Protecting large file servers (multiple 2-5TB volumes)

[Ikes73]

#SPLIT from Feature request : per-volume backup file

Thumbs up for this feature request .
We have a few 20+ TB file servers , each with multiple 2TB-5TB volumes , backuped up to Exagrid.
Restoring from landingzone is no issue (of course) . Restoring from the slower immutable tier is already a large coffee break (which is normal of course).
But when we need to restore older files (which seems to happen a few times a year) we have to restore from tape (which is our 3th tier).
Then we have to restore +20TB , you need the space for it and it takes some time .
It is not totally undoable , meanwhile you do another task but it would be much more efficiënt when when you should only have to restore the vbk from one virtual disk .
These days we have more and more needs for fileshares with large mediafile structures (multiple TB's for one project), this kind of projects only make it heavier . I would like to be able to split it up by volume instead of creating a dozen of fileservers .
Alternatives (or current workaraounds) :
-split up in multiple fileserver (as we are using dfs this is transparant to the endusers) , but as a fileserver doesn't take a lot of load it feels as a waste
-there are people that run multiple backup jobs on each VM , each time with a differents vdisk selected .This simulates the vbk per volume request but seems less manageable to me

Other ways to handle this ?

[Mildur]

Hi Ikes73,

For protecting file server, we provide File Backup Jobs (also with tape support).
This option would enhance recovery efficiency and does not require additional storage space during recovery.

Best regards,
Fabian

[Ikes73]

Hi Fabian, tx for the very quick reply.
I never looked at this option as I assume there would be a performance hit on this ?
It depends on how the Veeam proxy reads the data from the source file share , is this share access over the network or does it also mounts a vmware snapshot locally on the Veeam proxy ?
I assumed the latter as the FileBackup option also includes backing up NAS devices , which of course only can be accessed over network.
Tx in advance for any reply on this

[Mildur]

Hi Ikes73,

I’ve moved your question to a new topic in our File Backup Forum.

File Backup Jobs do not make use of VMware snapshots.
You can add a file server either as an Enterprise NAS system (if you have a supported NAS), as file shares (SMB/NFS), or as a File Server (Linux/Windows‑based file server).

I assume your file servers are Windows or Linux based? In the case of a Windows file server, the File Backup Job (or File‑to‑Tape Job) will leverage VSS snapshots to protect the selected folders and files.

All data processing happens on the File Proxy server. You can use the Backup I/O control option to manage the read impact on the source disks.

Best regards,
Fabian

[Ikes73]

Sorry to keep going on this but I'm still not sure what kine of traffic is being used for a File Backup Job from a Windows file server (SMB shares).
As it will leverage local windows VSS snapshots it will not be SMB traffic but some Veeam Data mover traffic over network then ? Thus equally performant as VM backups ?
We will just have to test how performant this is in comparison to the current VM backup scenario as we have multiple +20TB fileservers running full VM backups for around 10 hours each (depending on the circumstances). We don't want this to get longer.
In case there is a big backup performance hit a vbk per volume would be better for me, restoring 2TB for example is not really a problem in timings.

[Mildur]

The main "backup data traffic" depends on how the file server is added to the backup server (Help Center – Graphic):

• Added as SMB Server: SMB Share → Proxy → Repository (SMB, then Veeam Data Mover)
• Added as Managed File Server: Managed File Server → Repository (Veeam Data Mover)

I can’t give an exact estimate, as performance depends on many factors. For example, 2 TB of large files will be processed faster than 2 TB of many small files. Best to run a test with a small dataset (>500GB Frontend data won't consume a license) if you are interested in trying out File Backup Jobs.

But before you start, I recommend discussing licensing costs (500 GB = 1 VUL or x TB Capacity License) with our regional Veeam sales team and estimating the hardware requirements — especially if you plan to write these files to tape (Help Center).

Best regards,
Fabian