Two backup Servers with the same Repository

[jochot]

Hey,

So I use a Backupserver in our headquarters and one in our 2nd office.
Headquarters = Hbackupserver
2nd Office = Obackupserver
Now I would like to copy backup data from the 2nd office to our headquarters (for offsite backup), for that I wold use Backup Copy Jobs of course.
The repository in the Headquarters is added to the Obackupserver and this server copies the data to this repository.
I want to know if I can also add this repository to the HBackupserver?

Note: I use the Enterprise manager to distribute the licences.
I had problems with that before, with a different backupserver in a 3rd office. The error was that this repository was added to 2 backupservers and because of this the Enterprise manager couldn't sync the databases anymore.

Is it supportet to add a repository (SMB share) to 2 backupservers which connect to the same Enterprise manager?

[DGrinev]

Hi,

You can add the same repository to the separate backup servers, but it's not a recommended approach.
I've discussed the scenario with the QA team, they said there are no issues expected with the EM.
Also, share the case id of the previous issue.
Please review existing discussion about the component sharing. Thanks!

[jochot]

Hey,

thanks for the reply.
For me it's just about being able to restore the data to the Headquarters, when the 2nd Office is down.
I will not use the repository for backups from the headquarters.

[Deon]

Hello,

It is currently forbidden by the user guide to share the same repository between two backup servers added into one enterprise manager:

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... tml?ver=95
"Backup servers that have identical objects in Veeam Backup & Replication configuration databases must not be added to the same Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager. Data collection will fail when Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager attempts to insert duplicate records about identical objects to its configuration database. Identical objects can appear in Veeam Backup & Replication configuration databases in the following cases:
- Jobs on several backup servers process the same VMs.
- The same backups are imported to the Veeam Backup & Replication console on several backup servers (for example, the same backup repository is shared between several backup servers, backups are copied between different machines and these machines are added to the Veeam Backup & Replication console on different backup servers and so on)."


Basically in this scenario you may get duplicate objects with same IDs which will fail to be imported into Enterprise Manager because the synchronization would try to add the same unique ID twice.

[jochot]

Ok, so it doesn't work after all.
I'm just wondering how to do offsite backup then?

so this is basically my environment: https://imgur.com/a/Jrgkp
Now I would like to have data from Repo 2 and Repo 3 copied to Repo 1.
I need to Include the WAN Accelerator 1 into Backupserver 2 and 3 for that, also the Repo 1 needs to be added to the Backupserver 2 and 3.

Is this currently not supported by veeam? Do I have to build a repo for every branch office? And can the WAN Accelerator be added to more than one Backup Server or do I need a WAN Accelerator for every external office?

[nmdange]

All you have to do is use a different folder path on the backup repository server for the repositories used by each Veeam server. By using different folders, they won't see each others backups and you won't run into the issues mentioned above.

e.g. you'd have E:\VeeamServer1 on one server, and E:\VeeamServer2 on the other server.

[vClintWyckoff]

That's exactly what I was just going to say too

[jochot]

Okay, but what about the WAN Accellerators? Those can be dublicated?

[foggy]

Do you mean used by multiple backup servers?

[jochot]

Yes.
Otherwise I would need 5 WAN Accellerators in my headquarters to copy the data of the branch offices there.

[foggy]

Should be possible, though keep in mind that each pair will have a separate global cache.

[Shieik]

We need to mount 2 Veeam backup server with 2 different license (1 for socket, the other for VM)

Can we add the same repository server to the different Veeam Backup Server?

Thanks in advance to this BIG community

[Vitaliy S.]

This is possible, but not recommended. Please review this topic for more info. Thanks!

[Shieik]

In my case:

Each BackupServer will backup different production servers, in any case, both BackupServer will backup the same production server. We only want to share the same Repository (because we only have 1 )

[foggy]

Just keep in mind the combined load that both servers will put on it and make sure both instances run at the same patch level.

[jochot]

If you distribute the licenses via Enterprise Manager, he will have a problem with the duplicated repository
If your Repo allows it, split it so you have 2 repos (e.g. instead of one share use two)

[Shieik]

Yep, we will have 2 differents 2 different shares in the repository.

Thanks to all

[foggy]

Pointing different backup servers to the exact same path/location is prone to issues (regardless of Enterprise Manager), so splitting to different folders is always recommended.

[lando_uk]

Just reviving this thread.

I'm in the process of redesigning our Veeam environment, going from a single VBR to two. We have 2 sites (active/active VMs), i was thinking of buying two new chunky servers with local storage and external disk arrays, creating 2 large repositories on each. I'll install VBR on both of these servers, so run 2 instances, backing up their own sites VMs into repository1. Copy jobs will get sent to the across to the other sites repository2.

Anyone see any issues with this? I think it was answered further up and I'm fine with sharing repositories between 2 separate instances, but i'm just double checking before i drop £40k on these servers.

[foggy]

Provided you're aware of the below, you should be fine.

Just keep in mind the combined load that both servers will put on it and make sure both instances run at the same patch level.

[oso]

Hi it's possible to add same backup repository to two Veeam instance? It will be windows backup repository on physical hardware.

Thank you

[wishr]

Hi Oso,

This is not the recommended approach, however, it can be done. Please take a look at the comments above for more information.

Thanks

[Andreas Neufert]

In general there are 2 aspects of the request.

1) Hardware Ressources (CPU/RAM).
The 2 backup servers are not aware of each others load. So if you run backups to the "shared" repository server (or shared Gateway Server) then you need to manually balance the load, or have the needed ressources available.

2) Writing to the same folder/CIFS/NFS share.
2 Backup & Replication Server can not use the same folder for writing into it. The reason for this is that one or the other Backup & Replication server access files exclusively and block the other backup server from accessing those. This is as well true for our background scans. In the end you could end up with random failing jobs because of it and it is a really hard one to nail down at failure analyse.
To bring this in a supported way, you need to create a subfolder for each Backup & Replication Server and use this as Repository target. That way the other Backup & Replication Server do not see the files.