CUCM 10.5 and VMware Snapshots

[chawkins89]

Hi,

I have a query regarding Snapshots on CUCM version 10.5, based on article published at:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/voice-unified-communications/unified-communications-manager-callmanager/116459-technote-product-00.html

It states Snapshots are not supported because it causes latency and other issues, however what would be the best solution for performing a system state backup incase of a host failure?

Can snapshots be used to restore or is it just having the service running in the background performing automatic snapshots causing the latency? Or is it because after restoration of a snapshot the service degrades after each restore? I am a little confused on the matter and looking to implement a suitable backup solution for a CUCM 10.5 cluster.

Any help would be much appreciated,

Regards,

Christopher

[Ryan Huff · Accepted solution]

So the official answer to this is that the only supported method of backup is to capture regular and complete DRS backup sets from the cluster using the built-in DRS components. In the event of a cluster or node failure, you would restore the DRS backup set onto a like version/IP UC node/cluster.

With that piece of business aside; NO, snapshot restorations ARE NOT supported as a means of backup / DR. Latency is caused by the monitoring services and as the snapshot grows in size. However, that said, it does usually work BUT you are on your own as far as TAC is concerned in terms of support if you do it.

My recommendation is that you configure a hollow cluster (not configured except IP/NTP/FQDN ... etc) EXACTLY the same as the production cluster (minus device/user data) and then power it off. Take regular DRS backups of the production cluster.

In the event of a complete node or cluster failure, power up your hollow cluster and restore the DRS to it (while powering off your old production cluster). You can also store the hollow VM HDDs on different hardware if it is a want/must.

Here is the administrative guide for CUCM DRS: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/drs/10_0_1/CUCM_BK_D220A91D_00_disaster-recovery-system-cucm-100/CUCM_BK_D220A91D_00_disaster-recovery-system-cucm-100_chapter_011.html

Here is a guide on how to setup a Linux server as a DRS storage server: http://ryanthomashuff.com/2015/11/why-uc-engineers-need-to-become-linux-aficionados-part-2/

Here is a Cisco guide on configuring a DRS storage server: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/voice-unified-communications/unified-communications-manager-callmanager/110309-callmanager-backup.html

Thanks,

Ryan

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[chawkins89]

Thank you very much for your response, this will definitely be useful.

I will review the links and see what suits best.

Regards,

Christopher

[Ryan Huff]

Please let me know if I can help further.

Thanks,

Ryan

[TomUT]

A slightly different question related to snapshots for backups.  Would it be supported to do a temporary snapshot for purposes of a backup software package to back it up and then remove the snapshot? It's different in that the snapshot is removed as soon as the backup is taken.

Thanks,

-Tom

[Jaime Valencia]

Snapshots are supported for some apps, if the table says it's not supported, it means not supported under any circumstance.

http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Unified_Communications_VMware_Requirements#VMware_Feature_Support_for_Unified_Communications_8.0.282.29_through_10.0