Книга: Mastering VMware® Infrastructure3

vRanger Pro

vRanger Pro

vRanger Pro, previously known as ESXRanger, is one of the most recognized backup solutions in virtualization environments. Developed by Vizioncore Inc., vRanger Pro is a Windows-based application that simplifies performing online backups and restoring virtual machines. The easy-to-use Windows-based graphical user interface (GUI) eliminates scripting for IT administrators, so no specialized knowledge is necessary to deploy a reliable backup strategy. vRanger Pro runs on a centralized Windows host and can run using the standard Windows scheduler, thus further eliminating the need for complex scripting. The GUI offers a Startup wizard and VirtualCenter integration for ease of operation, as well as compression options to save storage space. vRanger Pro compresses virtual machine disk files (VMDK) before sending them to the chosen destination target server, such as the local VMFS, a Linux server, or a Windows server. NAS, SAN, Novell, UNC, and mapped drives are also supported if they are accessible to the Windows host. vRanger Pro provides full-image restore to any VMware ESX Server without needing to know the prior configurations. It also reduces or eliminates the need to create manual installations and configurations to the backup image. Restores are efficiently relocated, and they run quickly because the images are compressed and all configurations are included. For Windows guests, file-level restores are available to provide an advanced file level of protection.

vRanger Pro uses the included VSS drivers to leverage Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy Service technology to pause application writes. The VSS feature enables quiescing for supported databases to provide “transactionally consistent” backup images that can be used to recover the application as well as the image.

In an effort to reduce time and space for virtual machine backups, vRanger Pro includes a differential backups technology that captures only the changes that have occurred since the last successful full backup image. Backup administrators have the flexibility of designing retention policies to support the corporate disaster-recovery plan and the space available for the backup files.

vRanger Pro includes a P2V-DR module to provide the functionality of rapidly and frequently converting physical machines into virtual machines as part of a disaster-recovery strategy. This module functions as an agentless deployment and without the need to reboot the source computer.

The application also captures details about how long a particular backup process will take, allowing you to plan for the next backup window. In addition, users can record IP addresses, compression ratios, and the virtual machines' locations on the various LUNs. Details about backups and VMs are stored in the repository and can be accessed for reporting and analysis.

Unlike traditional backup agents, vRanger Pro runs outside the guest operating system, and can be integrated with VMware VirtualCenter for efficient backup management. The backups can be offloaded from the host leveraging integration with VMware VCB. vRanger Pro recognizes the VMotion feature and is aware when a virtual machine is migrated to a new host. This allows vRanger Pro to follow virtual machines from host to host to perform regularly scheduled backups even after the virtual machines have moved.

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