ESXi: for high speed copying from ESXi 4.1 to ESXi 5.1 use @Veeam FastSCP 3.0.3, not Veeam Backup and Replication 6.
Posted by jpluimers on 2014/03/23
I had to move a bunch of stuff from an old ESXI 4.1 server to a newer ESXi 5.1 server.
For that I used a Windows XP VM on the new ESXI 5.1 server that had two different 1 gigabit network connections so it could run full speed.
Speed comparison for 60 gigabytes of VMs:
- 1 hour using Veeam FastSCP
- 10+ hours using Veeam Backup and Replication v6.
I used both settings for both tools:
- enter the server credentials
- specify a job
- execute the job
Since FastSCP is not updated any more, it might break on future ESXi installs, but the uptick is that it is easy to download directly: download2.veeam.com/veeam_fastscp_3.0.3.272_u.zip.
I’m reluctant to try the VMWare Workstation way of copying between ESXi servers, as that includes a (potentially very time consuming) conversion that I probably don’t want.
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
rickvanover said
There could be a lot of reasons. For one there was a weird time with x64 support where FastSCP and Backup weren’t on the same page.
But you really should try v7’s File Copy Job..
jpluimers said
OK. Does v7 require yet another SQL Server Instance like v6 needs?
rickvanover said
v7 Does require SQL. Some people have “Thinnapped” the install… I think you can use the same v6 DB if you have it.
jpluimers said
Thanks. Will try later, as right now FastSCP is copying a job of about 800 GB of files and is running smooth.
Next week I need to copy a couple of other batches with about 200 GB of files. Will try then.
rickvanover said
FastSCP is officially deprecated but Veeam Backup Free Edition has the same file copy engine and one better with the Quick Migration tool. Let us know if you have any questions!
jpluimers said
My main question is why FastSCP is so much faster than Veeam Backup and Replication. Note I’m not using the Quick Migration (that does not work on ESXi free).