Backup Copy Job to Azure

[kbinger]

Hi All - We have Veeam Backup and Replication Standard edition. Currently sending backup copy jobs to a service provider; however we want to send the backup copy jobs to Azure or AWS. I have been scouring the Internet and Veeam forums but cannot find conclusive information on using an Azure (or AWS) storage account as backup copy destination. It seems fairly straight forward but when I add the repository and then attempt to configure the backup copy job it does not have the cloud repository in the list of destinations. I see that there is a Veeam Cloud Connect for the Enterprise in Azure but I don't believe this will work for us since we "rent" our license from a provider. Please do advise and thank you.

[Gostev]

Hello, you need to have at least Enterprise edition, as the ability to copy backups to object storage is a feature of the scale-out backup repository, which is not available in your product edition. Thanks!

[kbinger]

Well I upgraded our licenses to Enterprise Plus but after doing much research it appears that you still cannot use an Azure Blob storage account for a Backup Copy job. The best I can tell is that you can setup a Scale-Out job for archiving which does not help us in our situation. We need to have a local copy and then have an immediate job copy the same data offsite. Can you please confirm and/or provide step by step instructions on how to go about setting this up please?

[Gostev]

Actually, you don't need to use Backup Copy jobs at all.

Just create a scale-out repository with Azure Blob object storage as the Capacity Tier (with the Copy policy enabled on it), and point your primary backup jobs to this scale-out repository. This way, as soon as the backup is created locally, it will be automatically duplicated into Azure Blob storage, without the need for you to manage an additional set of Backup Copy jobs.

Thanks!

[kbinger]

When I attempt to create a scale out repo I get the following error:

"Unable to add extent because it serves as the target for one or more job types which are not supported by a scale-out backup repository"

When I click on more information it shows "Backup Configuration Job" as the culprit but that is not a job anywhere to be found.

[jmmarton]

In the global menu (the three hash marks in the upper left corner of the VBR Console), go to Configuration Backup. From there you can specify the repository used for the Configuration Backup. And as you've seen, a repository used for Configuration Backup can't be added as an extent to a SOBR.

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=100

Joe

[kbinger]

The only repository in there is our default backup repo...are you suggesting I have to create another repository and if so how much space is needed for the "configuration backup?" BTW, what is the configuration backup do/mean?

[kbinger]

Got the configuration backup moved (and understand the concept of it). One last question: we previously had backup copy jobs configured to go to a service provider (i.e. using cloud connect). I have since deleted all those copy jobs, but according to your previous post and what I have researched, I do not need to create a backup copy job with a scale out repo. However, I do not understand/see how the jobs will get copied to the object storage if I do not (i.e. when I edit a backup job and select "Send to configure secondary destinations for this job" I get an error stating I need to create a backup copy job first. So I'm a bit confused still. Note: I did notice that I can now create a backup copy job and select the Azure object storage though, but not sure if I need to do this. Certainly appreciate your help!

[Gostev]

Think of it as a "storage-level copy" so to speak. Scale-out backup repository is sort of a smart storage device, and mirroring backups to object storage is its native functionality (enabled with the Copy policy checkbox on the Capacity Tier step of the SOBR wizard). So, you don't need to do anything else aside of selecting this option.

[kbinger]

Quick question: how can you have different retention policies for Scale Out Backup Repo (or capacity tier) from the performance or local/default tier? Is it possible? If not, are there any updates on how we can use Azure Blob for offsite/longterm retention (i.e. like the traditional backup copy retention)?

[Mildur]

Yes, it is possible with the Move Policy.
Inactive Backup Chains can be moved from Performance Tier to Capacity Tier. They will be removed then on the performance tier. The same retention will be used from the backup job/backup copy job for all extends (performance tier, capacity tier, archive tier). But data will be moved as your SOBR is configured.

You can use Azure Blob Archive Storage for long term Retention since Veeam V11. It‘s much cheaper than normal BLOB.


Move Policy for Performance Tier
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110

Select the Move backups to object storage as they age out of the operational restores window check box to move inactive backup chains to the capacity extent, as described in Moving Backups to Capacity Tier.

Move Policy to the Archive Tier
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110

1. Select the Archive GFS full backups to object storage check box. In the drop-down list, select one of available object storage repositories or click Add to add a new one.

2. In the Archive GFS backups older than N days field, specify the operational restore window to define a period after which inactive backup chains on your capacity extent would be considered outdated and, therefore, should be moved to the archive extent. Consider that "0" is an acceptable value, which you can specify to archive inactive backup chains on the same day they are created.