iSCSI Export and Recovery

Use the vmPRO appliance's iSCSI Export and Recovery feature to recover your backed-up data as disk images from a Windows-based virtual machine (VM) or physical machine.

Prerequisites

Before using the iSCSI Export and Recovery feature, make sure your system meets the following prerequisites:

Windows iSCSI Initiator Installation

The Windows iSCSI Initiator must be installed on your Windows system, typically in the Administrative Tools folder. If you need to download the iSCSI Initiator, you can do so from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=18986.

iSCSI User Configuration

For authentication and security purposes, the Windows iSCSI Initiator requires a unique user.

Using the Configure User dialog box, create a user for the iSCSI Initiator. You must assign the iSCSI user a 12- to-16-character password. See Configuring Users for a vmPRO Appliance.

iSCSI Write Area Settings

The iSCSI Initiator adds each exported disk image as a file to the iSCSI target's write area storage. You must configure the iSCSI write area settings for these files. See the "Target iSCSI Disk" section of Preparing For Exchange Recovery.

iSCSI Configuration Notes

Keep the following in mind when using the iSCI Initiator to recover VM file systems:

iSCSI IP Address

The VMDK is exported to a specific IP address for the iSCSI Initiator. Other iSCSI Initiators cannot discover the vmPRO appliance or its exported VMDKs.

Target vmPRO Appliances

Target vmPRO appliances on the iSCSI Initiator consume system resources. We recommend that you remove unused targets from your iSCSI Initiator.
The iSCSI Initiator keeps track of how long a target is active, and it generates a warning when the target has been exposed for more than 24 hours.

Note: You cannot delete a target vmPRO appliance when it is connected to the iSCSI Initiator.

iSCSI User

You cannot edit or delete the iSCSI user or password created on your vmPRO appliance when the following occurs:

The vmPRO appliance is connected to the iSCSI Initiator.
The iSCSI user is connected to the target iSCSI disk through the iSCSI Initiator.

Reboots

When a vmPRO appliance is rebooted, its connection to the iSCSI Initiator is lost, along with all previously written data. In addition, previously exported VMDKs are no longer available. After a reboot, you must perform a new iSCSI export and recovery.