Hello all. I am experiencing difficulties backing up my Hyper-V hosts. I have tried Windows Server Backup, Acronis, Symantec, and Veeam. All products are encountering similar errors backing up my virtual machines.
My environment consists of two Windows Server 2012 hosts (Host1 and Host2). Each host is setup in failover for redundancy. I have approximately 25 virtual machines in total running across both hosts. The virtual machines are configured to use a Cluster Shared Volume (Storage1). Stated another way, the .vhdx files for Host1 and Host2 are stored on located Storage1 which is a SAN running Windows Server 2012.
All my backup tests have concluded with the same result. The backup applications cannot properly use VSS to capture a snapshot of the .vhdx files running on Storage1.
I opened a case with Microsoft to specifically troubleshoot Windows Server Backup thinking that if I could get the native backup process working, Acronis, Synantec, or Veeam would work as well. Microsoft witnessed the same errors and concluded that Windows Server Backup will not backup virtual machines using CSV. Not sure if that is entirely true. As a test, Microsoft created a new virtual machine on Host1 and stored the .vhdx file on the local volume. The backup process worked without any errors that way.
In summation, I would like to keep my .vhdx files in a CSV deployment so I can have redundancy with Host1 and Host2. There has to be a way to properly backup the hosts and virtuals in this scenario. How is everyone addressing their individual environments?
Thank you for any comments or input.