vDP and vCenter Scenario

[SCX]

OK, so it seems I need to use the webclient to access vDP, but this means pointing my browser at the vCenter IP.

This is fine, but now, suppose we have the following scenario:

We use vDP to backup several VMs, vCenter included. We think we are well protected.

But then, there is a problem with some VMs and let's say VCenter itself gets corrupted and unuseable, as well as a few of our other VMs

vDP and its vmdk files are safe on an external disk array.

But then, how are we supposed to use the webclient to get access to vDP, if vCenter is broken? Will we have to reinstall vCenter?

And what is the point of backing up vCenter with vDP, if you need vCenter to get vDP working, seems kind of pointless.

Am I missing something here?

[Paul11]

Look at this thread:

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/419422?tstart=0

Paul

[SCX]

I saw the thread before, but it mentions "reinstalling vCenter". This is what I am trying to avoid by taking backups of vCenter. The problem then becomes how to restore vCenter using vDP without an existing vCenter...

[Suresh Babu Nekkalapudi]

Just my thought..

1.Backup vCenter using VDP

2.Restore the vCenter as a new VM (no overwrite) and keep it in Powered-OFF state.

3.Continue backing up vcenter as per your schedule

4.So now if your vCenter crashes, Power ON the vCenter VM created in step-2

5.Now you can connect to VDP and pick the latest backup set of vcenter and do a planned restore.

[SCX]

Interesting approach. It's probably an acceptable workaround (as long as the "powered off" vCenter VM doesn't also get corrupted). I guess I'll need to store the "powered off" vCenter VM in an alternative location to the main vCenter.

I will test this approach in due course. Thanks for the suggestion.