QNAP TS-873AeU-RP-4G as target

[grzegorz]

Hello, I'm transitioning to vSphere 8.1. Along with this change, I'm also switching my NAS, which serves as a backup repository. Until now, I had a different NAS connected to Veeam via iSCSI on a Windows Server. My new NAS choice is the QNAP TS-873AeU-RP-4G (https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/ts-8 ... s/hardware). I'll be installing Veeam Backup & Replication on a Windows Server. How should I configure the new target? Should I stick with iSCSI or consider using a Shared folder? What do you recommend?

[rennerstefan]

I would stay with iscsi as you can leverage a file system that allows block cloning.
I’d install a Linux repository server that mounts the iscsi lun and use XFS or if there is no Linux server possible use ReFS on the windows server. That provides more benefits than a NAS share as there is no data mover on QNAP.

[mdwophil]

Stick with iSCSI. Consider using a Linux-based OS as the repository though. The OSes I recommend for that are Ubuntu LTS (not to be confused with the Ubuntu semi-annual release) or one of the RHEL rebuilds - AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, etc.

[karsten123]

better stay away from NASes

[mdwophil]

Don't disagree, but for the capacity a NAS is a fraction of the price of a proper server or SAN. In larger organizations, jury-rigging something cheaply can cause more work (time = money) in the long run.

Granted, Veeam isn't cheap and any place that is looking at a NAS could look at Nakivo (which runs natively on a NAS) or a native tool, like Synology's Active Backup for Business

[karsten123]

And every big server brand has small and affordable models with enterprise grade RAID controller, SAS HDDs, and so on. That is not that more expensive and with VHR the better option.