What is a virtual machine?
A virtual machine is a software emulation of a physical computer. It works like a real computer, but runs on hypervisor software on the physical host, enabling multiple isolated operating systems to run on a single physical system. VMs can be easily created, modified and deleted, allowing for flexibility in deploying applications and tests and using digital resources.
VM backup is similar to traditional backup solutions used for physical servers, but optimized for the specifics of virtual environments. This means backup resources can be managed more flexibly and efficiently.
Types of backup supported for VMs
Virtual machine backup applications can perform different types of backups to meet various data protection needs.
- Full Backup: Creating a full copy of all files and data on the virtual machine
- Incremental Backup: Only backs up changes made since the last backup, whether it be complete or incremental.
- Differential Backup: Differential backups are similar to incremental backups, but they only back up changes made since the last full backup.
With Rubrik Live Mount, you can restore only specific rows or tables, and you can even use multiple Live Mounts to identify the exact moment that data was modified.
These backup methods enable organizations to choose the data protection strategy best suited to their specific needs, taking into account factors such as the frequency of data changes, recovery point objectives (RPO), and recovery time objectives (RTO).
What is a VMware vSphere backup?
VMware is a computer software company based in Palo Alto, California, which was founded in 1998. It is renowned for developing virtualization and cloud computing technologies that enable organizations to create and manage virtual IT infrastructures. VMware is the pioneer of x86 virtualization, a technology that enables multiple operating systems to run simultaneously on the same physical server, isolated from each other.
About VMware vSphere Backup
VMware vSphere backup is a process designed to protect the data and configurations of virtual machines (VMs) and physical servers running in the VMware vSphere environment.
VMware vSphere is a complete virtualization platform that serves as the foundation for cloud computing and virtual data center management. Backup solutions for VMware vSphere can include features such as:
- VM-level backup
- Application-consistent backups
- Replication and disaster recovery
What is Hyper-V backup?
About Hyper-V
Hyper-V is a virtualization technology developed by Microsoft that lets you create and manage virtual machines (VMs). Integrated into Windows operating systems, Hyper-V allows users to run multiple operating systems as separate virtual machines, on a single physical server.
Hyper-V is available in different Windows Server versions as well as in some versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11, offering a virtualization solution for businesses and IT professionals.
Hyper-V is designed to improve IT resource efficiency, facilitate application management, and provide sandboxing and testing options, while supporting a wide range of guest operating systems.
About Hyper-V backup
Hyper-V backup is a key method for copying and retaining data from virtual machines running on Microsoft's Hyper-V hypervisor, playing a crucial role in data protection, disaster recovery and maintaining business continuity. It ensures that data can be restored in the event of an incident, through the use of specialized software or native Windows Server features, including backup scheduling, as well as incremental, differential and replication backup options.
What is an AHV Backup?
About AHV-based backup
AHV (Acropolis Hypervisor) is the native hypervisor developed by Nutanix. AHV is designed to work seamlessly with Nutanix hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), offering a virtualization solution that is both high-performance and easy to manage. AHV enables users to deploy and manage virtual machines, leveraging HCI architecture for greater efficiency and simplicity than traditional virtualization solutions.
Definition of AHV backup
AHV backup refers to the process of protecting the data and states of virtual machines running on the Nutanix AHV hypervisor. As with other virtualization technologies, AHV backup is designed to ensure the availability and recoverability of critical data and applications in the event of data loss, hardware failure or disaster. This is achieved by creating backup copies of the VMs, which can be restored if necessary.
About AHV backup
AHV-based backup is designed to integrate tightly with the Nutanix ecosystem, leveraging the features and services of hyperconverged infrastructure to deliver robust, flexible data protection. Key features of AHV backup include:
- Deep integration
- Data consistency
- Efficient recovery