Host-based backup of VMware vSphere VMs.
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chjones
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Veeam v8 and HP StoreOnce

Post by chjones » 1 person likes this post

Hi,

I am currently running Veeam v7 R2 with Patch 4 and am planning the upgrade to Version 8. I have a single Veeam Server (running in a Windows 2012 R2 VM) that backs up VMs at our two main datacenters. Each datacentre has two HP ProLiant BL460c Gen8 Servers (Windows 2012 R2, 2 x Eight Core Intel CPU and 128GB RAM) acting as proxies with all VMs residing on a HP 3PAR 7400 Array at each location, so all backups occur via the SAN Transport Method and utilize Storage Snapshots. The Blade Enclosures are connected via 4 x 10GbE uplinks and 8Gb Fibre Channel to our Brocade Switches which connect the servers and storage.

The backup repository at each site is a NAS Share on the HP StoreOnce 4430 Disk Backup System running the latest OS, 3.11.4, connected via 2 x 10GbE Uplinks in a Port-Channel (Bonding Mode 4).

I cloned my Domain Controller, vCenter Server, Veeam Server and MSSQL Database Server VMs into a test lab and ran through the Veeam v8 upgrade which ran successfully. None of the proxies or repositories are available in the lab, but I wanted to test the upgrade of the Veeam Server itself. Post the upgrade I was interested to check out the new HP StoreOnce support in the repository settings. When creating a New Backup Repository there is the new option of a "Dedupicating storage appliance" which when selected presents you with a Data Domain, ExaGrid or HP StoreOnce appliance type. Obviously this is what I would use when adding my StoreOnce NAS Shares to Veeam.

However, we already have two shares from our StoreOnce devices added to Veeam and they contain many backup files. In the properties for the existing repositories you are unable to change the type as the settings are greyed out. I was wondering what are the differences between selecting a Shared Folder vs Deduplicating storage appliance? Is it just the settings in the wizard are pre-populated differently depending on what you select? Should I just create a test HP StoreOnce repository and take note of it's settings and make sure my existing repository which is a "Shared Folder" type matches, or should I remove my current repositories and re-add them using the Deduplicating storage appliance type? If I did this, I assume the process would be:

1. Select all Backups on Disk on the StoreOnce and select "Remove from backups"
2. Repoint any jobs using the StoreOnce to another repository (only temporary and only for a few minutes)
3. Remove the repository
4. Add the repository as a Deduplicating storage appliance
5. Import backups from the repository
6. Repoint the backup jobs to the repository and use the "Map backup" option to point the backup to the correct files on the StoreOnce

Would this work, or is it even required? Is there any performance, or other, benefit adding the StoreOnce as a Deduplicating storage appliance vs leaving it as Shared folder like it is currently?

I also noticed (I wasn't able to complete the wizard) that when I select to add a HP StoreOnce as a repository that the "Limit maximum concurrent tasks to" defaults to 4. With our proxies each having 16 cores, and having two proxies at each datacenter, we could theoretically process up to 32 virtual hard disks simultaneously at each datacenter. However, this concurrency setting would limit it to only 4 virtual disks between the two proxies, is that right? Perhaps the two proxies at each datacenter is overkill. Other than pure trial and error is there any recommendations on what the concurrency should be set to for various HP StoreOnce models? I've searched every HP User Guide and Tech Spec I can locate, as well as the Veeam and StoreOnce Integration guides but can't find anything related to the best practice for concurrency.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?

Thanks,

Chris
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Re: Veeam v8 and HP StoreOnce

Post by Gostev »

chjones wrote:I was wondering what are the differences between selecting a Shared Folder vs Deduplicating storage appliance? Is it just the settings in the wizard are pre-populated differently depending on what you select?
Correct, right now it makes not technical difference (unlike with Data Domain and ExaGrid), and just simplifies the setup of the repository by automatically switching all the settings to recommended. This functionality is aimed to help new users integrate B&R with StoreOnce in the most optimal way possible today, which requires non-default settings.

So in your case, I would just continue using shares as before for now. Again, it makes absolutely no difference from a technical perspective.

We are investigating Catalyst support for future releases, this would make a difference.
andriktr
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Re: Veeam v8 and HP StoreOnce

Post by andriktr »

Hi,
Maybe you have any new information about when Veeam B&R will start support HP StoreOnce Catalyst.
Vitaliy S.
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Re: Veeam v8 and HP StoreOnce

Post by Vitaliy S. »

Usually we do not comment on the dates of support for new storage vendors used as a backup repository, however we are working on adding HP StoreOnce Catalyst into one of our next major updates. Thanks for your interest!
JarkkoT
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Re: Veeam v8 and HP StoreOnce

Post by JarkkoT »

Any chance on getting more detailed information on schedule for catalyst support or possibilities in voluntering in beta? I had a support case about this also open.
Vitaliy S.
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Re: Veeam v8 and HP StoreOnce

Post by Vitaliy S. »

All betas (if its public) will be announced via forum digests, and in order to participate in it, you will need to engage with your Veeam sales rep. Currently I cannot make any comments on the timelines, unfortunately.
Abigail Sugarman
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Re: Veeam v8 and HP StoreOnce

Post by Abigail Sugarman » 1 person likes this post

I recently did a bit of research on our peer review site and found a review which may help your discussion. The review said about StoreOnce "Highly recommended the product, be sure to use the right backup application (Veeam or similar), so you can get the most out of it." See full review at: http://www.itcentralstation.com/product ... 3-t003-301
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