Good questions! Generally, file-level backups–where the VM is cracked open on the VCB proxy and then backed up at the filesystem level–will be slower for a full backup than an image-level backup. Incremental backups might be quicker, but only because far less data has to be copied.

As for when to use SMVI vs. OSSV, you would use OSSV when the primary VM storage is non-NetApp storage. If the primary VM storage is on a NetApp storage array, then you can use SMVI.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Also how does one determine when to use NetApp SnapManager for Virtual Infrastructure versus OSSV? Seems redundant.

Found an interesting article on blog.scottlowe.org on a new version of Open Systems SnapVault (OSSV) that offers new functionality when used with VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3). It is an interesting read weighing in on OSSV and VMware.Quotes from articl…