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What are the system requirements for VM Backup?

  • Updated

Version 9

The VM Backup Management Console can be utilized to add and manage multiple hosts in one console. However these hosts must be in the same LAN and at the same physical site (same building). Setups with multiple physical sites must have an instance of VM Backup at each site.


Supported Hypervisors (Hosts)

 

Microsoft Hyper-V

  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (Only with .NET Framework 4.8 or higher)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 (core installation) (Only with .NET Framework 4.8 or higher)
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2016 (desktop experience)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2016 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2019 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2022 (core installation)
  • Azure Stack HCI

 

VMware

  • vSphere: 5.5 / 6.0 / 6.5 / 6.7 / 7.0 / 8.0
  • vCenter: 5.5 / 6.0 / 6.5 / 6.7 / 7.0 / 8.0
  • ESXi: 5.5 / 6.0 / 6.5 / 6.7 / 7.0 / 8.0

Note: vSphere/vCenter/ESXi 5.0/5.1 are no longer supported in V9

It's important to note the version combination between ESXi and vCenter.

Note that the Free version of VMware ESXi is not supported as it lacks components required by VM Backup.

When making use of the NBD Transport mode, virtual disks cannot be larger than 1TB each. More information here.

 

Pass-through or RDM (Raw Device Mappings) are not backed up.

 

Supported Operating Systems

 

The VM Backup products can be installed on the following OS's:

 

VM Backup

  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (Only with .NET Framework 4.8 or higher)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 (core installation) (Only with .NET Framework 4.8 or higher)
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2016 (desktop experience)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2019
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2019 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Azure Stack HCI

    Note that hosts must be in the same LAN and at the same physical site (same building). Setups with multiple physical sites must have an instance of VM Backup at each site.

 

Management Tools (UI)

  • Windows 2008 R2 SP1 (Only with .NET Framework 4.8 or higher)
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2016 (desktop experience)
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Azure Stack HCI
  • Windows 7 (64-Bit)
  • Windows 8 (64-Bit)
  • Windows 10 (64-Bit)
  • Windows 11 (64-Bit)

 

Offsite Backup Server

  • Windows 2008 R2 SP1 (Only with .NET Framework 4.8 or higher)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 (core installation) (Only with .NET Framework 4.8 or higher)
  • Windows Server 2012 
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2016 (desktop experience)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Azure Stack HCI

 

Replication Support

 

[Hyper-V] A Windows Server OS is required for replication. The Offsite Backup Server needs to be installed on a Windows Server OS that's matching the source host OS, where the production VMs are running. Below you can find a list supported OS's that you can replicate to:

Host OS Supported Replication Offsite Backup Server OS
2012
 to 2012
2012R2
 to 2012R2
2016 to 2016
2019 to 2019
2022 to 2022
Azure Stack HCI Azure Stack HCI



[VMware] The host added to the Offsite Backup Server must be the same OS as the source host being replicated from. Below you can find a list supported OS's that you can replicate to:

Host OS Supported Replication Host OS
5.5 to 5.5
6.0 to 6.0
6.5 to 6.5
6.7 to 6.7
7.0 to 7.0
8.0 to 8.0

 

 

Required Hardware Specifications

 

VM Backup

  • Minimum of i5 (or equivalent - minimum 4 cores recommended) processor
  • 2 GB RAM + an additional 25MB RAM for every 100GB of data being backed up
  • 1 GB Hard Disk Space (for VM Backup Program and Settings) + 15 GB (for temporary files created during backup operations)
  • Minimum of 10% free disk space on each volume holding live VM data to be used for Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy
  • Minimum of 10% free disk space on each backup location holding backup data to ensure smooth operation

 

Hyper-V Host Agent

  • 1 GB RAM
  • 2 GB Hard Disk Space

Offsite Backup Server

  • Minimum of i5 (or equivalent - minimum 4 cores recommended) processor
  • 2 GB RAM + an additional 25MB RAM for every 100GB of data being backed up
  • For Replication, ensure that it has enough resources to boot your VMs

 

 

Software Prerequisites

  • MS .NET Framework 4.8
  • Minimum screen resolution for the Management console: 1280x800
  • One of the listed supported Operating Systems must be used (Windows client operating systems are not supported unless specified)
  • The main VM Backup installation cannot be installed on a machine that is also a domain controller (DC)

 

Communication Ports

 

Below is a list of the default TCP ports used by our software and their purpose. All these ports must be allowed.

