Restoring Veeam backups to another server possible?

[davids355]

I am using veeam backup and replication to back up virtual machines running on a windows 2012 R2 server with hyper-V role installed.

I am planning to introduce a second server to my environment - again this will be running windows server 2012 r2 with hyper-v role installed.

If one of these two machines goes down for any reason, is it possible to restore the backups that veeam has taken but to the remaining live server?

[Vitaliy S.]

Yes, absolutely. It will be possible to restore to any Hyper-V server running 2012 R2 version. Thanks!

[davids355]

Hi thanks for the quick answer.

And what would be the process and requirements) to make this work?

Could I simply install Veeam on the other server and then point it to the backup set? Or would I need to install Veeam on the new server and then restore the veeam configuration backup?

Also, how would it work as far as licencing is concerned?

Would I need a licenced copy of veeam running on both servers or, assuming the primary server had failed beyond repair, would it be supported to transfer the veeam licence to the new server as part of the restore process?

Thanks

[Vitaliy S.]

Could I simply install Veeam on the other server and then point it to the backup set? Or would I need to install Veeam on the new server and then restore the veeam configuration backup?

The easiest way would be just to import backup files via import functionality.

Also, how would it work as far as licencing is concerned?

License file is not required to run a restore. You can use either free version of Veeam backup or extract.exe utility to restore the VMs.

Would I need a licenced copy of veeam running on both servers or, assuming the primary server had failed beyond repair, would it be supported to transfer the veeam licence to the new server as part of the restore process?

Yes, it would be supported. You can install as many Veeam backup instances as you need and run them against the same source hosts. Thanks!

[davids355]

Wow, thats great, I didn't realize you could restore with the free version.
OK, once I have my second server installed I will try that out.

Out of interest, does the restore effect the live virtual machines? IE if I want to do some testing, could I import one of the backups to the new server and then restore it even though the live VM is still running on the old server (assuming the two servers have no direct contact)?

Yes, it would be supported. You can install as many Veeam backup instances as you need and run them against the same source hosts. Thanks!

I don't fully understand what you are saying here, but it probably ties in with a question I have also posted elsewhere on the forum:
http://forums.veeam.com/microsoft-hyper ... 26639.html

In that post I have asked how I should operate two separate Hyper-V servers in terms of Veeam and backup strategy - should I be purchasing another copy of veeam for the second server, or can the first server back up the second remotely?

[Vitaliy S.]

Out of interest, does the restore effect the live virtual machines? IE if I want to do some testing, could I import one of the backups to the new server and then restore it even though the live VM is still running on the old server (assuming the two servers have no direct contact)?

Unless you do not power on the restored VM in the same network as the source, production VM, then everything should be fine.

I don't fully understand what you are saying here, but it probably ties in with a question I have also posted elsewhere on the forum:
http://forums.veeam.com/microsoft-hyper ... 26639.html

In that post I have asked how I should operate two separate Hyper-V servers in terms of Veeam and backup strategy - should I be purchasing another copy of veeam for the second server, or can the first server back up the second remotely?

Yes, that's the same question you have in that thread. If you have "enough" number of sockets already purchased, then you do not need to buy more. On the other hand, if you current license has licensed sockets only for the existing host, you will need to buy more sockets, but you can use the same backup server.

Keep in mind, that we do NOT license number backup of backup servers, we license the number of sockets of the hosts you're backing up VMs from. Hope this helps!

[davids355]

Hi,
OK I understand now. I have read the reply on the other thread as well.
Thanks for confirming this.