Backup and Replication from HP 3Par (iSCSI) to HP MSA (iSCSI)?

madrianr

Hello,

we are planning our new DR Plattform and want to have the following config:

XenServer 7.3 or Hypervisor 8.x LTSR
Main Storage is a HP 3Par (iSCSI)
Backup Storage will be a HP MSA (iSCSI)

we are new to Xen-Orchestrator and have the following question:

is it possible to make Continuous Delta backups from HP 3Par (iSCSI) to HP MSA (iSCSI)?
is it possible to make Continuous Replication from HP 3Par (iSCSI) to HP MSA (iSCSI) for DR?

I have read the docs and I cannot find how to use iSCSI SR (LUNS) as Backup Storage...

robert

olivierlambert

Hi!

I would suggest to use a more recent XenServer version (Citrix Hypervisor) or ideally XCP-ng
It's Xen Orchestra, not orchestrator (even if it makes less sense )
CR (Cont. Replication) doesn't care what's on destination, as long it's a storage repository in your host.
Delta backup (and backups) are files. If you want to do a backup directly on a iSCSI storage, you need a file system on top. So if you really want to use an iSCSI storage for that (NFS would be easier), you need to attach the iSCSI storage to your XOA, format it as ext (for example) and use it as a "local remote".

I would suggest to create a support ticket so we can assist you in a more efficient way.

madrianr

@olivierlambert said in Backup and Replication from HP 3Par (iSCSI) to HP MSA (iSCSI)?:

local remote

Hi, we are in design state of our new Backup/DR and have to find out if some backup and Replication Software solutions fits in our system...

is it right that I can attach a iSCSI LUN to XAO as a backup storage?
(size > 20TB)

olivierlambert

It's a bit less flexible than using a NFS share (because it's easier in case of XOA loss, to just reconnect to a NFS and fine all your backup), than having to reconnect the iSCSI to your XOA.

But it will work, yes.

madrianr

@olivierlambert
I have read the docs and Continuous Delta backups are based on a first "xva export" right?
but Xenserver XVA Export (7.3) is very slow - does this mean for our Fileserver with 2TB we have to wait many hours for the first backup taken place? (we use 10Gbit Network)

robert

olivierlambert

No, it's not. Delta is based on VHDs only. It's likely there's a typo in the image in the doc, but it's VHD everywhere.

madrianr

@olivierlambert said in Backup and Replication from HP 3Par (iSCSI) to HP MSA (iSCSI)?:

No, it's not. Delta is based on VHDs only. It's likely there's a typo in the image in the doc, but it's VHD everywhere.

is there a technical documentation how the backups are working in detail?

olivierlambert

It's pretty simple: just replace "xva" in the image by VHD and that's it. Otherwise it's explained https://xen-orchestra.com/docs/delta_backups.html

If you still have questions, let me know