Catalogic Agentless Backup Complements Block Data Protection

Using Agentless VMware Backup to protect VMs has significant advantages, including simplified administration and tight integration with VMware vCenter. However, you can install Catalogic DPX in a VM to run Block backups of the VM. Block backup jobs are defined separately from Agentless VMware Backup jobs, though they are both defined, scheduled, and displayed in the management console.

The VM data protection types are tightly integrated; both are controlled by a single master server and managed from the management console. This enables you to deploy data protection strategies in a single data protection system.

Agentless VMware Backup is performed through VMware vStorage APIs for Data Protection, which mounts VMDK files and transfers data to proxy servers.

The following table compares Agentless VMware Backup and Block Data Protection:

Description/Benefits	Agentless VMware Backup (Proxy-Based backup)	Block Data Protection (Guest-Based Backup)
Agent installation	Agent installation only on proxy servers.	Agent installation on each VM to be protected.
Applicability	Data protection of all VMs, with application consistent protection through VM quiesce, see Source Options for Agentless VMware Backup in Creating the Agentless VMware Backup Jobs from the Java-based DPX Management Interface.	Applicable for Windows and Linux VMs requiring application aware protection of SharePoint, Exchange, SQL Server, or Oracle. See Application Consistent Protection.
Advantages	No agent installation and maintenance on VMs. Low impact on ESX servers.	Application aware protection, including granular recovery for SharePoint and Exchange. Backup of iSCSI-based volumes.

See also. For a diagram that illustrates the types of backups controlled from the single master server, see the section Backup Architecture: Guest-Based and Proxy-Based Backup in a Single Protection System in Architecture and Data Flow.