VeeamON - V13 Software Appliance

[mkretzer]

Hello,

one question about the V13 Software Appliance - will it support LVM under the XFS for repos? We need LVM as our storage systems max volume size is 256 TB.

Markus

[Gostev]

Hi, Markus. As with any appliance, don't expect to have much/any flexibility. Software Appliance can use local storage as a built-in repository (we will format Disk 2 with XFS for this purpose), but any other configurations you will need to self-create and self-manage, just like today. Potentially right in the installed appliance (by claiming root access) but you may lose these settings across significant upgrades. Thanks

[mkretzer]

"lose these settings" = lose the filesystem does not sound like something the upgrade process should do.
I really believe LVM is a critical feature for bigger installations - we could do without striping but we can not do without aggregating multiple volumes into one big volume. Many backend storages are somewhat limited when it comes to LUN size.

[Gostev]

Simply "aggregating multiple volumes into one big volume" should work because that's exactly how Hardened Repository ISO works (all found disks other than the first one are LVMed together). @PTide could you confirm Software Appliance ISO does the same (already in beta or planned for later)?

[PTide]

Hi,

Right, in the Software Appliance we create two separate volume groups - one for the JeOS and it resides on the smallest disk found, the second VG combined all the disks that are left and the default repo resides there.

And yes, we plan to add advanced controls for storage management in future.

Thanks!

[mkretzer]

Sounds great for a first release!
Is it possible to use existing volumes from current installations or is everything deleted when doing the setup?

[Gostev]

Everything is deleted.

[mkretzer]

How do you prevent the deletion in a recovery scenario where the OS has to be reinstalled but the data drives are ok?

[PTide]

For that scenario there are two separate grub menu entries:

Reinstall - keeps backups, erases settings, reinstalls the OS.
Rescue - keeps backups and settings, reinstalls the OS.

[mkretzer]

Ok but the default is "install" which means "delete everything"? I hope there will be a nice warning

Can we use the appliance ISO just for a repo server initially or does the central server have to also be installed as a software appliance?

[veremin]

The software appliance is pre-packaged with JustEnoughOS, a backup server, and a default hardened repository. It cannot be used solely as a repository. Thanks!