Backing up hyper v client with sql databases

[trw1972]

Hiya
I moved to veeam a little while ago from another product and so far all good.
One hyper v client i back up through veeam has sql databases on it.

Currently i still back up the databases through native sql- full backups and log backups on a schedule with the logs truncated by native sql.
I also have veeam do periodic full application aware backups (at different times) with the transaction logs set to copy only.

I dont want to stop doing native sql backups - i like the idea of two backup methods.

As i understand it that is fine, i have two different backups both of which should be consistent and restorable as only the native sql is handling logs?

However i would like to use the incremental option with veeam - its the option i use on all the other hyper-v clients.
But i am not sure how veeam handles incremental application aware backups

If i have native sql full backups and native sql log backups running and also (at different times) have incremental application aware veeam backups running (with copy only for the logs) will i have any issues? or is that ok and both backups will be consistent and restorable?

Thanks

[PetrM]

Hi Trevor,

You won't have any issues with the native SQL backups if you enable Copy-only mode in Veeam jobs. It does not matter whether it is a full or an incremental run, just make sure that the Copy-only is used. Also, both full and incremental AAIP backups are performed within a single backup job so you need to enable Copy-only just once.

By the way, did you try our plug-in for Microsoft SQL Server that also performs native backups and can store these backups on Veeam repository as well?

Thanks!

[trw1972]

Thanks, that has been a big help, just for absolute peace of mind, i should still be able to do a consistent restore using veeam (including the sql) when using copy only mode since the only difference is it leaves the chain preserved?

I havent looked at the plug in but will try it on my test server, thanks.

[PetrM]

Hi Trevor,

Yes, of course, you will be able to restore a database or a VM without any issues because AAIP brings data to a consistent state. The only difference is that the Copy-Only flag does not update SQL backup LSN and transaction log backup time. thus keeps the SQL backup chain intact.

It's worth mentioning that you cannot do T-log backups with Veeam if the Copy-Only mode is enabled, therefore restore to a specific point in time in Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server will not be available. However, restores to the image-level backup point in time will be still possible.

Thanks!