The best way to Backup different Windows operating systems PCs

[Max93]

Hello everyone,

we have a variety of industrial PCs, all running on different Windows operating system.
The operating systems include: Win7 Pro, Win7 Ultimate, Win10 Pro, Win10 Enterprise with LTSB or LTCE, and Win11 Pro.

We would like to back up these machines once a week, including all attached hard drives (such as Drive C, Drive D, etc.).

Since some machines may remain unused for months, we want the backup to start whenever they are powered on, but no more than once a week.

What data backup method can you recommend?
Considering approximately 40 industrial PCs, how can we keep backup sizes as small as possible? We estimate around 500GB for a full backup per PC.

I've heard about "Protection Groups" - would this method be suitable for our project?

We are use Version 12 from Veeam Backup & Replication with Enterprise Lic.

We would greatly appreciate your response. Thank you!

Best regards,
Max93

[Mildur]

Hello Max93

Protection groups allow you to centrally managed and deploy Veeam Agents in your environment.
You can use them to deploy the Veeam Agent to each machine.

Since some machines may remain unused for months, we want the backup to start whenever they are powered on, but no more than once a week.

Create a backup policy with type <Workstation> and <Managed by agent>. This will allow you to configure to skip a backup when the computer is powered off. The schedule should be set to a specific day of the week. For example Monday. Set the option <if computer is powered off at this time> to "backup once powered on". Either the backup runs on Monday or after it was powered on on one of the following days.

Considering approximately 40 industrial PCs, how can we keep backup sizes as small as possible? We estimate around 500GB for a full backup per PC.

You can play with the compression and storage optimization settings. Please keep in mind that higher compression will also mean more CPU consumption. I suggest you one of your machines and test different settings. Start with the default setting to how well the compression works for your type of source data.
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=120

We are use Version 12 from Veeam Backup & Replication with Enterprise Lic.

To backup 40 workstations, you will require additional licensing. 1 VUL instance can protect 3 workstations. 40 workstations will require approximately 14 VUL license package. Please reach out to a Veeam sales person or a regional Veeam partner to get an offer on the exact amount of additional licenses.

Best,
Fabian

[Max93]

Hello @Mildur aka Fabian,

Thank you very much for your assistance and the notes. That is a very good suggestion!

I only have one issue. I have set up the protection group with 15 test devices. After that, I created a backup job and selected "Repository." It works well, but it creates a directory with non-identifiable names for each individual test device. For example: "Veeam1284392....". Only when I enter these folders do I see the device designation, such as "HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1922" (the full computer name).

Is there a way to change the representation of how it creates directories here? Otherwise, it is very confusing and annoying to search through each folder to find the desired object. We often work within the directories.

The ideal directory structure would be something like this:

Top-level folder
E:\Backup\ProductionMachines

And underneath, the respective devices with their backup files:
HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1922
HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1928
HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1939
HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1999
...

This would make everything much simpler, and you wouldn't have 800 folder names directly on E:, making it clear which backup belongs to which device.

Best regards,
Max93

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Hallo @Mildur aka Fabian,

vielen Dank für ihre Hilfe und den Notizen. Das ist ein sehr guter Vorschlag!

Ich habe nur ein Problem. Ich habe die Schutzgruppe mit 15 Testgeräten eingerichtet. Danach habe ich ein Backup Job angelegt und "Repostoriy" ausgewählt. Es funktioniert auch Prima, aber er legt mir für jedes einzelne Testgerät ein Verzeichnis mit nicht zuortbaren Namen an. Zum Beispiel: "Veeam1284392....".
Erst wenn ich in diesen Ordner gehe, sehe ich die Gerätebezeichnung zum Beispiel "HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1922" (also den Vollständigen Computernamen)

Besteht hier die Möglichkeit die Darstellung zu ändern, wie er Verzeichnisse anlegt? Ansonsten ist es sehr verwirrend und nervig jeden einzelnen Ordner durchzusuchen um das gewünschte Objekt zu finden. Wir arbeiten oft auch in den Verzeichnissen.

Am schönsten wäre zum Beispiel folgende Verzeichnisstruktur:

Oberordner
E:\Backup\Produktionsmaschinen

Und darunter dann die jeweiligen Geräte mit ihren Sicherungsdateien:
HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1922
HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1928
HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1939
HP-EliteBook-G10-from-1999
....

Dadurch wäre alles viel einfacherer und man hat nicht 800 Ordnernamen direkt auf E:\ und weiß, welche Sicherung zu welchem Gerät sind.