Virtualization and backup lab construction project underway...
As I finalize my vZilla build, I'm beginning to prepare the sequence of steps needed recreate this lab from scratch. Thought you might appreciate a peek at an early draft, see table below.
Yeah, it's not exactly simple, but all indicators so far are that it will be worth the effort. Not just for daily backups of 12-15 systems, but also as an ESXi 5.0 skills builder as well, and eventually, nested Hyper-V.
All critical steps have already been rehearsed these past few months. No showstoppers so far: backups/restores, UPSs, RAID, all testing out well. Now it's a matter of finding the quiet time to actually perform all these steps.
Let me know which steps your most interested in me recording videos of, by making comments below, as I'll likely never have the time to blog or record all of this.
Thank you!
- finalize exact RAID, SATA, and USB connections
- configure UEFI BIOS
- install Windows 7 boot planar attached HDD
- check speed/temp with utility, and configure RAID with MegaRAID UI
- install USB 2.0 key
- install ESXi 5.x on it
- install patches
- install LSI 9265-8i drivers
- create datastores
- install Veeam FastSCP
- transfer ISOs to datastores
- Download and Deploy the VMware vCenter Server Appliance
- configure it to manage ESXi
- create Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials VM (for backup of 12-15 systems)
- configure passthrough for USB 3.0 to WHS2011
- reboot ESXi
- configure passthrough for VM(s)
- create Windows 7 x64 VM template
- clone Windows 7 x64 template
- configure passthrough for USB 2.0 to Windows 7 x64
- boot Windows 7 x64 and install:
- CyberPower Business Edition (USB 2.0 connected)
- CyberPower Control Panel (uses same USB 2.0 connection)
- Smarthome Insteon (USB 2.0 connected)
- TED (The Energy Detective Web Server for the USB 2.0 connected TED1000)
- boot WHS2011 VM
- create 3.7TB datastore on USB 3.0
- move PC Client Backups to external ~4TB datastore connected via USB 3.0 or eSATA
- install LogMeIn Hamachi gateway on VM
- install LogMeIn Hamachi client on all PCs
- install WHS 2011 client in all systems in house
- perform first backup of all machines while on gigabit
- move some machines off site and test daily backups still complete
- configure RoboCopy to copy external ~4TB connected via USB 3.0 to 2nd secondary external ~4TB datastore
- configure RoboCopy (or similar) offsite to do daily duplication of pc backups over VPN, to secondary datastore
- create nested Hyper-V
- create iSCSI storage sharing appliance
- deploy VMware vCenter Mobile Access (vCMA) VM (for iPad/iPhone use)
- deploy VMware VSA (Virtualization Storage Server) appliance including iSCSI
