About configuring the environment for the Agent for VMware

The Agent for VMware uses four components. You can configure your environment to have all four Agent for VMware components reside on one computer. Or, you can have more than one component reside on the same computer. The VirtualCenter component is optional.

See Requirements for using the Agent for VMware.

The advantages and disadvantages of each configuration are as follows:

Table: Possible Agent for VMware configurations

Configuration	Advantages	Disadvantages
The Backup Exec media server, the VCB proxy server, and the temporary staging server reside on the same computer. The (optional) VirtualCenter resides on a separate computer. Symantec recommends this configuration.	Advantages to this configuration are as follows: Backup speed increases because the media server backs up local files. Restore speed increases because the staging process occurs locally.	During backup and restore jobs, the CPU and disk activity levels at the media server are high.
The VCB proxy server, the temporary staging server, the Backup Exec media server, and the(optional) VirtualCenter reside on separate computers.	Advantages to this configuration are as follows: Since the VCB proxy server processes the backup, CPU and disk utilization needs at the media server are lowered. Since the temporary staging server processes the restore job, CPU and disk utilization needs at the media server are lowered.	Disadvantages to this configuration are as follows: Backup processing time is increased.The virtual machine is backed up from the ESX server to the VCB proxy server. Data is then copied from the VCB proxy server to the media server. Restore speed is decreased. Data is restored in two stages. First, the data is restored from the media across the network to the temporary staging server. Data then travels from the temporary staging server to the ESX server.
The Backup Exec media server and the temporary staging server reside on the same computer. The VCB proxy server and the (optional) VirtualCenter reside on separate computers.	Restore speed increases because the staging process occurs locally.	Disadvantages to this configuration are as follows: Backup processing time is increased. The virtual machine is backed up from the ESX server to the VCB proxy server. Data is then copied from the VCB proxy server to the media server. During restore jobs, the CPU and disk activity levels at the media server are high.
The Backup Exec media server and the VCB proxy server reside on the same computer. The temporary staging server and the (optional) VirtualCenter reside on separate computers.	Backup speed increases because the media server backs up local files.	Disadvantages to this configuration are as follows: Restore processing time is increased. Data is restored in two stages. First, the data is restored from the media across the network to the temporary staging server. Data then travels from the temporary staging server to the ESX server. During backup jobs, the CPU and disk activity levels at the media server are high.