New features of Kasten 5.5.9

The Veeam Kasten version 5.5.9 was released today! The new features are:

Import applications with block mode exports in clusters that do not support block mode exports

By default, K10 restores Kubernetes resources as they exist in the restore point. However, there are times when the restore target does not match the environment of the backup. For these situations, K10 allows Kubernetes resource artifacts to be transformed on restore.

It applies to changing the storage class configured for the application in the source cluster to another storage class available in the target cluster. This new feature allows migrating applications with block mode export to a cluster that does not support block mode.

A block mode export is available only with vSphere storage integration. A block mode export accesses the content of the disk snapshot at the block level using infrastructure-specific APIs.

This new feature allows to migrate applications with block mode export in the following infra/storage providers:

AWS: ebs.csi.aws.com, kubernetes.io/aws-ebs

Google Cloud: pd.csi.storage.gke.io, kubernetes.io/gce-pd

VMware vSphere: csi.vsphere.vmware.com

https://docs.kasten.io/latest/usage/migration.html#migrating-applications-with-block-mode-exports

Instant Recovery for Persistent Volumes

At this release, it is a feature that requires vSphere 7.0.3+ and a Veeam Backup server version V12. It is based on Instant First Class Disk (FCD) Recovery feature from Veeam Backup & Replication v12. Tanzu is not supported at this moment.

In this case, a vSphere cluster is hosting the Kubernetes cluster. K10 asks the Veeam Backup server to make an Instant First Class Disk (FCD) Recovery and then creates Persistent Volumes that use those FCDs.

The vPower architecture is the same: FCDs exist in a vPower NFS datastore created by the Veeam Backup server. Once the Instant Recovery has been completed, the application will run using these resources.

To conclude the operation, you must migrate FCDs to the production environment or stop publishing them. Veeam Backup & Replication uses the Quick Migration mechanism to migrate the disks – with no interruption in the service.

https://docs.kasten.io/latest/install/storage.html#vbr-instant-recovery

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/instant_disk_recovery_fcd.html?ver=120

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/kasten_integration/how_k10_works.html?ver=120

Capability to rename PVCs during restores

A PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) is a request for storage by a user. It is similar to a Pod. Pods consume node resources, and PVCs consume Persistent Volume resources. Pods can request specific levels of resources (CPU and Memory).

Claims can request specific size and access modes – they can be mounted ReadWriteOnce, ReadOnlyMany, or ReadWriteMany, see AccessModes.

This feature allows, during restores, to rename PVCs depending on how the workload has been configured.

It is an additional capability added to the “K10´S Restoring Applications” options, which delivery extra flexibility.

https://docs.kasten.io/latest/usage/restore.html#pvc-renames

For more information, refer to the release note:

https://docs.kasten.io/latest/releasenotes.html

I hope this post has been useful!