We're transitioning to a snapshot based backup (Symantec Netbackup's implementation). Up until now we have loaded the backup agent on the VMs and backed it up like physical servers. For our DB servers, (primarily SQL) we don't use SQL specific backup agents and recommend a scheduled dump file which is regularly backed up.
I suspect we will want to continue this dump file practice but, I have read some about pre-freeze and post-thaw scripts that can make a snapshot based backup transactionally consistent.
(1) Anyone use these with respect to SQL or Oracle? What's been your experience?
(2) Have you verified the DB in a DR scenerio?
(3) What about the effect on the server/DB/application during the pre-freeze post-thaw interactions. I assume there is a connectivity or performance hit? I'm trying to provide guidance and get ahead of the inevitable questions before we attempt this.