OSSV for ESX support with vSphere 4 and 4.1

[efrietsch_AIS]

Does anyone have any insight when OSSV for ESX is going to be supported on vSphere 4.0 and 4.1? Specifically ESXi.

Thanks,

[rjparker1]

It's built into ESX and Ops manager.. so it's supported now.

you need to download the plug-in for vmware (on vCenter) for it to work.

And I think it only works on NFS currently.. I could be wrong about that, I know with Ontap 8.01 on the Filers it will work with ESX 4.1

[begasoftfiler · Accepted solution]

Hi

Mmh, I dont think your answer is right...?

I guess you're talking about "Virtual Storage Console" which has the Backup and Restore functions (aka Snap Manager). But this way you can only make local (on the filer where the volumes) Backups/Snapshots of the VM's. You cant make backups of VM's to another Storage System.

I'm also searching for Information if there is a Ossv Version which works with Esx/Vsphere 4.x (with NFS based vmdks) because i would like to backup the vmdks to another storage system. It look to me that there is currently no OSSV version which support ESX 4.x with vmdks on NFS. The latest 3.0.1 OSSV Version only supports Esx 3.x (and without NFS Based vmdks.)

So Virtual Storage Console (the vsphere plugin from Netapp) and OSSV are different things...

or?

[efrietsch_AIS]

You are correct begasoftfiler. Currently their is no supported version of OSSV for vSphere 4 or 4.1. I believe NetApp is supposed to have a supported version later this year, but until then that does me no good as we can't upgrade our remotes sites to vSphere.

[radek_kubka]

Currently their is no supported version of OSSV for vSphere 4 or 4.1. I believe NetApp is supposed to have a supported version later this year

I wouldn't hold yor breath for that. OSSV for VMware requires Service Console (this is were you actually install the agent) & ESXi, as a thin supervisor, hasn't got it. VMware says that version 4 is the last one with an option for a 'fat' supervisor, so probably not much sense in developing a product which soon won't have a platform to run on.

Regardless of VMware platform, you can still use OSSV inside your guest VMs, treating them as being physical boxes.

Regards,

Radek

[efrietsch_AIS]

Yes that is correct about the service console. VMware has given everyone the API's to work with vSphere, so NetApp has to rewrite OSSV for ESX to work without the Service Console (ESXi). Again I believe that is coming sometime this year for support. Currently we are doing file level backups with OSSV for windows. Thank you for your response.

[rjparker1]

I think you are confused about what is involved.  You are trying to get ESX to manage the Netapp.

Not ESX job.  That's a Netapp function.  Snapmirror can work between Netapps, but you can't use ESX as a middleware tool to manage something that's not intended.

ESX manages OSSV just fine with the plugin as I mentioned, if it doesn't manage your ENTIRE SAN infrastructure, not ESX or VM ware roadmap nor shoud it be, those tools are 100% Netapp, and that's where you should manage them from, not vCenter console in ESX.

ESX manages VM's not storage, that's where you are compounding the issue.  VM Ware isn't going to even try and included SAN storage management at all, how you provide the storage is up to you, YOU have to manage it.

ESX works fine, Netapp isn't going to provide a tool for a 3rd party, because it's more convenient, you will have to use the stand alone tools Netapp provides to do, that's the way it SHOULD be done.

[efrietsch_AIS]

No, I am not trying to have ESX manage the NetApp. Not sure if you have ever heard of OSSV for ESX...  it is entended to backup VM's at remote sites that does not have a SAN or NAS in place.

As for when to use SMVI vs. OSSV, you would use OSSV when the primary VM  storage is non-NetApp storage. If the primary VM storage is on a NetApp storage  array, then you can use SMVI.

[kvadher]

I am using the 3.0 agent on out ESX 4.0 servers but have just recently run into issues when VMs have moved to different hosts causin the incremental backups to fail.

[admbranjo]

hi

its unclear for me how it works with the  vsphere"i" version.

I like to see OSSV working with vsphere as soon as possible, if i have only local NON NetApp storage

in a remote site, and like to snapvault that to a secondary Storage System from NetApp.

because its not allowed to install anything on vsphere, do we have to install OSSV on a "helper" guest system?

An Appliance like vMA or something?

It makes things clear if someone from NetApp can explain that.

thanks

Joerg Brandenburger