Host-based backup of VMware vSphere VMs.
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Treeeman
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Backup Concept Question

Post by Treeeman »

Hello,

i am planning following Backup Concept for some of my critical VMs.
I want to create a Backup each hour and store this hourly Backup-Chain for 2 days. Backups neede from 8 am till 8 pm. This creates 12 RP per day.
Next i want to run a Backup to Tape Job once per day to store the latest Restore Point to Tape.
Additionally i want to copy one Restore Point per Day to a different Fire Protection Area.

What i have planned:
I created a Backup Job (Incremental). Scheduled each hour from 8am till 8pm. I keep 24 Restore Points (2x 12 RP).
At 10pm each day I scheduled a Backup Copy Job to copy the last Restore Point to a different Location.
At 2am each day I schedule a Backup to Tape Job. I use my "Backup Copy" Job as Source because i don't want/need my hourly Restore Points on Tape.

Is this a possible way?
Additionally i want to create periodically a scheduled active full.
What i am not understanding is, how often my Backup to Tape Job will create a Full Backup on Tape if i use my "Backup Copy"-Job as Source?

Thanks.
Kind Regards
Marco
Shestakov
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Shestakov »

Hello Marco,
Your reasoning is correct, the concept should work with no issues.
Treeeman wrote:Additionally i want to create periodically a scheduled active full.
It depends on the backup method and if you use surebackup verification.
Treeeman wrote:What i am not understanding is, how often my Backup to Tape Job will create a Full Backup on Tape if i use my "Backup Copy"-Job as Source?
Having backup copy as a source you will have an initial .vbk + increments, like in a case of forever forward incremental method + Virtual Full Backups.
Thanks!
Treeeman
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Treeeman »

Hello,

my Backup Method is Incremental.
I am not using SureBackup. Maybe its because i dont have much experience with it.
I have some other Installations where i am running a SureBackup every Sunday of EACH VM in a seperate SureBackup Job (One Job for each VM).

In my Case this whould be too many VMs/SureBackup Jobs.
Or whould it be sufficiant to only verify one VM within a Job to verify the backup for Data Corruption?

Thanks.
Marco
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Shestakov »

Treeeman wrote:In my Case this whould be too many VMs/SureBackup Jobs.
Or whould it be sufficiant to only verify one VM within a Job to verify the backup for Data Corruption?
One is better than nothing, but it will not guarantee all VMs are recoverable.
As was stated in the linked topic, if you make periodic fulls, it`s not that important to use surebackup and vice versa.
Treeeman
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Treeeman »

Ok. If I use my "Backup Copy" Job as Source for my "Backup to Tape" Job you mentioned this will work like a forward incremental forever (on Tape). Lets assume i set my Media Pool to a Protection Period of two weeks. What will happen to my initial created .vbk File on Tape? Will my increments overwrite this File after two weeks?
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Shestakov »

When you set a protection period for media sets on the media pool, all newly recorded tapes will be protected for the preset period(2 weeks). In 2 weeks the tapes will be available for overwriting. However if there are empty tapes in the media pool in 2 weeks, the tapes with data will not be used.
Treeeman
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Treeeman »

Ok. But it is not 100% clear for me. Sorry.
Let's assume there are no empty Tapes in the Media Pool after 2 Weeks of Backup to Tape.
If my Backup to Tape Job runs the first time (Source is my Backup Copy JOb) there will be a .vbk File written to Tape. Tape is protected for 2 Weeks. Right?
On the other Days only increments will be written to Tape and are also protected for 2 Weeks. Right?
After two weeks the next incremental have to overwrite a Tape (because there are no empty ones there).
What happens to my .vbk File Tape? Overwriting is not a really good idea because my other increments depending on this .vkb. Or is Veeam in this case smart enough not to overwrite my .vbk File?

I hope you can understand my thoughts.
Shestakov
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Shestakov »

Your explanation is clear, thanks!

But if you don`t have enough space on tapes to store the preset length of the chain, Veeam B&R will not help regardless how smart it is. The idea is to have another independent chain written on tapes within those 2 weeks, so you can afford the older tapes to be overwritten.
So if you have a lack of tapes, it`s recommended to set an option to close the media set only when the tape is full and/or use shorter chains.

Note, that in case of backup copy job being source, you will have virtual full backups on the tape.
Treeeman
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Treeeman »

Its getting clearer.
So i think I go with following Setup:
Disable scheduled Active Full. Setup SureBackup Jobs to verify my Backups and create in case of an Error or Veeam Update manually Active Fulls.
On Tape i create virtual Full to create an independent Chain on Tape and save Storage on Disk.
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Shestakov »

Sounds good!
You may also want to run active full manually in these cases:
- If you want to reduce VBK size (after rearranging jobs or deleting lots of VMs)
- After major upgrade of our software to profit from new enhancements
Treeeman
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Treeeman »

One additional thought:
If I have a Customer who don't have an own IT Staff and want a "self-managing" Backup Solution i whould go without SureBackup and schedule an Active Full.
In my experience it is easier for that kind of people to check a simple daily Backup Mail instead of understanding and check any SureBackup-Jobs and create a manually Active Full.
Thanks.
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Re: Backup Concept Question

Post by Shestakov »

That`s correct. Surebackup also requires creation of virtual lab for testing and having an Enterprise edition of the product.
By the way, starting from v9 there is a new feature of backup files health check in for backup jobs.
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