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SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere 4.6
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How restore operations are performed

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For VMFS environments, the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere uses clone and mount operations with Storage VMotion to perform restore operations. For NFS environments, the plug-in uses native ONTAP Single File SnapRestore (SFSR) to provide greater efficiency for most restore operations. For vVol VMs, the plug-in uses ONTAP Single File Snapshot Restore (ONTAP SFSR) and SnapMirror Restore for restore operations. The following table lists how restore operations are performed.

Restore operations From Performed using

VMs and VMDKs

Primary backups

NFS environments: ONTAP Single File SnapRestore
VMFS environments: Clone and mount with Storage VMotion

VMs and VMDKs

Secondary backups

NFS environments: ONTAP Single File SnapRestore
VMFS environments: Clone and mount with Storage VMotion

Deleted VMs and VMDKs

Primary backups

NFS environments: ONTAP Single File SnapRestore
VMFS environments: Clone and mount with Storage VMotion

Deleted VMs and VMDKs

Secondary backups

NFS environments: Clone and mount with Storage VMotion
VMFS environments: Clone and mount with Storage VMotion

VMs and VMDKs

VM-consistent primary backups

NFS environments: ONTAP Single File SnapRestore
VMFS environments: Clone and mount with Storage VMotion

VMs and VMDKs

VM-consistent secondary backups

NFS environments: Clone and mount with Storage VMotion
VMFS environments: Clone and mount with Storage VMotion

vVol VMs

Crash-consistent primary backups

ONTAP Single File SnapRestore for all protocols

vVol VMs

Crash-consistent secondary backups

ONTAP SnapMirror Restore for all protocols

FlexGroup VMs

Primary backups

NFS environments:
* ONTAP Single File SnapRestore if you are using ONTAP Version 9.10.1 and later
* Clone and mount with Storage VMotion on ONTAP previous versions

VMFS environments: Not supported for FlexGroups

FlexGroup VMs

Secondary backups

NFS environments:

  • ONTAP SnapMirror Restore if you are using ONTAP Version 9.10.1 and later

  • Clone and mount with Storage VMotion for ONTAP previous versions

VMFS environments: Not supported for FlexGroups
Note You cannot restore a vVOL VM after a vVOL container rebalance.

Guest file restore operations are performed using clone and mount operations (not Storage VMotion) in both NFS and VMFS environments.

Important During a restore operation, you might encounter the error Host unresolved volumes is null or Exception while calling pre-restore on SCV….Error mounting cloned LUN as datastore… This occurs when the SnapCenter VMware plug-in attempts to resignature the clone. Due to VMware restrictions, the SnapCenter VMware plug-in cannot control the automatic resignature value in advanced ESXi configurations.

For more information about the error, see KB article: SCV clone or restores fail with error 'Host Unresolved volumes is null.