Secondary backup server in azure for restores only

[jessey316]

Hi All,

I am seeking some advice from others who are using azure for restores/DR testing. We have the following setup below

On prem setup:

*All in one Veeam R&B server with local storage
*Dedicated SQL server for Veeam configure/data
*VMs are backed up using windows agent backups (no Vshpere or Hyper-V backups). We backing up the entire VM and disks

Azure setup
Blog storage (backups are copied from on prem veeam server immediately after completion)


As we have the backups in azure, we can restore to azure using the azure proxy appliance directly from the object storage without any issues which I have tested. The next goal is to be able to restore without the reliance of the on prem server.

My thoughts were to setup a veeam server inside azure and point it to the current blog storage for its repository. I believe I would I also need a SQL server since this is a separate veeam server and to restore large data you need full SQL rather than community edition.

As we have a Veeam Availability Suite licence, I assume I can setup a server and since we wont be using it for backups and only restore, it shouldn't use any server instances against the license

[Mildur]

Hello Jessey

A second server can use the same license. When you start protecting workloads with it, you must use enterprise manager to manage the licensing over both backup servers.

Back to your question:
It depends on your scenario, if it's possible or not. And it comes with limitations and considerations.

SOBR with capacity tier:
- Connecting your Azure Blob to a DR backup server is possible, when you put the Azure Blob capacity tier in maintenance mode on the original backup server. If you don't do so, possible metadata corruption could occur.

Direct Backup Copy to Azure Blob:
- Connecting the Azure Blob to a second backup server will transfer the ownership from the original server. Backup copy jobs will stop working on the original server. You can work around this limitation by going through the repository properties again on the original server. This will transfer the ownership back to the original server.
Disclaimer: It works in my lab, but it was not officially tested by our QA team on all possible scenarios.

--> https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=120

If you want to add an object storage repository added as a capacity or performance extent to another backup server, you must switch this object storage repository to the Maintenance mode on the initial server. Note that the secondary server will request the ownership over the object storage repository. After you change the ownership, the backup jobs (except for the offload job to capacity tier) will fail on the primary backup server.

Best,
Fabian

[jessey316]

Hi Fabian,

When the secondary backup server requests ownership of the blob repository, does this need to be confirmed on the original backup server? If the original server was not accessible, would this still be possible?

Once the blob repository is set to maintenance mode and connected to the second backup server. Can restore still be executed?

After you change the ownership, the backup jobs (except for the offload job to capacity tier) will fail on the primary backup server

To clarify, does this mean even the local/performance tier backups would fail?

[Mildur]

Hi Jessey

When the secondary backup server requests ownership of the blob repository, does this need to be confirmed on the original backup server?
If the original server was not accessible, would this still be possible?

The original server doesn't have to be available. The confirmation box is only shown on the new backup server. You can always connect the blob repository to a new server.

To clarify, does this mean even the local/performance tier backups would fail?

If your local/performance tier extend is object storage, then yes. Those backups will fail.

Best,
Fabian