[PVE-User] VM storage and replication

[PVE-User] VM storage and replication

[Alex K]

Hi all,

I have setup a dual server setup, with latest proxmox v7.x. Each host with
its own local storage. No shared storage (CEPH, GlusterFS).

I understand I can have VMs hosted on top LVM with qcow2 disk images or on
top thin LVM as raw thin LVM volumes. On both cases I still keep the option
to be able to perform VM backups. Which one is the preferred way according
to your experience? I will try to do some quick tests on the IO performance
between the two.

Also, I was thinking to replicate the VMs from one host to the other. I
understand that for the Proxmox integrated replication feature I need ZFS
backed storage. As I am not much into ZFS, although I really enjoy FreeNAS
and its great features and will definitely look into it later, I was
thinking to prepare a custom script that would snapshot the LVM volumes
where the VM images reside and sync the VM disks from one host to the
other, using rsync, just for a local copy of them. Of course I will take
care to have an external media also to periodically export the VMs for
backup purposes, though I would like to have a local copy of the VM disk
images at the other host, readily available in case I face issues with the
external media or one of the hosts. What do you think about this approach?
Am I missing some other feature or better approach?

Regrading the sync/replication of the VMs between the hosts (without ZFS),
I was thinking also to have a dedicated local LVM volume for these periodic
backup jobs configured within Proxmox and then the custom script to just
rsync these backup images between the two hosts. This seems a simple one
though it increases the storage requirements, while with the previous
approach with the custom script, the script would snapshot, sync to the
other side and remove the snapshot without keeping a redundant local copy
of the disk image in the same host.

Sorry for the long read.
Appreciate any feedback.

Alex

Re: [PVE-User] VM storage and replication

[nada]

hi Alex
in case you have a limited budget now
you may do backups local backups but it is not recommended by some cheap 
NAS ASAP

temporal solution:
1. create some filesystem LVM/ext4 @node1 and mount at /mnt/backup
2. install NFS server @node1 and export /mnt/backup to node2
3. install NFS client @node2 and create mountpoint /mnt/backup
4. edit fstab @node2 example
    node1:/mnt/backup      /mnt/backup       nfs    
defaults,noatime,bg	0	2
5. mount /mnt/backup
6. add directory to your proxmox storage via webGUI
    or add to /etc/pve/storage.cfg example

dir: backup
	path /mnt/backup
	content vztmpl,backup,iso

after this you will have backups accessible at both nodes
hope it will help you
Nada


On 2021-09-08 10:05, Alex K wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I have setup a dual server setup, with latest proxmox v7.x. Each host 
> with
> its own local storage. No shared storage (CEPH, GlusterFS).
> 
> I understand I can have VMs hosted on top LVM with qcow2 disk images or 
> on
> top thin LVM as raw thin LVM volumes. On both cases I still keep the 
> option
> to be able to perform VM backups. Which one is the preferred way 
> according
> to your experience? I will try to do some quick tests on the IO 
> performance
> between the two.
> 
> Also, I was thinking to replicate the VMs from one host to the other. I
> understand that for the Proxmox integrated replication feature I need 
> ZFS
> backed storage. As I am not much into ZFS, although I really enjoy 
> FreeNAS
> and its great features and will definitely look into it later, I was
> thinking to prepare a custom script that would snapshot the LVM volumes
> where the VM images reside and sync the VM disks from one host to the
> other, using rsync, just for a local copy of them. Of course I will 
> take
> care to have an external media also to periodically export the VMs for
> backup purposes, though I would like to have a local copy of the VM 
> disk
> images at the other host, readily available in case I face issues with 
> the
> external media or one of the hosts. What do you think about this 
> approach?
> Am I missing some other feature or better approach?
> 
> Regrading the sync/replication of the VMs between the hosts (without 
> ZFS),
> I was thinking also to have a dedicated local LVM volume for these 
> periodic
> backup jobs configured within Proxmox and then the custom script to 
> just
> rsync these backup images between the two hosts. This seems a simple 
> one
> though it increases the storage requirements, while with the previous
> approach with the custom script, the script would snapshot, sync to the
> other side and remove the snapshot without keeping a redundant local 
> copy
> of the disk image in the same host.
> 
> Sorry for the long read.
> Appreciate any feedback.
> 
> Alex
> _______________________________________________
> pve-user mailing list
> pve-user@lists.proxmox.com
> https://lists.proxmox.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pve-user

Re: [PVE-User] VM storage and replication

[Alex K]

On Wed, Sep 8, 2021 at 12:32 PM nada <nada@verdnatura.es> wrote:

> hi Alex
> in case you have a limited budget now
> you may do backups local backups but it is not recommended by some cheap
> NAS ASAP
>
> temporal solution:
> 1. create some filesystem LVM/ext4 @node1 and mount at /mnt/backup
> 2. install NFS server @node1 and export /mnt/backup to node2
> 3. install NFS client @node2 and create mountpoint /mnt/backup
> 4. edit fstab @node2 example
>     node1:/mnt/backup      /mnt/backup       nfs
> defaults,noatime,bg     0       2
> 5. mount /mnt/backup
> 6. add directory to your proxmox storage via webGUI
>     or add to /etc/pve/storage.cfg example
>
> dir: backup
>         path /mnt/backup
>         content vztmpl,backup,iso
>
> after this you will have backups accessible at both nodes
> hope it will help you
>
Hi Nada, Thanx for your feedback.
I will definitely include a NAS into the final setup for exporting the
backups. I was just wondering about how I would sync local backups between
the nodes for an additional local copy and your suggestion seems a nice
work-around to me without adding any other custom scripts.

