New Veeam backup machine

[hasayeretFMG]

Hi guys,

So we were finally able to get an approval from management to purchase a robust machine that will allow us to replace our old outdated server.
We went with the latest HP Proliant DL380G9 with Windows Server 2012r2.
Our environment is fairly small VMs wise - Only about 25-30 VMs total and about 1/3 of them are mission critical.
Since this is going to be a Windows machine, how would you recommend going with the disks system?
We were thinking to raid1 the 2 drives for the OS and then raid10 the data drives but as far as SMB\NFS etc. - how would you go?
Just to clarify - I don't now much about the disk systems and my knowledge is basically ISCSI=SAN and stay away from cheap NAS.

Thoughts?

[DGrinev]

Hi Ben and welcome to the community!

If I get you right, you are going to use the new machine as all-in-one physical backup server.
Local disks with RAID 10 for the data storage corresponds to recommended approach as it's provides you with increased reading speed and high sustainability.
Please review this existing thread about storage recommendations. Thanks!

[hasayeretFMG]

You're correct and the link you referred me to is absolutely amazing!
Few question for you though:
Is there any special configuration that needs to be done in Windows as far as the OS (not Veeam, just the OS)?
Our SANs where the data sits are currently connected to dedicated switches while the hosts are connected to different switches: where should I connect my Veeam server to?

[DGrinev]

Hi,

Is there any special configuration that needs to be done in Windows as far as the OS (not Veeam, just the OS)?

Nothing special, but be aware of the standard requirements.

where should I connect my Veeam server to?

It depends on the transport mode, you are going to utilize.
For the Direct SAN mode, you should establish direct connection to the SAN switch from the backup proxy in other cases there is no dependency on where to connect. Thanks!

[hasayeretFMG]

Thanks so much!
Now I take it that you're referring to our Veeam backup machine when you're saying "backup proxy", correct?

[hasayeretFMG]

It depends on the transport mode, you are going to utilize.
For the Direct SAN mode, you should establish direct connection to the SAN switch from the backup proxy in other cases there is no dependency on where to connect. Thanks!

Thanks so much!
Now I take it that you're referring to our Veeam backup machine when you're saying "backup proxy", correct?

[DGrinev]

Sure, I meant the Veeam backup server in your case.