topic Can Snapmanager for Exchange be used on NFS storage in ONTAP Discussions

Can Snapmanager for Exchange be used on NFS storage

iwannabfishn — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:12:51 GMT

I have a flexpod setup and we just installed a new exchange server as a VMware virtual machine on an NFS datastore. I am trying to figure out the best way to backup the data. I have used Snapmanger for sql in the past, but that was on iscsi LUNs. Can snapmanager work on NFS storage too? I just want to find the most efficient way to backup data on the server. I can use commvault if neccessary but snapshots are so much simpler. Any information/direction would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Re: Can Snapmanager for Exchange be used on NFS storage

AlexDawson — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 02:52:45 GMT

Hi there,

Exchange datastores are explictly not supported by Microsoft to be stored in VMDKs on NFS volumes - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj619301(v=exchg.150).aspx

They are supported by Microsoft and SnapManager for Exchange in VMDKs on LUNs, or by raw LUNs mapped into the VM. Other snapmanagers work with VMDKs and VHDs on NAS volumes - this is not a limitation of our software - just a matter of Microsoft's supported configurations.

Sorry!

Re: Can Snapmanager for Exchange be used on NFS storage

D_BEREZENKO — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 21:07:07 GMT

You might need to consider a scenario when you connect iSCSI LUNs directly to the guest system with the MS Exchange

In this case, you'll be able to use the full potential of SnapCenter (SC 4.x and higher supports Exchange)