Using Veeam to replace Backup Exec 2012

[kmile]

Hello,

I recently spoke to Veeam at this year's IP Expo. After describing our environment the engineer I spoke with suggested that Veeam can be used for tape backups so no longer the need for Backup Exec software.
The engineer said that all I would need to do is to uninstall/disable Backup Exec, make that server a veeam proxy and install tape drivers. That sounded very promising and exciting but I am reading in other places that the tape drives need to be attached directly to the main Veeam B&R server not a proxy. Is this still the case?

Regards,
Kamil

[veremin]

Is this still the case?

It's still the case with version 7 but it won't be, starting from the version 8. Thanks.

[kmile]

Many thanks. That's great news!
We did chat about version 8 at the Expo so this is probably what the engineer meant.
We have a mixture of HP StorageWorks Ultrium 448 and 920 tape drives (LTO2 and LTO3). Will they be compatible with Veeam B&R 8? If yes here is what our plan is:

At the moment we use Veeam B&R 7 to backup all VMs locally to a NAS storage (Synology RS3412RPxs). We also run replication of the crucial VMs across WAN to our DR site where we have an ESXi.5.5.1 host that runs Veeam proxy server and has another Synology RS3412RPxs for storage.

Although we solely rely on Veeam B&R in case we need to restore data we still use Backup Exec 2012 for tape backups of the crucial data (mainly for archiving monthly backups, we do not use Backup Exec to backup VMs). For this we have a physical server at our production site with three tape drives (1 x HP StorageWorks Ultrium 448 and 2 x HP StorageWorks Ultrium 920) and Backup Exec 2012 installed on it.

With Veeam B&R 8 out I was planning to move the Backup Exec physical server to our DR site. Then disable/uninstall Backup Exec, make is as Veeam proxy and install the relevant tape drivers.
Once this is working I would like to create tape backup jobs from the replicas we already have at the DR site.
This would eliminate the need of bringing tapes to our prod site every day (we store the tapes at the DR site in a fireproof safe and we have personnel there who could swap the tapes for us). It would also mean that tape backups will not slow the prod down as they would be done from replicas at the DR site that are not being used.

Would this work?
Thank you for your valuable input.

Kamil

[veremin]

Would this work?

By "replicas" you mean files produced by a backup copy job? If so, then, yes the described scenario should work fine. Thanks.

[kmile]

At the moment we only do Replication Jobs of our critical VMs from production site where Veeam B&R 7 is installed to our DR site where Veeam proxy is installed.
In case we lost our production site we are ready to start up the replicas in DR and continue working. With Veeam B&R 8 would we be able to do tape backups at the DR site using the replicas?

Kamil

[foggy]

You would need to backup the replica VMs to disk first and then offload their backup files to tapes.

As for the tape drives, I can see the 920 one on our unofficial compatibility list, which means that it was tested in the field with Veeam B&R and reported as compatible. As for the 448 one, it is not there yet, however as long as the correct drivers (OEM drivers from device manufacturer) are used and given drive is shown properly in Windows Device Manager under correct name (as opposed to generic device), it should work fine. If you test the device and report back to us that it does perform well in conjunction with Veeam B&R, we will add it to the list.

[kmile]

Thank you.

Do you mean creating a backup copy job that will transfer the replicas files to a partition attached to the Veeam proxy server where the tape drives are attached to?

The Backup copy jobs as well as the tape jobs will be created using the main Veeam B&R server in out production site. However all data is at the DR site already. Will Veeam know about this or will it try to go via WAN again?

Also which version of Veeam B&R 8 will we need for this to work?

Kamil

[foggy]

I mean regular backup jobs, not backup copy jobs. However, backup copy jobs that would copy backup files from the production site repository to DR site can also be used as a source for subsequent tape backups (if the link between sites allows).

Remember, VM replicas are stored in a native VMware format on vSphere datastore, while you need compressed backups files on your backup repository (produced either by backup or backup copy jobs) to be able to copy them to tapes.

[veremin]

With v8 you will be able to choose where the replication jobs obtain VM data from. In addition to production storage, you will be able to replicate from your backup files. From my perspective, the best idea would be to create a backup job to the DR site, and select resulting files as both source for replica and source for backup to tape job. Thanks.