VM /ETC

Posts Tagged ‘sql’

This post explains functionality of Veeam Backup and Replication (BaR) that you are not going to see in the User Guide. I was browsing the Veeam Forums and came across this thread – Backing up Veeam / vCentre Physical Machine which inspired me to write this post. The thread is actually about having an with an issue using with the scheduled backup of a physical vCenter server, which also happens to be running Veeam Backup and Replication, using another product.

I’ll get right to it. You can make a backup copy of physical SQL databases with Veeam BaR. Both vCenter and Veeam BaR have a SQL backend. You can’t schedule this as a job, but there are several scenarios where you could take advantage of a quick and easy, one time, manual backup  – before an upgrade or patch, for example.

Although I work for Veeam, this is not necessarily an intended or fully supported usage of the product. This is an easy alternative for the VMware admin to CYA , however.

I’ll start with a brief introduction on how the SQL U-AIR wizard is supposed to work, and then I will explain how you can use an admin switch to make a backup copy of SQL database whether on a VM or a physical server. VMware vCenter and Veeam BaR/Monitor/Reporter all have SQL back ends. 

The U-AIR Up There

To do this you can use the SQL U-AIR wizard. U-AIR stands for Universal Application Item Recovery, and there are 4 stand alone .exes for the various U-AIR wizards of Veeam BaR – AD, Exchange, SQL, and Universal. All of these wizards can be installed on the Veeam BaR server or on any Windows system that can communicate with Veeam. They could be installed on an admins desktop or the SQL, Exchange, or Domain Controller servers too.

Normally, the purpose of the U-AIR wizard is to request and kick off a workflow for a Veeam vPower Virtual Lab. Once the request is approved and managed by the VMware/Veeam administrator and the “Lab Manager–like” virtual lab is ready with the fenced off, running backup copy of the VM(s), the U-AIR wizards allow for the restore from the backup copy VM to the original production VM. For SQL VMs in particular, the restore options are shown in the following screen shot:

Watch this 4 minute video to see the normal SQL restore functionality of the wizard. This video skips the workflow request, skips the wait for approval and virtual lab start up, and just shows what is possible from a backup copy of a SQL VM. I also want to mention that this is an agentless solution. You do not need to install and manage agents anywhere with Veeam BaR.

Trick The System for Physical SQL backups

You can skip the workflow process of starting and using the vPower Virtual Lab if you use an undocumented (as far as I know) Admin Switch for the U-AIR wizards. I’ll focus on the SQL U-AIR wizard for the rest of this post, but it is the same for the Exchange and AD wizards as well.

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Check out VIRTUMANIA Episode 9 as Rick once again joins me and Marc. This week’s very special guest, Brent Ozar, tells us how to make friends and influence SQL DBAs when virtualizing databases. The following is the podcast summary:

VIRTUMANIA Podcast Episode 9 - We Got Your Virtualized SQL Right Here! Hosted by Rich Brambley (@rbrambley) of VMETC. Marc Farley (@3parfarley) of 3Par and StorageRap.com co hosts. Virtumania veteran Rick Vanover (@rickvanover www.rickvanover.com) is back again, and rounding out the roster is special guest and SQL MVP Brent Ozar (@brent0 http://www.brentozar.com). The crew explores the latest SQL 2008 R2 DAC features and the potential for future “VMware DRS -like” migrations of databases between hosts, discusses various techniques for convincing DBAs that virtualizing SQL is a good thing, considers database server architecture and design for VI, ponders SQL in private and public clouds, and even dips into MS and SQL licensing for virtual infrastructure. There’s plenty to learn about virtualizing SQL whether you are a VI Admin or a DBA in this episode. Thanks to Greg Knieriemen (@knieriemen) for this Infosmack Production.

Listen to the podcast with the embedded player or subscribe to get a weekly copy so you can listen when convenient.

I want to say thanks to all the Virtumania listeners, the guests that have been on so far (and will be on in the future), and the crew of VIRTUMANIACS that are on with me every week. We have surpassed over 4000 subscribers in just 8 episodes! I’m amazed the podcast has been accepted so well. It’s a lot of fun to do and I look forward to the conversations in the future!

Check out the VM /ETC VIRTUMANIA Page to listen to past episodes as well as episodes of Infosmack.

The following links offer more information on some of the topics mentioned about virtualizing SQL in VIRTUMANIA Episode 9:

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My recent post Why not VirtualCenter with SQL 2005 Express? explored the possible reasons for and against small and medium businesses (SMB) using the default, free database with VirtualCenter. But what happens if your virtual infrastructure implementation grows beyond 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines (VM), or what if you are close to the SQL 2005 Express database size limit of 4 GB? When it’s time to upgrade to a licensed version of SQL 2005 you can upgrade your VirtualCenter SQL 2005 Express database instance in place.

What happens when I outgrow SQL Express for Virtual Center? is a post from the VMGuy Blog by Dave Lawrence that provides the simple instructions to perform the upgrade in place. Read dave’s entire post, but here is a cut and paste of the VMGuy’s recommended upgrade steps. Read the rest of this entry »

As of VirtualCenter 2.5 (VC) MSDE was replaced by SQL 2005 Express as the default installation database. This post explores the idea of running small and medium business (SMB) VMware virtual infrastructure (VI) environments with the free SQL 2005 Express version instead of  a fully licensed instance of SQL 2005/2000.

To start with VMware’s VI3.5 and VC2.5 Installation Guide states:

The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express database package is installed and configured when you select Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express as your database during VirtualCenter installation or upgrade. This is shown in Installing VMware Infrastructure Management Software. No additional configuration is required.

If Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express is already installed, review the required database patches specified in Table 2-1. If you do not prepare your database correctly, the VirtualCenter installer might display error and warning messages.See www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/express/default.mspx.

Note: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express is intended to be used for small deployments of up to 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines.

5 ESX hosts and 50 VMs is definitely enough support for most small business deployments. Frankly, with modern hardware pricing the 50 VM limit will be reached before ever deploying 5 ESX hosts. 16 guests on a host is a common scenario these days which, if you do the math, creates a 3 host ESX Cluster.

So why would a company that does not expect to grow it’s number of VMs beyond 50 not use SQL 2005 Express? Here’s the 2 best reasons I could think of, and then a counter argument for each. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are considering virtualizing SQL, check out a great post from vm0.blogspot.com. Running SQL Server on ESX makes some great suggestions for planning  CPU, RAM, and Disk I/O to allow for the highest performance possible of your database virtual machines (VM).

The section on disk I/O made me think – specifically about whether creating RDMs to raw disks was really a better choice than carefully planning VMFS LUNs. There is just too much convenience with using VMFS in my opinion, and I’ve never really been convinced that any report or testing has proven RDMs offer better performance than carefully planned VMFS. So, instead of a long comment on the vm0 post I decided to blog about it here at VM /ETC.

Be sure to read the entire post for the RAM and CPU recommendations, but here is the section that inspired me: Read the rest of this entry »