Nada


>
> On 2021-09-08 10:05, Alex K wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I have setup a dual server setup, with latest proxmox v7.x. Each host
> > with
> > its own local storage. No shared storage (CEPH, GlusterFS).
> >
> > I understand I can have VMs hosted on top LVM with qcow2 disk images or
> > on
> > top thin LVM as raw thin LVM volumes. On both cases I still keep the
> > option
> > to be able to perform VM backups. Which one is the preferred way
> > according
> > to your experience? I will try to do some quick tests on the IO
> > performance
> > between the two.
> >
> > Also, I was thinking to replicate the VMs from one host to the other. I
> > understand that for the Proxmox integrated replication feature I need
> > ZFS
> > backed storage. As I am not much into ZFS, although I really enjoy
> > FreeNAS
> > and its great features and will definitely look into it later, I was
> > thinking to prepare a custom script that would snapshot the LVM volumes
> > where the VM images reside and sync the VM disks from one host to the
> > other, using rsync, just for a local copy of them. Of course I will
> > take
> > care to have an external media also to periodically export the VMs for
> > backup purposes, though I would like to have a local copy of the VM
> > disk
> > images at the other host, readily available in case I face issues with
> > the
> > external media or one of the hosts. What do you think about this
> > approach?
> > Am I missing some other feature or better approach?
> >
> > Regrading the sync/replication of the VMs between the hosts (without
> > ZFS),
> > I was thinking also to have a dedicated local LVM volume for these
> > periodic
> > backup jobs configured within Proxmox and then the custom script to
> > just
> > rsync these backup images between the two hosts. This seems a simple
> > one
> > though it increases the storage requirements, while with the previous
> > approach with the custom script, the script would snapshot, sync to the
> > other side and remove the snapshot without keeping a redundant local
> > copy
> > of the disk image in the same host.
> >
> > Sorry for the long read.
> > Appreciate any feedback.
> >
> > Alex
> > _______________________________________________
> > pve-user mailing list
> > pve-user@lists.proxmox.com
> > https://lists.proxmox.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pve-user
>
> _______________________________________________
> pve-user mailing list
> pve-user@lists.proxmox.com
> https://lists.proxmox.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pve-user
>
>

Re: [PVE-User] VM storage and replication

[Konold, Martin]

Hi,

while I highly recommend PBS I made good experience with using CIFS 
instead of NFS for performing backups to a central NAS.

---
Regards
ppa. Martin Konold

--
Martin Konold - Prokurist, CTO
KONSEC GmbH -⁠ make things real
Amtsgericht Stuttgart, HRB 23690
Geschäftsführer: Andreas Mack
Im Köller 3, 70794 Filderstadt, Germany

Am 2021-09-08 11:25, schrieb nada:
> hi Alex
> in case you have a limited budget now
> you may do backups local backups but it is not recommended by some
> cheap NAS ASAP
> 
> temporal solution:
> 1. create some filesystem LVM/ext4 @node1 and mount at /mnt/backup
> 2. install NFS server @node1 and export /mnt/backup to node2
> 3. install NFS client @node2 and create mountpoint /mnt/backup
> 4. edit fstab @node2 example
>    node1:/mnt/backup      /mnt/backup       nfs    
> defaults,noatime,bg	0	2
> 5. mount /mnt/backup
> 6. add directory to your proxmox storage via webGUI
>    or add to /etc/pve/storage.cfg example
> 
> dir: backup
> 	path /mnt/backup
> 	content vztmpl,backup,iso
> 
> after this you will have backups accessible at both nodes
> hope it will help you
> Nada
> 
> 
> On 2021-09-08 10:05, Alex K wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> I have setup a dual server setup, with latest proxmox v7.x. Each host 
>> with
>> its own local storage. No shared storage (CEPH, GlusterFS).
>> 
>> I understand I can have VMs hosted on top LVM with qcow2 disk images 
>> or on
>> top thin LVM as raw thin LVM volumes. On both cases I still keep the 
>> option
>> to be able to perform VM backups. Which one is the preferred way 
>> according
>> to your experience? I will try to do some quick tests on the IO 
>> performance
>> between the two.
>> 
>> Also, I was thinking to replicate the VMs from one host to the other. 
>> I
>> understand that for the Proxmox integrated replication feature I need 
>> ZFS
>> backed storage. As I am not much into ZFS, although I really enjoy 
>> FreeNAS
>> and its great features and will definitely look into it later, I was
>> thinking to prepare a custom script that would snapshot the LVM 
>> volumes
>> where the VM images reside and sync the VM disks from one host to the
>> other, using rsync, just for a local copy of them. Of course I will 
>> take
>> care to have an external media also to periodically export the VMs for
>> backup purposes, though I would like to have a local copy of the VM 
>> disk
>> images at the other host, readily available in case I face issues with 
>> the
>> external media or one of the hosts. What do you think about this 
>> approach?
>> Am I missing some other feature or better approach?
>> 
>> Regrading the sync/replication of the VMs between the hosts (without 
>> ZFS),
>> I was thinking also to have a dedicated local LVM volume for these 
>> periodic
>> backup jobs configured within Proxmox and then the custom script to 
>> just
>> rsync these backup images between the two hosts. This seems a simple 
>> one
>> though it increases the storage requirements, while with the previous
>> approach with the custom script, the script would snapshot, sync to 
>> the
>> other side and remove the snapshot without keeping a redundant local 
>> copy
>> of the disk image in the same host.
>> 
>> Sorry for the long read.
>> Appreciate any feedback.
>> 
>> Alex
>> _______________________________________________
>> pve-user mailing list
>> pve-user@lists.proxmox.com
>> https://lists.proxmox.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pve-user
> 
> _______________________________________________
> pve-user mailing list
> pve-user@lists.proxmox.com
> https://lists.proxmox.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pve-user