You can configure a virtualization client to back up and restore virtual machines in a VMware Cloud Director deployment, instead of configuring a vCenter virtualization client to support VMware Cloud Director. A single VMware Cloud Director client can protect VMs across multiple vCenters that are registered in VMware Cloud Director.
You can perform streaming backups for VMware Cloud Director. IntelliSnap backup operations and backup copy operations are not supported.
Key Features
Feature |
Description |
Additional information |
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Agentless backups and restores |
Install the Virtual Server Agent on a machine to act as a VSA proxy. A VSA proxy manages backup and restore operations for guest VMs in your environment, eliminating the need to install agents on guest VMs. |
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"Incremental forever" data protection |
After an initial full backup, you can perform ongoing incremental backups to capture changes for the source VM. |
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Changed Block Tracking |
Changed Block Tracking (CBT) is a VMware feature that can be used to optimize backups of virtual machines by reading only the allocated and modified portions of a virtual disk. CBT is automatically enabled for virtual machines running on hardware version 7 or later. |
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Simplified operational interface |
The web-based Command Center interface uses smart defaults to simplify configuration and support streamlined operations. |
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Single administration point |
The CommCell Console provides advanced options for Commvault operations. Using the CommCell Console, you can configure a virtualization client that serves as a single point of administration for a VMware Cloud Director deployment. You can perform backups and restores from the virtualization client, and perform other administrative tasks such as creating schedules and generating reports. |
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Automatic protection for all virtual machines |
By default, all virtual machines in the VMware Cloud Director deployment are automatically selected for backup, to ensure all virtual machines are backed up. |
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Automatic discovery |
To back up categories of virtual machines, you can create rules to automatically select virtual machines based on specific criteria. Automatic discovery is useful in environments where virtual machines are frequently added or removed. |
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Customized filters |
To exclude virtual machines from the backup, create rules to filter virtual machines. |
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Detailed status for each virtual machine backup |
You can view detailed information about each backed up virtual machine, including information such as the name of the proxy that performed the backup of the virtual machine, the size of the backup data, and the type of backup. |
Commvault Platform Features
The following features are available throughout Commvault and are not limited to the Virtual Server Agent.
Feature |
Description |
Additional information |
---|---|---|
Policy-driven data protection |
Policies drive operations to meet service level agreements (SLAs). |
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Block-level deduplication |
Block-level deduplication compares blocks of data during backups. If virtual machines contain identical blocks of data, block-level deduplication eliminates the storage of redundant data and reduces the size of data in storage. |
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Built-in compression |
Commvault storage policies automatically enable compression to reduce the quantity of data sent to storage. |