Running VMs on a server to backup my PCs?

addylad

addylad

addylad

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Joined
14 Aug 2007
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447
Hi all

I bought a Dell T20 server last week and I've got the following installed:
120 GB SSD
1 TB 7200 rpm HDD
2 x 2 TB 5400 rpm HDDs

Plan A
So, I stuck ESXi 6.0 on it and then I'm running Server 2012 R2 within ESXi.

My plan is to use Windows Server 2012 to run Emby/Plex as a media server, and then install a NAS solution as well (FreeNAS/OMV/Xpenology) to back up 2-3 PCs over the network.

My question is basically about the risks of using operating systems as virtual machines. It seems fairly simple to set them up and automate backups of my PCs. But since I have to allocate drive space to them, what happens if my VM crashes? Is it possible to get direct access to that data (the actual files/folders)?

I'm concerned that a VM used for backing up could crash, and then there is no way to restore it unless I've backed up the entire VM. (i.e. my files will be trapped within a datastore or whatever.)

If so, is there a way round this?

Plan B
The other option is to remove ESXi, install Server 2012 directly onto the HDD, and backup my PCs that way. Then I don't know what the virtualisation options are; can I stick ESXi on top of Server 2012? Is it free? (I'd still like to play with VMs if possible.)

Apologies if that doesn't make sense, but I'm unsure about the reliability of VMs and don't want to find that all my data has been lost because the backed up files were kept within that VM.

Thanks in advance!
 
Vm's are as reliable as installing the OS on tin.

I'd actually say they are infinitely more reliable than a traditional setup due to the additional functionality they provide (such as HA, snapshots, FT, etc)
 
My experience with a VM is that if need be you can open the VHD and it should look identical to a normal windows install e.g. Program Files, Users, Windows folders all being visible. That is, if you ever needed to recover the VHD e.g. if the VM got stuck in a boot loop. However you can always boot up Ubuntu from an ISO image which would in theory do the same thing.

As much as it's nice to 'play'/learn with VM's, for your setup it doesn't seem all that necessary. I'd be more tempted to have the 120GB as OS drive running your plex then have 1x2TB drive as your media, have the second just as a backup disk which you mirror (maybe with a simple batch file?)

As for playing with VM's, Oracles virtual box is pretty user friendly and sits nicely on top of a Windows installation. The network capability's allow you to talk either VM-VM only or it allows you to bridge your connection so you can access your LAN/Internet connection.
 
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