In case you were not aware, there is a completely FREE version of Virtual Backup Appliance from StarWind. The license to the software is perpetual and NOT time-bombed. The product can be used as a hardened repo for your Veeam Backups where by default you'll have immutability activated. All free products from StarWind, including StarWind Virtual Backup Appliance Free, are self-supported through our Community Forum. Therefore, the recommendations are to use it for home labs. If you want to do Proof of concept (PoC), use trial version. It's different download.
StarWind Virtual Backup Appliance for VMware vSphere is deployed as a pre-packaged Linux-based Controller Virtual Machine (CVM). You can deploy it on Proxmox, ESXi/vSphere, Hyper-V or Bare Metal Linux.
It is an easy deployment with number of steps and different possibilities of configuration. It allows you to choose from iSCSI, NFS or SMB based hardened repo within the UI (which is pretty slick btw). At the end, you'll see the config of Veeam Backup and Replication where you add it as Linux hardened repository.
See the architecture below.
You can “hook-up” the backup appliance to your backups software (ex. Veeam) and use it as a secondary backup location with immutability.
Find the complete STEP-by-STEP guide of the setup with ESXi hypervisor here.
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It covers the steps on how to create a Hardened Repository in StarWind VBA and connect it to Veeam Backup & Replication for achieving backups immutability. It also describes how to configure an iSCSI backup repository as well as NFS and SMB repositories for use with Veeam Backup & Replication or other backup software.
Their step-by-step documentation is very detailed and allows you to easily follow the configuration with your ESXi.
Here are the different configurations depending on which hypervisor you're using:
- StarWind Virtual Backup Appliance: Configuration Guide for Microsoft Windows Server [Hyper-V], Virtual Backup Appliance Deployed as a Controller VM using Web UI
- StarWind Virtual Backup Appliance: Configuration Guide for Proxmox Virtual Environment [KVM], Virtual Backup Appliance Deployed as a Controller VM using Web UI
- StarWind Virtual Backup Appliance: Configuration Guide for VMware vSphere [ESXi], Virtual Backup Appliance Deployed as a Controller VM using Web UI
- StarWind Virtual Backup Appliance: Configuration Guide for Bare-metal Installation, Virtual Backup Appliance Deployed as a Linux ISO using Web UI
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the product is not supported, only via forums. But on the other hands, you have no restrictions.
Example from the document show the configuration/view of physical disk. Storage pool menu is just above..
The storage best practices and recommendations
You can be in many different situations and having different hardware (what in many cases actually happens, right?) so there is a good StarWind KB article with some guidelines and recommendations. The document recaps what you should do, as passthrough, etc.
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When provisioning physical storage to StarWind Virtual SAN (VSAN) CVM, adhere to the following best practices:
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- Ensure that all physical drives are connected through an HBA or RAID controller.
- Deploy StarWind VSAN CVM on each server that will be used for configuring fault-tolerant standalone or highly available storage.
- Store StarWind VSAN CVM on a separate storage device accessible to the hypervisor host (e.g., SSD, HDD).
- Add HBA, RAID controllers, or NVMe SSD drives to StarWind CVM via a passthrough device.
VMware vSphere/ESXi
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- Add an HBA or RAID controller via a PCI Device to a Virtual Machine.
- If an HBA card cannot be passed through, physical disks can be added to VSAN CVM as Raw Device Mapping (RDM) disks.
- If a single RAID controller is installed on the server, the storage can be added to VSAN CVM as an RDM disk
Download page here.
Final Words
The StarWind virtual backup appliance is a FREE product with unlimited time use. No trial, no expiry date. The support is within community forums. I think it is great value even if there can be other open source alternatives around. StarWind has been around for quite a long time to prove that their products are solid. StarWind has recently joined DataCore company, but will continue on with their product line and support as normal.
More posts about StarWind on ESX Virtualization:
- FREE version of StarWind VSAN vs Trial of Full version
- Installation of StarWind VSAN Plugin for vSphere
- StarWind VSAN with new UI and deployment options
- Backup Appliance with NVMe Speed and GRAID – StarWind Backup Appliance
- Exploring StarWind VSAN: High Availability, Cost Savings, and Performance
- StarWind V2V Converter The Cutting-Edge Upgrade: StarWind V2V Converter’s April 2024 Innovations
- What is StarWind Tape Redirector (FREE) and what’s the benefits?
- 5 Easy Steps to be more resilient with Two Hosts only – StarWind VSAN
- How StarWind VSAN solution can save you money and energy in ROBO environments
- 2-Nodes clusters without Witness – StarWind VSAN Heartbeat Failover Strategy
- You can’t extend backup window – Check NVMe Backup Appliance from StarWind
- Replacing Aging Hardware SAN Device by a Software – StarWind VSAN
- StarWind V2V Converter (PV2 Migrator) FREE utility
- Cluster with 2-Nodes only – How about quorum?
- StarWind VSAN Latest update allows faster synchronization with storing synchronization journals on separate storage
- How to Update StarWind VSAN for VMware on Linux- Follow UP
- StarWind SAN & NAS software details for VMware and Hyper-V
- Free StarWind iSCSI accelerator download
- VMware vSphere and HyperConverged 2-Node Scenario from StarWind – Step By Step(Opens in a new browser tab)
- How To Create NVMe-Of Target With StarWind VSAN
- Veeam 3-2-1 Backup Rule Now With Starwind VTL
- StarWind and Highly Available NFS
- StarWind VSAN on 3 ESXi Nodes detailed setup
- VMware VSAN Ready Nodes in StarWind HyperConverged Appliance
More posts from ESX Virtualization:
- VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF 9) and VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF 9) Has been Released
- Vulnerability in your VMs – VMware Tools Update
- VMware ESXi FREE is FREE again!
- No more FREE licenses of VMware vSphere for vExperts – What’s your options?
- VMware Workstation 17.6.2 Pro does not require any license anymore (FREE)
- Migration from VMware to another virtualization platform with Veeam Backup and Replication
- Two New VMware Certified Professional Certifications for VMware administrators: VCP-VVF and VCP-VCF
- Patching ESXi Without Reboot – ESXi Live Patch – Yes, since ESXi 8.0 U3
- Update ESXi Host to the latest ESXi 8.0U3b without vCenter
- Upgrade your VMware VCSA to the latest VCSA 8 U3b – latest security patches and bug fixes
- VMware vSphere 8.0 U2 Released – ESXi 8.0 U2 and VCSA 8.0 U2 How to update
- What’s the purpose of those 17 virtual hard disks within VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 8.0?
- VMware vSphere 8 Update 2 New Upgrade Process for vCenter Server details
- VMware vSAN 8 Update 2 with many enhancements announced during VMware Explore
- What’s New in VMware Virtual Hardware v21 and vSphere 8 Update 2?
- Homelab v 8.0
- vSphere 8.0 Page
- ESXi 7.x to 8.x upgrade scenarios
- VMware vCenter Server 7.03 U3g – Download and patch
- Upgrade VMware ESXi to 7.0 U3 via command line
- VMware vCenter Server 7.0 U3e released – another maintenance release fixing vSphere with Tanzu
- What is The Difference between VMware vSphere, ESXi and vCenter
- How to Configure VMware High Availability (HA) Cluster
Stay tuned through RSS, and social media channels (Twitter, FB, YouTube)
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