 

36014 : Communication between Management Console UI and VM Backup

36015 on 9.0.x : Communication from VM Backup to API Service 

36013 on 9.1.x : Communication from VM Backup to API Service

36021 & 36022 : Communication between the Host Agents and VM Backup

36023 : Communication from VM Backup to Host Agents

36070 : Communication for the Deduplication Service

36000 & 36001 : Communication from v9 Clients with the Offsite Backup Server

36050 : Communication from Offsite Backup Server UI to Offsite Backup Server

36100 : Communication from VM Backup to the Offsite Backup Server for Replication

36075: Communication for the Deduplication Service for the Offsite Backup Server

36200 - 36220 : Communication from VM Backup to Agents for Boot From Backup

80 & 443 : For Offsite copies to Azure Storage Accounts, Amazon S3 & Wasabi

443 & 7444 & 902 : Communication to VMware Hosts

 

 

Supported Backup Locations

  • USB External Drives
  • eSata External Drives
  • USB Flash Drives
  • Fileserver Network Shares using UNC Paths
  • NAS devices (Network Attached Storage) using UNC Paths
  • PC Internal Hard Drives (recommended only for evaluation purposes)
  • RDX Cartridges
  • Offsite Backup Server (incl. Replication)
  • Azure Cloud Storage Account
  • Amazon S3
  • Wasabi Cloud Storage Account

Note: The backup locations must be in the same LAN and at the same physical site (same building) as the VM management machine and the hosts, with the exception of the Offsite Backup Server/Cloud locations.

 

Note: Target storage partitions must be either of the below:

  • NTFS/ReFS formatted
  • Network Paths and accessible by SMB3.0

 

Note: Please ensure that the backup location chosen does not perform any sort of deduplication outside that of VM Backup.

 

Note: SMB file shares in Cloud locations (such as Azure Files) are not supported as a backup location.

 

 

Boot from Backup Requirements

  • For Hyper-V Windows Server 2012 Host OS and onward are supported for Boot from Backup Drive. The Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service has to be running on the machine you're attempting to boot to.
  • VMware requires ports 36200 - 36220 open on the firewall and it also requires an iSCSI Storage Adapter. More information on that here.
  • The datastore chosen for must be VMFS.
  • VMs with Storage Spaces volumes are not supported.

 

 

File Level/Exchange Item Level Restore Requirements

  • The partition must be NTFS / ReFS (through Instant Mount - only for File Level Restores) formatted
  • The partition must be formatted as 'Basic' and not 'Dynamic'
  • If the VM has Windows Data Deduplication role enabled, the role must also be enabled where the VM Backup machine is installed (through Instant Mount)
  • The files must NOT be encrypted or compressed at guest OS (VM) level
  • Exchange Item Level Restores are only supported from NTFS formatted partitions
  • Storage Spaces volumes are not supported for file level recovery
  • The following Microsoft Exchange versions are supported:
    • 2007 (up to SP3)
    • 2010 (up to SP3)
    • 2013 (from RTM up to CU21, with the exception of CU 2, 3 and 4)
    • 2016 (up to CU23)
    • 2019 (up to CU13)

 

Hyper-V Restore Version Compatibility

 

Virtual Machines backed up from Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and 2012 hosts have to be restored to hosts running Windows Server 2016 build 1607 or older.

 

Virtual machines backed up from Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer can be restore to hosts running up to Windows Server 2019. While VMs backed up from WS2016 and newer can be restored to hosts running WS 2022.

 

Naturally, you can restore to a newer operating system, but not to an older one i.e. you will be able to restore a VM backed up from a 2008 R2 SP1 host to a 2012 one, but not the other way round.

 

Please note that this also applies when restoring a single virtual hard disk as well.

Version 8

The VM Backup Management Console can be utilized to add and manage multiple hosts in one console. However these hosts must be in the same LAN and at the same physical site (same building). Setups with multiple physical sites must have an instance of VM Backup at each site.


Supported Hypervisors (Hosts)

 

Microsoft Hyper-V

  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2016 (desktop experience)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2016 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2019 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2022 (core installation)
  • Azure Stack HCI

 

 

VMware

  • vSphere: 5.0 / 5.1 / 5.5 / 6.0 / 6.5 / 6.7 / 7.0
  • vCenter: 5.0 / 5.1 / 5.5 / 6.0 / 6.5 / 6.7 / 7.0
  • ESXi: 5.0 / 5.1 / 5.5 / 6.0 / 6.5 / 6.7 / 7.0

 

It's important to note the version combination between ESXi and vCenter.

Note that the Free version of VMware ESXi is not supported as it lacks components required by VM Backup.

When making use of the NBD Transport mode, virtual disks cannot be larger than 1TB each. More information here.

 

Pass-through or RDM (Raw Device Mappings) are not backed up.

 

Backing up VMs that have fault tolerance enabled is not supported because when FT is enabled, it is not possible to take snapshots of those virtual machines, which is one of the criteria for AVMB to be able to take a backup of a VM.

 

Restoring to a vVol (VMware Virtual Volume) Datastore is not supported.

 

Supported Operating Systems

 

The VM Backup products can be installed on the following OS's:

 

VM Backup

  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2016 (desktop experience)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2019
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2019 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2022
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2022 (core installation)
  • Azure Stack HCI

    Note that hosts must be in the same LAN and at the same physical site (same building). Setups with multiple physical sites must have an instance of VM Backup at each site.

