SC//Platform

General

All the operations are using REST API to communicate with the HC3 cluster. Depending on the version of SC//Platform, additional configuration of the cluster may be required.

1. REST API should be enabled in the settings.

1. Before taking a snapshot, the current state of the disableSnapshotting flag of every disk in the virtual machine is checked. If even one of the disks has disabled snapshotting, the snapshot task ends with the error. All disks with disabled snapshotting are listed in the error message.

Backup Strategies

Export Storage Domain Strategy

Export storage domain strategy performs the export using a Samba server running on a node machine. This strategy does not require a proxy VM.

Note:

• Supported version: 8.9.x

• no incremental backup

• backup files are transferred to the SMB file share created on the node host (no Proxy VM required

In general, the export process is as follows:

• A snapshot of the virtual machine is taken

• Samba server is started on the node machine and export share is added

• Export of the VM to created SMB share is ordered

• Export share is removed and Samba server is stopped after Storware Backup & Recovery finishes copying files

• Metadata of the excluded disks is exported

In general, the restore process is as follows:

• Samba server is started on the node machine and import share is added

• Import of the VM to the created SMB share is ordered

• Empty disks for excluded disks are added to the restored VM

• Import share is removed and Samba server is stopped

Disk Attachment Strategy

Disk attachment strategy performs the export using proxy VM running on the HC3 cluster.

Note:

• Supported version: 8.9.x

• incremental backup available

• a proxy VM is required - used for the disk attachment process.

In general, the export process is as follows:

• A snapshot of the virtual machine is taken

• The disks from the taken snapshot that were not excluded are attached to the proxy VM

• If full export is being performed, then the whole content of the attached disks is saved to the backup files. If incremental export is being performed, then the list of changed blocks is first retrieved and then only the content of these blocks is saved.

• The disks are detached from the proxy VM

In general, the restore process is as follows:

• A new virtual machine is created using exported metadata

• Empty disks are attached to the proxy VM

• Content of the exported disk files is written to the attached disks

• The restored disks are then reattached from the proxy VM to the restored VM

• List of boot devices for the restored VM is set

Adding HC3 as Hypervisor Manager

When adding a new SC//Platform as Hypervisor Manager in Storware Backup & Recovery, configure the following fields:

• URL: Address of HC3 hypervisor server: hostname or IP with HTTPS

• Fill in the admin username and password for HC3

• Select the export method

• The node configuration responsible for backup operations

Supported features

Supported backup strategies: Export storage domain, disk attachment (preferred)

	Export storage domain	Disk attachment
Supported versions	9.4	9.4
The last snapshot is kept on the hypervisor for incremental backups	No	Yes
Access to hypervisor OS required	No	No
Proxy VM required	No	Yes

Full backup	Supported	Supported
Incremental backup	Not supported	Supported
Synthetic backups	Not supported *	Supported
File-level restore	Not supported	Supported
VM disk exclusion	Supported	Supported
Quiesced snapshots	Not supported	Not supported
Snapshots management	Supported	Supported
Pre/post command execution	Supported	Supported
Access to VM disk backup over iSCSI	Supported	Supported
VM name-based policy assignment	Supported	Supported
VM tag-based policy assignment	Supported	Supported
Power-on VM after restore	Supported	Supported

* A synthetic backup destination can be used, but this strategy only supports full backups

Network requirements

Export Storage Domain

Connection URL: https://MANAGER_HOST

Source	Destination	Ports	Description
Node	SC//Platform manager	443/tcp	API access
Node	SC//Platform hosts	445/tcp	SMB transfer
SC//Platform hosts	Node	445/tcp	SMB transfer

Disk Attachment

Connection URL: https://MANAGER_HOST

Source	Destination	Ports	Description
Node	SC//Platform manager	443/tcp	API access