Set Up Off-Host Backup Using Third-Party Backup Applications

The HPE Storage Toolkit for Windows, using the HPE VSS hardware provider allows the array to work with third-party backup applications.

VSS provider can be used through third-party backup applications such as Symantec Backup Exec or Microsoft Data Protection Manager to perform backups through both FC and iSCSI. For Windows Server 2012 R2 only, this includes backing up Hyper-V VMs, as long as the following hotfix is installed on every Hyper-V host:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2966407

The hotfix is also available in the October 2014 update rollup for Windows Server 2012 R2.

NOTE: You can also follow these steps to back up to tape periodically (for example, once a month) to ensure an extra level of protection.
  1. Complete steps 1-3 in Enable VSS Hardware Snapshots to enable VSS hardware snapshots.
  2. (iSCSI only) On the media server, install the iSCSI software initiator and add the group discovery IP address.
  3. For each volume on the array, make sure the initiator group has two initiator entries:
    • One Volume-only entry, for the Host server ACL
    • One Snapshot-only entry, for the Media server ACL
  4. Set your array management group IPs for use by the VSS provider using the PowerShell cmdlet Set-Configuration:

    Syntax:

    Set-Configuration [-GroupMgmtIPList] <IPAddress[]> [<CommonParameters>]

    NOTE: The management IP should be reachable from the host. The IPAddress is the IP address of the array group where the snapshots to be backed up reside.

    Example:

    PS C:\Users\Administrator> Set-Configuration 10.18.236.50

    The backup host should now be configured to perform off-host backups.