Top 3 Methods to Backup VMware Virtual Machines

Virtual machine backups are crucial business continuity practices that protect your virtual infrastructure and data. Considering the importance of data, data protection solutions are in more demand than ever before.

One way to protect data is through VM backups. VM backups work as ordinary backups, only this time, you’re backing up your virtual machines. Virtualization technology provides tons of benefits. One of these benefits allows us to perform day-to-day operations on virtual systems.

Given the amount of data we handle through virtual machines, backing up guest operating systems becomes necessary. This article will explain the top three backup methods for using VMware virtual machines.

So with all that said, let’s begin.

Top 3 VMware Backup Methods

These three VMware virtual machine backups are crucial for ensuring the continuity of any data center. All three methods involve different approaches to backup your VMware virtual infrastructure. Therefore, it gives you plenty of options. Let’s get into it.

VMware Virtual Machine Backup Process 1 — Backing Up VM as Physical Machine

The first method or approach involves using a backup agent for each guest operating system. To explain how this approach works, consider the following. Despite being virtual, VMs operate like physical machines. The only difference is the absence of physical hardware.

So this method involves installing a VMware VM backup agent. The backup agent can perform a number of actions, including backup data, schedule backups, etc. Administrators with access to the VMware vSphere environment will need to install the agent on each guest OS separately.

There are several good and bad things regarding this approach. The good is that this method is simple, and administrators can exclude apps and data to reduce the size of the backup.

The bad is that the agent will not be able to restore the full virtualized environment because this approach only backs up the OS and the applications, not the VM itself.

VMware Virtual Machine Backup Process 2 — File-Based Backups

The following approach is different compared to the first. File-based backups involve backing up the virtual disk file. The virtual disk file comes with the .VMDK file extension, and you can then use this file to restore your virtual machine.

This approach protects the entire virtual machine but removes your ability to remove specific data and apps from the backup. That’s precisely why file-based backups take longer, and you need adequate backup server hardware and software to ensure the process goes as fast as possible.

With that said, having a sufficiently stocked VMware ESXi server will allow you to execute file-based backups with relative ease. Use file-based backups if disk space isn’t an issue, as the backups can take quite a large amount of space due to the size of the VMs’ virtual disks.

VMware Virtual Machine Backup Process 3 — Using Designated Third-Party Solutions

The final method or approach is different from both. Namely, instead of backing up your VMware virtual machines through the ESXi server or installing agents, you could turn to specialized solutions.

These solutions are effective and can back up your virtual machines in a number of ways. It all depends on the solution you’re using. These solutions come with easy-to-use and intuitive UI to enable easier access to the backup process. Some solutions develop data protection technology to allow users to backup VMs as frequently as they want.

With that said, no two solutions are equal, and you’ll need to do your research to figure out the right one. But with enough time and energy invested, you will find the right third-party VMware backup tool for your needs.

Things to Consider

Whether backing up a VMware vSphere environment or VMware Workstation virtual machine, there are several things worth considering. Therefore, this next section will outline what the industry labels as “best practices” for backing up virtual machines.

• Never consider VM snapshots as backups.
• Always back up the .vmdk file of your VMware VMs instead of installing a backup agent.
• Always have enough resources on your vCenter server to ensure a smooth and seamless backup process.
• Regularly schedule your backups.
• Install VMware Tools on your VMware VMs for added functionality benefits.
• If going with third-party solutions, research each one to determine its strengths and weaknesses. Then, make a comparison to determine the right tool for the job.

These things will allow you to expand on your existing VM backup knowledge. VM backups aren’t new, but they revolutionized the concept of virtual data management. Luckily, we have all the information we need to perform VMware VM backups as efficiently as possible.

Conclusion

That concludes our guide on the top three methods to backup VMware virtual machines. With plenty of options and a method involving third-party tools, you’re now ready to protect your virtual environment from any accidents or threats.

All that’s left is for you to figure out the right method for your needs.