The following illustration displays components and data flows for the Virtual Server Agent (VSA):
As shown in the diagram above, a VMware deployment includes the following components:
Virtualization client
Serves as a single point of administration for the entities managed by the vCenter, including ESX servers, datastores, and virtual machines (VMs).
VSA proxies
Each computer on which the Virtual Server Agent is installed acts as a VSA proxy, performing backup and recovery operations for virtual machines.
CommServe system
Provides management, status, and reporting for protection operations. The CommServe user interface includes the CommCell Console and CommCell Browser.
MediaAgent
Software that supports data movement to storage devices.
The following components are not shown in the diagram above, but are also important to how the Virtual Server Agent works:
Clients
In addition to the virtualization client, VSA proxies and other agents are managed as clients in the CommCell Console.
Backup set
Part of a client instance that enables you to manage a subset of virtual machines.
Subclient
A collection of virtual machines that can be backed up in a single job. The subclient content identifies virtual machines explicitly or using discovery rules that enable VMs to be selected automatically (for example, all VMs on a particular host). The default subclient provides coverage for any virtual machines that are not included in user-defined subclients.
Guest
A virtual machine or guest host. The operating system for the guest is referred to as the guest OS (for example, Windows or Linux).
Library
A logical representation of storage for backup data.