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FalconStor
Continuous Data
Continuous Data Protector
Protector
VirtualAppliance
Virtual Appliance (CDPVA)
GETTING STARTED GUIDE
USER GUIDE
FalconStor® Continuous Data Protector
Virtual Appliance (CDPVA)
Getting Started Guide
version 7.00
This product is protected by United States Patents Nos. 7,093,127 B2; 6,715,098; 7,058,788 B2; 7,330,960 B2; 7,165,145 B2
;7,155,585 B2; 7.231,502 B2; 7,469,337; 7,467,259; 7,418,416 B2; 7,406,575 B2 , and additional patents pending."
92711
CDP Virtual Appliance Getting Started Guide
Contents
Introduction
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
24 x 7 server protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Database and application protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Rapid recovery from software and hardware failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Hardware/software requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
CDPVA Specification and requirement summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Minimum ESX server requirements: shared server configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Minimum ESX server requirements: dedicated server configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
About this document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Knowledge requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Index
Introduction
The FalconStor Continuous Data Protector (CDP) Virtual Appliance for VMware
vSphere 4 and 5 is a pre-built, pre-configured, and ready-to-run software application
packaged with an operating system in a virtual machine. Offering advanced disk-
based data protection technology, CDPVA protects physical and virtual servers
simultaneously for continuous data availability, eliminating data loss from corruption
or failure.
The CDP Virtual Appliance for VMware vSphere integrates with the VMware
vSphere host, enabling fast recovery with 100% data integrity. FalconStor
DiskSafe™ and database agents run on a Windows server to capture changed data
blocks made to a system or disk without impacting application performance. It
mirrors data in real-time to the backend CDP server via iSCSI and takes point-in-
time snapshots that enable users to roll back to a desired point and quickly recover
data. The back-end CDP server retains up to 255 snapshots, which can be mounted
directly for backup, verification, testing, and recovery in moments regardless of
database size.
Components
CDPVA consists of the following components:
Component Description
CDP Virtual Appliance A virtual machine that runs FalconStor CDP software.
This virtual appliance is responsible for capturing point-
in-time snapshots (TimeMarks) of data and maintaining
the CDP data journal. A snapshot storage pool and
CDP storage pool are managed by the CDP Virtual
Appliance, using virtual disks mapped from disk files or
RDMs.
FalconStor The Windows management console that can be
Management Console installed anywhere there is IP connectivity to the CDP
Virtual Appliance.
The following optional components are available on the FalconStor Client Install disc
(FalconStor Client Install Disc.iso) on the FalconStor Customer Support Portal at
http://fscs.falconstor.com:
Component Description
To install optional agent components, log into the FalconStor Customer Support
Portal and follow the steps below:
3. In the CDP section, click the Build button on the far right of the screen.
The download manager screen displays.
Benefits
The CDP Virtual Appliance offers a unified solution for both local backup/recovery
and remote DR. Its ease of use and flexible architecture enables data recovery from
a local or remote CDP server.
24 x 7 server protection
Traditional backup systems are often limited because of the time frame of the
backup window. With most systems, backup can only be performed once a day and
if a problem occurs, it can be difficult to resolve. For example, if a backup fails, it is
not easy to recover from the problem and start another backup during the same
backup window.
FalconStor's CDPVA works in conjunction with FalconStor DiskSafe, host-based
data protection software. DiskSafe protects disks by capturing block-level changes
made to system and data disks and replicating the data to a FalconStor CDP virtual
appliance without impacting the performance of the applications running on the
protected machines.
It is also possible for multiple CDPVAs to replicate their journal and snapshots to
each other across a global network. Therefore, it is possible to deploy the
FalconStor CDP Virtual Appliance as a very effective global disaster recovery
solution, which is ideal for remote offices, allowing organizations to consolidate all
disk images from smaller sites to a central management site.
Hardware/software requirements
Component Requirement
Component Requirement
Storage Supports up to four (4) Storage Capacity licenses for ESX 4.x/5.x using SAS
drives (direct attached storage configuration) connected to a RAID controller
with battery-backed cache and up to ten (10) Storage Capacity licenses for
ESX 4.x/5.x for use with external shared storage attached to the ESX host
via iSCSI or Fibre Channel, depending upon your storage capacity license.
Additional storage can be added in 1 TB increments. Storage is allocated
from the standard VMware virtual disk on the local storage or the raw device
disk on SAN storage.
CDPVA also supports Storage Pools, into which you can add different sized
virtual disks. The system allocates resources for storage provisioning or
snapshots on demand.
