Zimbra + VM + NetApp filer

[<mp>]

For DR purposes, is it possible to solely rely on NetApp's Snapshot technology to backup Zimbra hosted in a VM?

[uxbod]

Welcome to the forums

Are you considering the FOSS or NE version of Zimbra ? Dependant on which one could offer a different answer

[<mp>]

Either I suppose. Open Source is fine; however the Network Edition(s) offer some nice bells and whistles (and won't break the bank).

In regards to a solid DR strategy, if the Open Source edition plays nicely that's a bonus, if it means having to go to a Network Edition, that's just the way it will have to be.

[uxbod]

well, if you went the NE route it includes online backups so you would not have to worry about quiescing the databases. If you went the FOSS route then you would have to do this yourself, and I believe the only option would be to shutdown ZM, perform the snapshot, and then bring it backup to ensure a clean image. Another potential route, as you are using it within a VM, would be to pause the VM and then snap shot. Dependant on what VM technology you are using this may be a clean option.

I am unsure whether ZM has the ability to *plugin* another backup technology ie. use the NE version and backups but instead of copying to the backup directory call the NetApp snapshot API instead. This would be a really nice feature.

Hopefully somebody from ZM will jump on and help answer aswell.

Hope this helps.

[<mp>]

Thanks for the feedback; it gives me some ideas. Now, to wait on some official word...

[uxbod]

Had a quick chat and NE does not currently have the ability to call a third party API, but who knows for the future. Have you had a look at this aswell Open Source Edition Backup Procedure - Zimbra :: Wiki ?

[nrc]

We thought about using snapshots. It would be nice to avoid dedicating the storage to backups for a large mailstore. But the nice thing about Zimbra's backup is that it's completely live and it allows mailbox level restores.

With snapshots you would need to handle it similar to the backup solutions for the open source version. Shut it down, snapshot it, and then bring it back up. The result would be useful for a full restore but that's it.