VM archiving is a comprehensive solution that incorporates traditional backup and virtual machine archiving in a single operation. Shutting down, relocating, and archiving inactive virtual machines can solve the problem of virtual machine sprawl, when virtual machines are created but not cleaned up. This issue is especially common in development and testing environments.
Note
You cannot use the VM archiving feature for virtualization clients that use Indexing Version 2.
Note
The System Discovery Tool for Virtual Machines is a non-intrusive and highly secure tool that collects information about virtual machines for a VMware vCenter. The tool collects information such as virtual machine size, performance metrics, and power off days and status, and collects information that you can submit to create a CommVault Virtual Machine Analytics Report. This report enables you to analyze VM usage, predict the results of using VM archiving, and estimate disk space savings that would be reclaimed by archiving.
Key Benefits
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Power down virtual machines automatically based on resource usage.
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Automatically relocate powered down virtual machines and VMDKs to less expensive storage.
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Archive virtual machines based on rules to remove virtual machines and VMDKs from ESX servers and datastores, with stubs to point to archived data.
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Automatically prune archived data from the backup cycle after a specified retention period.
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Recover archived virtual machines, disks, and files through the CommCell Console.
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Recover complete virtual machines or files using the Web Console (for end users of virtual machines).
Reporting
For information about archiving reports, see the following topics:
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Archive/Compliance Archive Job Summary Report - Summary information on archive jobs for each day in a specified time period.
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Archive Summary Report - Summary information on archive jobs for all clients in the CommCell
Scope
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What Gets Archived |
What Does Not Get Archived |
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Virtual machines VMDKs |
Linked clone virtual machines. Virtual machines with physical or virtual RDM. Virtual machines with independent disks. Virtual machine templates. Snapshots are not retained when a virtual machine is archived. |
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What Is Supported |
What Is Not Supported |
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Archiving for VMware virtual machines User interfaces:
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Virtual machines are not archived if disk filters are enabled for the subclient. Virtual machine archiving is not supported for IntelliSnap. |