Network Adapter CDPVA is pre-configured with two virtual network adapters that manage
your iSCSI connections. For the best network performance, the vSphere
host needs two physical network adapters for one-to-one mapping to the
independent virtual switches and the virtual network adapters of CDPVA. In
addition, the vSphere host may need extra physical network adapters for
vSphere management, VMware VMotion, or physical network redundancy.
• Two physical network adapters for one-to-one virtual network mapping to
FalconStor CDPVA.
• Optional physical network adapters links to one virtual switch for physical
network adapters redundancy.
• Optional physical network adapters for vCenter management on an
isolated subnet or VLAN.
• Optional physical network adapters for VMotion connectivity on an
isolated subnet or VLAN.
Knowledge requirements
Individuals deploying CDPVA should have administrator level experience with
VMware vSphere and vCenter and will need to know how to perform the following
tasks:
• Create a new virtual machine from an existing disk
• Add new disks to an existing virtual machine as Virtual Disks or Mapped
Raw Disks
• Troubleshoot virtual machine networks and adapters
• Create a new virtual switch
Although not required, it is also helpful to have knowledge about the technologies
listed below:
• Linux
• iSCSI
• TCP/IP
Installing CDPVA via Virtual Appliance Import from a downloaded zip file
1. On each machine, unzip the CDPVA.zip file and extract the package to any
folder. For example, you can create a folder called FalconStor-CDPVA.
2. If not already open, launch the VMware vSphere Client and connect to the ESX
server with root privileges.
3. For VMware vSphere Client, Select File --> Deploy OVF Template
4. For the Import Location of the Import Virtual Appliance Wizard, click the Browse
button on the Import from file option. Then select the folder to which you
extracted the package. Expand the folder FalconStor-CDPVA --> FalconStor-VA
and select the file: FalconStor-CDPVA.ovf in the FalconStor-VA folder. The
Virtual Appliance Details checks the virtual appliance information for FalconStor
CDPVA.
6. Click Next to continue the import. The Name and Location displays the default
appliance name: FalconStor-CDPVA. You can change the name of the virtual
machine. This change will not be applied into the actual appliance name.
9. For Network Mapping, select the virtual machine network of the ESX server that
the CDPVA virtual Ethernet adapter will link to.
10. On the Ready to Complete screen, review all settings and click Finish to start the
virtual appliance import task.
The virtual appliance import status window displays the completion percentage.
It usually takes five to 10 minutes to complete this task.
11. Click Close when the completion percentage reaches 100% and the import
window displays Completed Successfully.
1. Launch the VMware vSphere Client and connect to the ESX server by the
account with root privilege.
3. On the CDPVA console, login as a root user. The default password is IPStor101
(case sensitive).
The FalconStor Virtual Appliance Setup utility launches.
4. Move the cursor to <Configure> and scroll to select the item you want to change.
5. Highlight Host Name and click Enter to configure the host name of the virtual
appliance.
6. Highlight Time Zone and click Enter to configure the time zone. Select whether
you want to set the system clock to UTC (the default is No). Scroll up and down
to search for the correct time zone of your location.
7. Highlight Root Password and click Enter to change the new root password of the
virtual appliance. You will need to enter the new password again on the confirm
window.
9. Repeat the network configuration to set the IP address of another virtual network
adapter.
10. Highlight Default Gateway and click Enter to change the new default gateway of
the virtual appliance.
11. Highlight Name Server and click Enter to modify the server name. You can add
four DNS server records into the virtual appliance setting.
12. Highlight NTP Server configuration and click Enter to add four DNS server
records into the virtual appliance setting.
13. After making all configuration changes, tab over to Finish and click Enter. The
utility will list the configuration changes you made.
14. Click Yes to accept and apply the setting on the virtual appliance.
Once the installation is complete, you can begin configuration of the CDPVA via the
FalconStor Management Console. Refer to the Configuration and Management
chapter of the CDP Virtual Appliance User Guide for details.
Index
A Message Recovery for Microsoft Exchange (MRE)
About this document 9 2
B N
Benefits network adapters 6
24 x 7 server protection 3 Network Mapping 10
Database and application protection 3
Rapid recovery 4 R
BIOS VT 5 root user 12
C S
CDP Virtual Appliance 1 SAN Disk Manager 2
CDP virtual appliance Setup utility 12
Install 10 Snapshot Agents 2, 3, 5
Components 1
D
Database Recovery for Microsoft SQL Server 2
DiskSafe 2, 3, 5
E
End User License Agreement 10
F
FalconStor Management Console 1
fsadmin 12
fsuser 12
H
Hardware/software requirements 5
I
Import Location 10
Installation
CDP virtual appliance 10
Introduction 1
J
Java 2 Runtime Environment (JRE). 5
K
Knowledge requirements 9
M
Message Recovery for Lotus Notes/ Domino
(MRN) 2