Empty space handling with Linux agent

[brf]

Considering doing an eval of Veeam, mostly interested in using the Linux agent to back up physical systems. Have a question I can't find an answer to anywhere. On a volume (block-level) backup, how does the Veeam Linux agent handle unused space? By that, I mean blocks that are contained in the filesystem but not actually used by any files currently.

I saw some references to "BitLooker", which can skip blocks that don't currently contain any actual data, but that seems to only be for NTFS. And it's not even clear whether it applies to the Veeam Windows Agent, seems to be part of another product.

If I do a volume backup with the Linux agent, will it end up backing up all the (currently) unused blocks?

If it does, I assume it can be compressed away...but that would mean I would need to ensure that all the unused space is zeroed out?

[PTide]

Hi,

If I do a volume backup with the Linux agent, will it end up backing up all the (currently) unused blocks?

VAL has its own BitLooker functionality that allows it to skip unused space.

Thanks

[brf]

Ah, great. I know this isn't the right forum, but I suppose it's safe to assume the Windows agent has similar functionality as well? I read the BitLooker page but it wasn't clear to me whether it applied to the agent software.

[PTide]

Yes, Windows agent has similar functionality, although it works differently than BitLooker in VBR.

Thanks