 

Management Tools (UI)

  • Windows 2008 R2 SP1
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2016 (desktop experience)
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Azure Stack HCI
  • Windows 7 (64-Bit)
  • Windows 8 (64-Bit)
  • Windows 10 (64-Bit)

 

Offsite Backup Server

  • Windows 2008 R2 SP1
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012 
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 (core installation)
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2016 (desktop experience)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2022
  • Azure Stack HCI

 

Replication Support

 

[Hyper-V] A Windows Server OS is required for replication. The Offsite Backup Server needs to be installed on a Windows Server OS that's matching the source host OS, where the production VMs are running. Below you can find a list of supported OS's that you can replicate to:

Host OS Supported Replication Offsite Backup Server OS
2012
 to 2012
2012R2
 to 2012R2
2016 to 2016
2019 to 2019
2022 to 2022
Azure Stack HCI Azure Stack HCI



[VMware] The host added to the Offsite Backup Server must be the same OS as the source host being replicated from. Below you can find a list of supported OS's that you can replicate to:

Host OS Supported Replication Host OS
5.5 to 5.5
6.0 to 6.0
6.5 to 6.5
6.7 to 6.7
7.0 to 7.0

 

 

Required Hardware Specifications

 

VM Backup

  • Minimum of i5 (or equivalent - minimum 4 cores recommended) processor
  • 1 GB RAM + an additional 25MB RAM for every 100GB of data being backed up
  • 1 GB Hard Disk Space (for VM Backup Program and Settings) + 15 GB (for temporary files created during backup operations)
  • Minimum of 10% free disk space on each volume holding live VM data to be used for Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy

 

Hyper-V Host Agent

  • 500 MB RAM

     

Offsite Backup Server

  • Minimum of i5 (or equivalent - minimum 4 cores recommended) processor
  • 1 GB RAM + an additional 25MB RAM for every 100GB of data being backed up
  • For Replication, ensure that it has enough resources to boot your VMs

 

 

Software Prerequisites

  • MS .NET Framework 4.7.2 
  • Minimum screen resolution for the Management console: 1280x800
  • One of the listed supported Operating Systems must be used (Windows client operating systems are not supported unless specified)

 

 

Communication Ports

 

Below is a list of the default TCP ports used by our software and their purpose. All these ports must be allowed.

 

35106 : Communication for VMware 6.5, Backup and Restore operations.

35107 : Communication between Management Console UI and VM Backup

35108 : Communication from VM Backup to Hyper-V Host Agents

35113 : Communication from VM Backup to API Service

35114 : Communication for the Deduplication Service 

35116 & 35117 : Communication from v8 Clients with the Offsite Backup Server

35119 : Communication from Offsite Backup Server V8 UI to Offsite Backup Server

35120 : Communication from VM Backup to the Offsite Backup Server for Replication

35121 : Communication for the Deduplication Service for Amazon S3/Wasabi offsite locations

35221 : Communication between the Hyper-V Host Agents and VM Backup

35200 - 35220 : Communication from VM Backup to Agents for VMware Boot From Backup

80 & 443 : For Offsite copies to Azure Storage Accounts, Amazon S3 & Wasabi

443 & 7444 & 902 : Communication to VMware Hosts

 

 

Supported Backup Locations

  • USB External Drives
  • eSata External Drives
  • USB Flash Drives
  • Fileserver Network Shares using UNC Paths
  • NAS devices (Network Attached Storage) using UNC Paths
  • PC Internal Hard Drives (recommended only for evaluation purposes)
  • RDX Cartridges
  • Offsite Backup Server (incl. Replication)
  • Azure Cloud Storage Account
  • Amazon S3
  • Wasabi Cloud Storage Account

Note: The backup locations must be in the same LAN and at the same physical site (same building) as the VM management machine and the hosts, with the exception of the Offsite Backup Server/Cloud locations.

 

Note: Target storage partitions must be either of the below:

  • NTFS/ReFS formatted
  • Network Paths and accessible by SMB3.0

 

Note: Please ensure that the backup location chosen does not perform any sort of deduplication outside that of VM Backup.

 

Note: SMB file shares in Cloud locations (such as Azure Files) are not supported as a backup location.

 

 

Boot from Backup Requirements

  • For Hyper-V Windows Server 2012 Host OS and onward are supported for Boot from Backup Drive. The Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service has to be running on the machine you're attempting to boot to.
  • VMware requires ports 35200 - 35220 open on the firewall and it also requires an iSCSI Storage Adapter. More information on that here.
  • The datastore chosen must be VMFS.
  • VMs with Storage Spaces volumes are not supported.

 

 

File Level/Exchange Item Level Restore Requirements

 

Hyper-V Restore Version Compatibility

 

Virtual Machines backed up from Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and 2012 hosts have to be restored to hosts running Windows Server 2016 build 1607 or older.

 

Virtual machines backed up from Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer can be restored to hosts running up to Windows Server 2019. While VMs backed up from WS2016 and newer can be restored to hosts running WS 2022.

 

Naturally, you can restore to a newer operating system, but not to an older one i.e. you will be able to restore a VM backed up from a 2008 R2 SP1 host to a 2012 one, but not the other way round.

 

Please note that this also applies when restoring a single virtual hard disk as well.

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