MS SQLExpress Backup vs Replication

[dewaynedavis]

We are a small Electrical Contractor. We have two software systems each based on MS SQL Express. One is for estimating (2-3 users) and the other is for accounting (2-4 users).
We are running two separate Dell Servers, one for each system. We are using Hyper-V as the host. We are doing nightly backups and hourly replication to the opposite host during working hours.
However this does cause a little complication in MS Server 2019 licensing if we ever have to spin it up on the other server.
My question is as follows. Is VEEAM capable of replicating the SQL database from VM A to the SQL instance on VM B?
Then if we had a failure, we could change the target in OBDC on the clients to point to the other server on each machine.
I have tried to do some reading, but I am not sure if what I read is referring to general VM backups or VEEAM catalog backups.

[Mildur]

Hi Dewayn

Veeam cannot replicate SQL databases. Only VMs. If VM replication doesn't work for your goal, you can use our instant recovery feature for mssql backups to start the database instantly on another sql server. Combined with transaction log backups every 5 min of the databases, you will have low RPO and RTO times for the databases. The performance of the logs backup and instant recovery depends on your infrastructure (most likely on network and backup Storage).

[PetrM]

Hello,

A script which restores a database to another server on schedule might be an option for the replication scenario as well, all cmdlets including ones for IR are described in this section of our help center. By the way, I suggest to use auto switchover if you decide to leverage Instant Recovery functionality.

Thanks!