Backup and Replication Sizing Assistance

[Fezanator]

Hi,

I'm looking to deploy Veeam for both backup and replication function. Details of the environment:

* vSphere 6.5
* 150 VM's and 32 TB for backup
* 25 VM's and 10 TB for replication (those 25 VM's will also be backed up by Veeam)
* Backup data will be stored on a Quantum DXi and replicated off-site using Quantum disk replication (not Veeam)
* Production data will be replicated offsite with Veeam taking over this function

I'm looking to deploy a physical server to act as the backup proxy. Some questions with this design:

* Is it better to have 2 x backup proxies per site, one for replication and the other for backup?
* If I have just 1 physical server as a proxy, how do I mount it to both the Quantum and the production storage?
* What other considerations do I need to think about?

Regards,

Fez

[PTide]

Hi,

* Is it better to have 2 x backup proxies per site, one for replication and the other for backup?

That depends on how powerful the proxies are going to be, how many disks your VMs have, and how big your backup window is. I.e. it boils down to how fast you want your VMs to be processed. Please check system requirements for proxies.

* If I have just 1 physical server as a proxy, how do I mount it to both the Quantum and the production storage?

If you are referring to direct-SAN mode, then please check this article. If not, then please provide more details on why you need to mount your production datastore to proxy.

Thanks

[Fezanator]

Hi,

The Quantum Dxi dedup appliance will be used for backup purposes (primary and off-site) while the Production Storage will be used for VM replication (primary and off-site)

They are different types of data as they will be used for different purposes. I'm looking at this from the point of view of a simplified Veritas BUE and VMware SRM "all in one".

Regards,

Fred

[PTide]

The Quantum Dxi dedup appliance will be used for backup purposes (primary and off-site) while the Production Storage will be used for VM replication (primary and off-site)

Do you want to have both local and remote VM replicas? If so, then I think it would be better to have a separate storage for primary replicas as if the Production Storage goes down you'll likely lose the replicas as well.

Regarding mounting Production storage to the proxy - you should not do that as it may damage your production data. Please see Security Considerations for Direct SAN. Although you may not want to use Direct SAN mode, it does not change the fact that you should not let Windows machine have the production storage mounted.

Thanks