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dgapinski
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Transitioning from copy jobs to replication

Post by dgapinski »

Hello,

I could use a little advice on implementing the following scenario: I want to see if I can get better performance out of our replication by changing our current backup scheme (WAN acceleration worked horribly in our current scheme, and I want to see if it will work in a new scheme)

FROM:

HQ backup -> backup copy to DR -> replicate DR backup to DR hosts / dump DR backup copy to tape

TO:

Replicate HQ VMs to DR hosts -> backup DR VMs to disk -> dump backups to tape

I opened a ticket to determine if Veeam WAN Accelerators would work better in this regard, which they would hypothetically. To make this happen is a bit of a different story though - I have licensing for all of our HQ hosts, and adding a DR host backup job basically won't run because of the license limit. I asked about this in my earlier Veaam support ticket, and the engineer mentioned that for licensing, it is perfectly ok to install another Veeam server in DR, unawares of the one in HQ. So then my scheme works. I can see that implementing this could happen in one of 2 ways:

1) I transfer the Veeam Configuration to a new full-server install in DR, and install a new server in HQ to handle replication to DR jobs only. It would seem to me that failover/failback would work fine in this regard, log pruning could be handled by the the rep jobs, etc. My hope is that this would accomplish the DR server keeping ALL of its data on tapes. Would it keep all the tape data though?

2) Make a new Veeam server in DR, and then rescan all the tapes and make new jobs. This does not sound appealing in the slightest!

So what would be the best way to handle the tape situation?
foggy
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Re: Transitioning from copy jobs to replication

Post by foggy »

Hi Dan, I personnaly would not recommend you that kind of switch. First of all, I do not see how WAN acceleration for replication jobs should work differently from backup copy jobs. Then, backing up replicated VMs has essential limitations. Besides, you're leaving yourself without local backups in HQ site for operational restores. Some further comments inline below.
dgapinski wrote:I asked about this in my earlier Veaam support ticket, and the engineer mentioned that for licensing, it is perfectly ok to install another Veeam server in DR, unawares of the one in HQ.
I'd confirm with your sales rep regarding that, since I'm not sure using the same license in different locations allowed in this case. Every host you're using as backup/replication source needs to be licensed.
dgapinski wrote:1) I transfer the Veeam Configuration to a new full-server install in DR, and install a new server in HQ to handle replication to DR jobs only. It would seem to me that failover/failback would work fine in this regard
How would you fail over in case you lose the HQ site completely (including Veeam B&R instance)?

Having all this in mind, I'd rather recommend to take a look at possible reasons of why it worked horribly in your existing setup. What do you mean by that, btw?
dgapinski
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Re: Transitioning from copy jobs to replication

Post by dgapinski »

Hi Foggy,

We had a Veeam engineer onsite to help with this for 2 days last year, and while he was extremely helpful teaching me other stuff, but could not figure WAN acceleration out & we ended up dropping its use. In short, I don't care about local backups as much (while nice, not essential), will check with my sales rep on that again, and I am not sure what difference it makes for failover - some shops I am sure just use straight replication and failover that way, no?

At this point, I mainly care about retaining the tape catalog. How would one do that - transfer the database over?

thanks for your thoughts
foggy
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Re: Transitioning from copy jobs to replication

Post by foggy »

dgapinski wrote:I am not sure what difference it makes for failover - some shops I am sure just use straight replication and failover that way, no?
If you have Veeam B&R instance responsible for replication jobs located at the source site, then, in case of losing it, you will not be able to perform fast automatic failover via Veeam B&R console. So the best practice it to locate it on the DR side.
dgapinski wrote:At this point, I mainly care about retaining the tape catalog. How would one do that - transfer the database over?
Provided configuration was backed up after stopping all tape jobs, tape catalog will be available after importing configuration on another Veeam B&R instance.
dgapinski
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Re: Transitioning from copy jobs to replication

Post by dgapinski »

Sorry I was out of the office all last week, thanks Foggy. Will be trying that soon.
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