Archive Backups on Same Disk

[amerikiwi]

This should be a very simple question but I think I am missing Something. I wan to backup and archive GFS on the same server & same disk. From all the information I have read I need to create a Backup job and a Backup Copy job. However by doing this I keep redundant copies of the data.

Backup job with restore point 14, copy every 1 day
Backup copy job with restore point 2 with Weekly 4, monthly 12, yearly 10.

However using these jobs creates a duplication of the Backup Job data in the Backup Copy Job repository. Any suggestions on how to prevent the duplication of data.

[vClintWyckoff]

David-
To make sure I understand - You have a backup job running once per day with a retention policy of 14 (so 14 days) and then a Backup Copy Job with 2 incremental backups and then a GFS retention of 4 Weekly, 12 Monthly and 10 yearly?

[amerikiwi]

Yes, that is correct. I would prefer to have the GFS archiving be done in the same repository as the Backup job but because I have to use a Backup Copy job I have to use a second repository.

[foggy]

You cannot specify the same repository for the backup copy job, however, nothing prevents you from pointing the second repository to the same folder on disk.

[vClintWyckoff]

David - Having a second storage device is the premise of a backup copy job. You need to keep your longer term archives on a second device or even second location in best case to prevent against many different scenarios that can occur with that one single point of failure.

But as Foggy says you can create another folder on the existing repository and add that as another repo within Veeam. Underneath it's the same physical device but logically separated. However this configuration is not really recommended.

[amerikiwi]

I understand what I need to do, however don't understand the logic. Shouldn't the Backups and the Archives be on the primary backup location (I am only archiving a subset of the full backup), and then a single recent copy be on the secondary storage location? I am currently making a copy of the full backup for offsite purposes.

[foggy]

What you have in a secondary location is up to the RPO requirements you have for the remote site. However, this doesn't contradict with anything of the above. Could you please elaborate on what is your main confusion here? Additional full created by the backup copy job within a regular retention cycle?

[amerikiwi]

I think it is my misinterpreting of the difference between a backup and backup copy jobs. I have everything working the way I need it to be. I reconfigured my backup copy (archive) job to included only critical machines and now I appreciate the difference between backup and backup copy jobs.

[foggy]

Just in case there's still any sort of confusion regarding peculiarities of the backup copy jobs, I recommend to review the corresponding user guide section. Thanks.

[stimike]

I have the same question, which assumes a 'Simple Deployment' deployment (https://helpcenter.veeam.com/backup/vsphere/simple.html)

In this scenario, per the document, 'The drawback of a simple deployment scenario is that all data is handled and stored on the backup server locally' ... but another drawback is that archiving is not possible, without using a backup copy job and duplicating the amount of data on local disk:

1. Allocate local storage for a backup
2. Allocate more local storage for a backup copy job, allowing the archiving options

My takeaway is that archiving doesn't fall under the 'Simple Deployment' scenario. Presumably this is to enforce the 3-2-1 model?

[foggy]

As said, simple deployment implies that all backup data is stored right on the backup server, but nothing prevents you from having a secondary storage for archiving and meeting the 3-2-1 rule.