Recovering Windows Image-level Backups

Unitrends provides a variety of methods for recovering image-level backups of Windows assets. You can recover the entire asset or selected files from backup. For quick recovery of critical assets, you can create image-level replicas or use the instant recovery feature. See the following table for descriptions of each recovery method:

Recovery method

Description

File recovery

Use these procedures to recover files from an image-level backup:

• Recovering from an indexed image-level backup by using Search Files – Use to search an asset's indexed image-level backups for files/folders that meet specified criteria and recover selected items from the search results. This procedure can be used only for backups that were run with the Edit Asset > Index Image-Level Backups option. For details on configuring this option, see To edit an agent-based asset.
• Recovering files by browsing a Windows image-level backup – Use to recover files by browsing the image-level backup.

Windows image-level replicas

Creates a stand-by virtual replica of the Windows asset that you can bring online in minutes. As backups of the original asset run, they are applied to the replica to keep it up-to-date. Take the replica 'live' to assume the role of a failed Windows asset.

To meet near-zero RTOs, set up the replica before the asset fails. For detailed requirements and procedures, see Windows image-level replicas.

Instant recovery of Windows image-level backups

Recovers a failed Windows asset in minutes. The recovered asset can immediately assume the role of the original, failed machine.

Unitrends recommends that you plan for instant recovery (IR) before an asset fails, by reviewing requirements, allocating IR storage, and using audit mode to test IR of your critical assets. For detailed requirements and procedures, see Instant recovery of Windows image-level backups.

Windows unified bare metal recovery

Use for disaster recovery (DR) of a failed Windows asset. Image-level backups capture the disk metadata needed for DR. You perform DR using a standard 32-bit or 64-bit ISO image provided on the Unitrends backup appliance. The target for the recovery can be a physical or virtual machine. For details, see Windows unified bare metal recovery.

 

To perform the recovery, you will start by selecting a backup or backup copy. For backups, you can do this in the Backup Catalog or in the Backup Browser. For backup copies and imported backups, you must use the Backup Catalog.

In the Backup Catalog, backups and backup copies display under the protected asset. You can modify the display by entering filter criteria. Expand an asset to view its backups and backup copies:

The Backup Browser provides advanced search and filter options. Backups are not grouped under the protected asset. Search for backups by selecting an appliance and date range. Filter the display by entering text in the column fields. Click an arrow to sort by column:

Before recovering from the image-level backup, review the following considerations:

• SQL clusters – The following apply when recovering from an image-level backup of a clustered SQL instance:
– You are able to recover the cluster node and clustered SQL instance from an image-level backup. Depending on the configuration and cluster dynamics, after a restore and reboot, the cluster may accept the restored system back into the cluster. If not, it may have to be removed from the cluster and re-added.
– By definition, database files for a clustered instance have to be on shared storage, so they are not included in the image-level backup of the clustered node.
– Image-level backups of nodes containing Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs) are not supported, hence clustered SQL instance nodes using CSVs are also not supported.
• SQL availability groups – The following apply when recovering from an image-level backup of SQL instances that contain SQL availability groups:
– You are able to recover the cluster node and availability groups from an image-level backup. Depending on the configuration and cluster dynamics, after a restore and reboot, the cluster may accept the restored system back into the cluster. If not, it may have to be removed from the cluster and re-added.
– Availability group databases with a secondary role on the node will have to be deleted and re-added.
– Availability group databases with a primary role on the node may have to be re-synced to secondary mirrors. In some cases, the availability group may have to be deleted entirely and re-added on the node. Consult Microsoft’s documented procedures for dealing with SQL availability groups and databases.
• Exchange DAGs – You are able to recover a DAG node from an image-level backup, but the integrity of Exchange on the recovered node is not guaranteed.