Recommended deployment for protecting a Hyper-V cluster

To protect a Hyper-V cluster, we recommend the following:

• Install the Management service on a VM in the cluster, and enable High Availability on the VM. The VM where the Management service is installed must resolve to the same DNS server used by the Hyper-V cluster.

• Install the Host service on each host in the cluster. If the Host service is installed on all hosts in the cluster:

  • The Hyper-V Agent Management service automatically distributes the backup processing load across the hosts.

    Beginning with Hyper-V Agent 8.84, after installing the Hyper-V Agent Management service, you must provide the Hyper-V environment network address and credentials in Portal before you can install Hyper-V Agent Host services. See Configure a new Hyper-V Agent.

  • Application-consistent backups can be created for VMs on all hosts. If the Host service is not installed on a host, backups for VMs on that host can only be crash-consistent.

If you do not want to deploy a VM in the cluster for the Management service, see Alternate deployment for protecting a Hyper-V cluster.

Note: You cannot install the Host service on a host where the Agent for Microsoft Windows is installed. The Windows Agent is not compatible with the Host service.

Alternate deployment for protecting a Hyper-V cluster

As described in Recommended deployment for protecting a Hyper-V cluster, we recommend installing the Hyper-V Agent Management service on a VM in the cluster, and installing the Host service on each host in the cluster.

If you do not want to deploy a VM in the cluster for the Management service, you can install the Management service on a supported Windows server that has local network access to the cluster. The server can be a physical or virtual machine that is on the same domain as the Hyper-V cluster.

Beginning with Hyper-V Agent 8.84, you cannot install the Management service directly on a Hyper-V host in a Hyper-V cluster. However, you can install the Management service on a standalone Hyper-V host.

You must install the Hyper-V Agent Host service on at least one host in a protected cluster. You do not have to install the Host service on every host in a cluster, since a single Host service can back up VMs on all hosts. However, this configuration is not optimal, for the following reasons:

• If the Host service is installed on only one host, all backup operations are delegated to the single host. The load cannot be distributed.

• A VM that is stored on a local volume can only be backed up if the Host service is installed on the host.

• Application-consistent backups cannot be created for VMs on a host where the Host service is not installed.

• A Hyper-V VM can only be restored to a host where the Host service is running. When restoring a Hyper-V VM in a cluster, you must choose a host where the Host service is running or the restore will fail.

If the Host service is not installed on the host where you want to restore a VM, you can restore the VM to a host where the Host service is installed, and then migrate the VM to the host that you want for the VM. 

Note: You cannot install the Host service on a host where the Agent for Microsoft Windows is installed.