Data is protected using these backup types:
• | An asset-level backup protects an asset's file system and operating system. You must install a Unitrends agent on the asset for asset-level protection. |
Notes:
• | To perform disaster recovery of a Windows 2003 asset to dissimilar hardware. (Supported for some distributions only. See the Compatibility and Interoperability Matrix for details.) |
• | To perform disaster recovery of a Windows 2000 asset. |
• | To perform disaster recovery in cases where the system state (boot and critical system volumes) has been excluded from asset-level backups. (All volumes and folders are included in asset-level backups by default. If you have opted to exclude this data, you cannot use asset-level backups for disaster recovery.) |
You must install the Windows bare metal agent to run bare metal backups. For details and requirements, see Windows Bare Metal Protection and in the Administrator Guide for Recovery Series and Unitrends Backup - Legacy Interface.
• | A host-level backup uses hypervisor snapshots to protect virtual machines. You do not need to install a Unitrends agent on hosted VMs. |
• | Application backups capture an application’s structure and data to ensure database consistency. You must install a Unitrends agent on the host server for application protection. |
• | A NAS backup protects data stored on a NAS device. You do not install an agent on the NAS asset. |
• | An iSeries backup protects an asset's file system by leveraging native iSeries backup operations. You do not install an agent on the iSeries asset. |
Physical assets are protected with asset-level backups and hosted applications are protected with application backups.
For virtual assets, you can choose host-level or asset-level protection. Host-level backups capture files, application data, and virtual hardware. With asset-level protection, the appliance treats your VM as a physical asset to run asset-level and application backups.
The table below compares the backup options for virtual assets. Host-level backups are recommended in most cases, but there are VMs for which you will want or need to use asset-level protection. For considerations specific to your environment, see Protecting VMware virtual machines at the asset level, Protecting Hyper-V virtual machines at the asset level , and Citrix XenServer virtual machines to determine which approach to take.
Host-level protection |
Asset-level protection |
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Add the virtual host to your appliance and it detects all the VMs on the host. It is not necessary to install agents on VMs or add VMs to the appliance individually. This greatly simplifies protecting large virtual environments. |
You must install agents on the VMs and add each one to the appliance individually. |
Backups capture all data on the VMs. You can exclude entire disks (VMware only), but you cannot exclude files, directories, or volumes. |
You can choose to protect all of the asset’s data or select only particular files, directories, or volumes. |
You can recover virtual machines in minutes using the VM instant recovery feature. |
You can recover Windows machines in minutes using the Windows instant recovery feature. |
You can recover individual files from backups for VMs running Windows or Linux. |
You can recovery individual files from backups for any supported operating system. You can recover individual items from application databases. |