Hyper V 2012 Backup - best practice

Question

I'm setting up a new Hyper-V server 2012 and I'm trying to understand how to best configure it for backups and restores using
Windows Server Backup. I´ve 5 VMs running, everyone has their one iScsi drive.
I would like to backup the VMs on a external usb disk. I´ve the choice to backup the Hyper-V using child partition snapshot or to backup the vm folder with the config and the vhd files (is is right, that Windows override the old backup ?)
What´s the difference between the two methods ?  Is incremental back possible with vm´s ?
thanks

Answer 1

Hi,
There are two basic methods you can use to perform a backup. You can:
Perform a backup from the server running Hyper-V.
We recommend that you use this method to perform a full server backup because it captures more data than the other method. If the backup application is compatible with Hyper-V and the Hyper-V VSS writer, you can perform a full server backup that helps protect
all of the data required to fully restore the server, except the virtual networks. The data included in such a backup includes the configuration of virtual machines, snapshots associated with the virtual machines, and virtual hard disks used by the virtual
machines. As a result, using this method can make it easier to recover the server if you need to, because you do not have to recreate virtual machines or reinstall Hyper-V.
Perform a backup from within the guest operating system of a virtual machine.
Use this method when you need to back up data from storage that is not supported by the Hyper-V VSS writer. When you use this method, you run a backup application from the guest operating system of the virtual machine. If you need to use this method, you
should use it in addition to a full server backup and not as an alternative to a full server backup. Perform a backup from within the guest operating system before you perform a full backup of the server running Hyper-V.
iSCSI-based storage is supported for backup by the Hyper-V VSS writer when the storage is connected through the management operating system and the storage is used for virtual hard disks.
For more information please refer to following MS articles:
Planning for Backup
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd252619(WS.10).aspx
Hyper-V: How to Back Up Hyper-V VMs from the Host Using Windows Server Backup
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/216.hyper-v-how-to-back-up-hyper-v-vms-from-the-host-using-windows-server-backup.aspx
Backing up Hyper-V with Windows Server Backup
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2009/03/11/backing-up-hyper-v-with-windows-server-backup.aspx
Lawrence
TechNet Community Support