Veeam Backup
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So @Dashrender and I were talking, and he was doing some looking around at different backup options, and what caught our attention is that Veeam offers a product for $700 that will backup an unlimited number of VM's.
What I am unable to find is, does this application run at the host or guest level? I'd imagine that it runs at the host level (as it appears it does for VMWare and Hyper-V) but would like some clarity on it.
I am still tossing up XenServer or Hyper-V as the hypervisor, and my proposals are Hypervisor agnostic. Due to all of the options that still need to be discussed / panned out.
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which product are you talking about? veeam also has a free solution that backs up at the host level unlimited. just can't schedule it using the application. you can, however, schedule it using PS.
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@hubtechagain On Hyper-V.
Veeam Backup & Replication v8. Sorry it was $750, not $700.
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@DustinB3403 said:
What I am unable to find is, does this application run at the host or guest level? I'd imagine that it runs at the host level (as it appears it does for VMWare and Hyper-V) but would like some clarity on it.
Veeam products (except for their desktop tool) are all exclusively talking to hypervisors. And only to HyperV or paid versions of ESXi. That's it.
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So in our case, then Veeam would be a Hyper-V only backup option.
Which means we'd need something that operates at the Guest OS such as Storage Craft.
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@DustinB3403 said:
So in our case, then Veeam would be a Hyper-V only backup option.
Which means we'd need something that operates at the Guest OS such as Storage Craft.
If you stay with XenServer, yes. or go with Unitrends, they offer support for XenServer too.
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@DustinB3403 said:
Which means we'd need something that operates at the Guest OS such as Storage Craft.
Why would you need two solutions? You should be using only one in all but the most exceptional cases.
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@scottalanmiller that is what I'm trying to do. Pinpoint 1 backup solution and stick with that.
But since I'm trying to not push one hypervisor over another (as it's more neutral to do so) I have to lay out the options for different backup solutions.
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@DustinB3403 said:
@scottalanmiller that is what I'm trying to do. Pinpoint 1 backup solution and stick with that.
But why have a second backup if you go with Veeam?
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Basically the choices are....
With HyperV: StorageCraft, Veeam and Unitrends
With XenServer: StorageCraft, UnitrendsPick one hypervisor, then pick one backup.
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That would be "we dump SC".
We wouldn't be implementing both solutions.
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@DustinB3403 said:
That would be "we dump SC".
We wouldn't be implementing both solutions.
It was this statement that I was responding to:
So in our case, then Veeam would be a Hyper-V only backup option.
Which means we'd need something that operates at the Guest OS such as Storage Craft. -
Ah,
Sorry yeah, I see how that could be confusing.
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So talking about Veeam
The client I currently have running Veeam normally runs continuous incrementals with a full backup every other month.
Considering that, what is the best offsite backup option for someone with 6 TB of total data?
We'll assume a 30 Mb synchronous internet connection to a remote site.
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I'm guessing site to site replication is probably out because of the Full backups, those would take days/weeks/more to sync.
Does this leave only tape?
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Veeam has a method for handling this with merging oldest incremental back into the original full, but popping a new full nukes that process.
This exact issue is a problem I am also looking at ways to resolve at two different clients.
I have data offsite, but not VM.
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I'll be at VeeamOn next week and one of the things I need to wrap my head around is how Veeam processes synthetic fulls when pushing to the "cloud." I run my setup with Reverse Increments and drop to tape, but now that my Internet bandwidth is speeding up, I'm thinking of switching to Forward Increments and using the synthetic fulls.
While not backup, you can have a parallel replication job to an offsite server. You can seed the job and then kick the deltas over which would not require a full after you set it up. At the target server, you can also keep a number of versions. I have a local server (cheap HP box) where I use this replication setup monthly so it mirrors my monthly off-site tapes. Mainly for convenience so when I need to grab something 6 mos. out (we keep 31 days local) I don't have to restore from the actual monthly tape. Just started this 3 mos ago.
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@DenisKelley Do you have Veeam creating new full backups on any type of schedule? or are you only using continuous incrementals?
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@Dashrender said:
@DenisKelley Do you have Veeam creating new full backups on any type of schedule? or are you only using continuous incrementals?
Right now I use Reverse Incrementals, so no, I don't generate separate fulls. With the reverse method, you don't need to create fulls like you do with the Forward method. With reverse, you get one delta file which is then injected into a master full each backup. I then move that one file, after running a SureBackup (super cool feature) and move it offsite daily via tape.
I won't be able to use the Reverse if I start porting the off-site stuff to "cloud", since based on my last calculation, it would take me 20 Days and I think that just might be a problem.
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What about trying to use Veeam Cloud Connect with one of their certified storage providers? I believe they utilize backup copy jobs to transfer the data from your environment to the storage provider's repository and get your data offsite. The two I have talked with so far (GlobalDataVault - met them at VMUG UserCon DFW, SingleHop - having a call with them next week) charge you a rate based on whether full backups fit within a specific TB chunk of storage. If all of your full backups make 1.25 TB on a full backup, I believe you still have to pay the rate for 2 TB. But they also monitor and test your backups for you. The monthly rate stays more predictable that way I guess, and they have specific retention periods that are included in the cost.
I really want to utilize cloud connect and one of the storage providers for offsite backups and DR. I just have to sell it to the big boys once I have options. I'd love to use Backblaze B2 as a target since the storage is dirt cheap, but I am not sure I could make it work as a cloud connect repository.
