Veeam Validator

[ryank@scaw.co.za]

Hi All.

What does Veeam Validation actually do other than a CRC check?

Can it be used for Verifying that data is is 100%?

Regards
Ryan

[moctad_harry]

Veeam Documentation notes that it does complete the CRC check on the backup files. If you wanted to be sure you could restore from those files I would recommend a test restore or even better, automate it with SureBackup.

Just because a.vbk is healthy doesn't mean its going to restore flawlessly or has even got the data you need on it.

[Andreas Neufert]

Correct, when you backup or use the healthcheck or validator, then any backup software just checks if the data matches what you have backed up.

Automated SureBackup (or manual restore tests) will aktually run the VM(s) in a Sandbox environment to check if the server will boot, the network connection is accessible and if the applications really start. Example scenario: You misconfigure the bootloader of a running operating system or live patch your applictaion in a way that the application would not start after restart. In both scenarios (and with all backup applications you would get a successful Job as the data is 1:1 transported. You run backups for a year without rebooting the server. At next restart the server would not come up or the application would not come up again. You say "no issue I have backup" and then realize that all your backups of the last year would have the same issue after restore (as it is just 1:1 the shadow of the main server). If you would have run SureBackup or manual recovery tests, you would have detected that the server/application will not come up after restore/reboot and you could use the VirtualLab/SureBackup to check what is wrong before applying the fix in your production. I can not stress this situation enough as before I joint Veeam I had to help customers in exactly those situations where customer did not realized that they didn´t had any backup or their main application where down in the situation described above. SureBackup invented by Veeam in 2010 is the reason why I joint Veeam because it would have made a significant difference for my customers and would have saved them a lot of $$$.