can download from VMWare? This is more for my own curiosity than anything. I had some issues on a Dell R510 recently and could only resolve them by using the Dell ESXi ISO.
Dell has an ISO? Seriously, I never bothered to look. I know these were installed 5.0 with the VMWare Free license originally. After buying Essentials a few weeks back, I simply downloaded the 5.5 ISO. Today, I installed it to the internal USB (32GB drive) and configured the 8 SFF 1TB drives I stuck in it as a RAID10.
This server is a T610. There is also a T410 running on 4x 500GB 3.5" drives in a RAID 5. I'll be migrating those VM's to the T610 next weekend now that I have room. Then I'll reconfigure that one too. Need to find a drive solution for it though since it has 6x slots for 3.5" drives and I only have the 4 hot plug chassis that are currently in use. Would be nice to reuse 2 of the 2.5" drive I just yanked since they were 500GB too. -
@JaredBusch said:
@NetworkNerd said:
Did you end up using the Dell ESXi ISO here or just the one you can download from VMWare? This is more for my own curiosity than anything. I had some issues on a Dell R510 recently and could only resolve them by using the Dell ESXi ISO.
Dell has an ISO? Seriously, I never bothered to look. I know these were installed 5.0 with the VMWare Free license originally. After buying Essentials a few weeks back, I simply downloaded the 5.5 ISO. Today, I installed it to the internal USB (32GB drive) and configured the 8 SFF 1TB drives I stuck in it as a RAID10.
I would not have looked either had I not had purple screen of death issues when using the VMWare ISO. It just so happens all my troubles went away by going with the Dell ISO. That has only ever happened to me on the Dell server I mention above. I installed the ISO on a HP server and a Cisco server with no issues prior to that experience.
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All the big server vendors have their own ISOs so that they can package in their drivers and monitoring software.
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Well I will give the Dell ISO a try when I redo the T410.
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@JaredBusch I hate that you had a bad experience with our sales team. I agree that UEB may be a good option to consider. Another solid (& less expensive) option is our PHD Virtual Backup & Replication .This new product to the Unitrends family goes head to head with Veeam all the time, and often wins on price since the features are very similar. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help you with your search.
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I will look into it @katieunitrends. As always you are awesome.
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