Backing up replicated VM

[myrdin]

Hi,

this is the situation:

server 1 site A it is replicated to site B

There is a tape drive on site B and i need to push to tape server 1 (the replica) on site B.

I dont seem to be able to create anything like a vm to tape job, i can only apparently create a backup job of the replica locally somewhere on site B, then create a backup to tape job that pushes the backup files to tape.

Ideally i'd like to have plain files to tape as these tapes are designed to be stored for 7 years and and veeam 11 will be out, it might not be able to read veeam 8 files.

The other concern is that if i take a backup of the replica (which is going to take a snapshot of the replica VM) might overlap the helper snapshot created by the replica job on site A which is not aware of what is happening on site B.

Suggestions?

thanks

[foggy]

Ideally i'd like to have plain files to tape as these tapes are designed to be stored for 7 years and and veeam 11 will be out, it might not be able to read veeam 8 files.

Veeam B&R always provides backward compatibility in terms of backup file format, so that backups created by any of the previous releases be recoverable.

The other concern is that if i take a backup of the replica (which is going to take a snapshot of the replica VM) might overlap the helper snapshot created by the replica job on site A which is not aware of what is happening on site B.

You can backup replica VMs, however consider some limitations regarding that.

Another approach would be to sync local backups offsite to be able to write them to tapes there and use replica from backup functionality for replication.

[myrdin]

thanks Foggy. So basically i cant use CBT, shouldnt be a major issue. What about the snapshots? If i have a replica running the time i have a backup, is the backup job gonna take a snapshot over the helper snapshot of the replica job?

thanks

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Nick,

Helper snapshot will not be taken over, but it's better not to have the overlap between these two scheduled jobs. Do you have any local backups for quick restores?

Thanks!

[myrdin]

Hi Vitality, thanks. No local backup as it is a replica machine to another site. I will give it a shot and see how we go.

thanks as usual for now,

[Vitaliy S.]

Got it, if you have any spare resources locally, I would also suggest doing local backups, then configuring replication jobs from these backups and then use backup copy jobs for tape backups. This should make your backup window smaller, cause backup jobs over the LAN should be quicker than replication jobs over the WAN link.

[TheGreenGorilla]

Hi,

I have quite a simple question(s) but was having difficulty finding a definitive answer.

Can you backup replica VMs, as opposed to the live ones, and is there a best practice?

Thanks

[Vitaliy S.]

Yes, you can backup replicated VMs, please review this topic for more info.