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SGL3
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Multiple NIC's on Veeam server [Not Load Balancing]

Post by SGL3 »

Multiple NIC's (4) on a Veeam server with locally attached storage. This server performs job scheduling and is acting as the repository server. Each physical NIC has it's own IP address and all IP addresses are on the same subnet [192.168.1.100, .101, .102, .103].

Each IP address has been separately added as a managed Windows Server under the infrastructure section. Backup repositories have been created, each pointing to the individual IP addresses bound to the managed Windows Servers.

Multiple VM's running Veeam proxy reside on multiple ESXi hosts. All proxy IP addresses are on the same subnet as the Veeam server NIC's [192.168.1.200, .201, .202, .203].

Created multiple backup jobs each using a separate proxy, pointing to a repository that is bound to a separate IP address configured on a separate physical NIC of the Veeam server.

When the job runs only one NIC is used.

Effectively I have hardcoded a dedicated proxy straight through to individual IP addresses bound to specific NIC's and still only one NIC is used for backup traffic.

Is it possbile to get use of more than one NIC on a Veeam server? If yes how can this be done?
veremin
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Re: Multiple NIC's on Veeam server [Not Load Balancing]

Post by veremin »

As far as I’m concerned, connections between agents are initiated from the repository agent side back to the proxy. In other words, it is repository OS which is responsible for selecting of appropriate NIC. Additionally, this selection is done on much lower level than VB&R code runs.

So, seems like some routing should be implemented on the repository side in order to solve this issue.

Otherwise, it might be worth enabling “Run server on this side” option in the properties of your proxy server and seeing whether it helps or not. This option is responsible for reversing the direction of the TCP connection between the agents (instead of going from repo to proxy, it goes from proxy to repo).

For doing it: Go to the Backup Infrastructure -> Microsoft Windows -> Select necessary proxy server -> Properties -> Credentials -> Ports -> Run server on this side.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
SGL3
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Re: Multiple NIC's on Veeam server [Not Load Balancing]

Post by SGL3 »

Thanks for the reply but the question still remains can this be done and if so how?

It is counterintuitive to me that the backup repository should be the one to initiate the connection but I did re-address the proxy and one of the physical interfaces on the Veeam server and communication was established and data was processed on the correct interface so this does seem to be the case.

The problem with this is Veeam backup job reports the proxy is not on the same subnet as the management interface of the ESXi server and performance may be affected - which it is, since it now has to route acrosss a layer 3 device to reach the proxy. In this case I have added an additional management interface onto the ESXi host dvSwitch which has dot1Q trunking enabled however it seems when the Veeam backup job runs it queries vCenter for the IP address of the ESXi management interface - and since vCenter only knows about the one management interface, your right back to where you started.

How can I get the Veeam proxy to talk to the additional management interface configured on the ESXi host direct at layer 2 without routing around to the management interface contained in the vCenter database?
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Re: Multiple NIC's on Veeam server [Not Load Balancing]

Post by tsightler »

It's true that the repository makes the connection back to the proxy, which means that the IP connection will always be initiated from the "first" NIC on the repository. With 6.5 and newer you can actually change this behavior by selecting the properties of the "Managed Server" of the repository, and, on the "Credentials" page select the "Ports" button, then choosing the "Run server on this side" option. This will cause the proxy to initiate the connection to the repository. Unfortunately, this has a small side effect due to a bug in 6.5 in that the system will revert to the old behavior of using on a single TCP connecton instead of multiple connects typically used with 6.x. This probably will not have an appreciable performance impact for a local network however.

Another way to potentially address this issue is the manually add "host" routes to the repository server to use a specific NIC for the IP of each proxy, something like:

Code: Select all

route -p add 192.168.1.201 mask 255.255.255.255 gw 192.168.1.201 if 1
route -p add 192.168.1.202 mask 255.255.255.255 gw 192.168.1.202 if 2
...
Effectively, by specifying the interface number, you are telling Windows that to reach these specific addresses only by that specific NIC. You can find the correct interface number by running the "route print" command and looking at the "Interface list" at the very top of the output.

In the end, Veeam simply relies on the underlying OS to determine the best way to route traffic, so you must manipulate the routing tables and/or DNS names/host entries to get it to do what you want, but typically this isn't very difficult once you understand how connections are made in Veeam.
SGL3
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Re: Multiple NIC's on Veeam server [Not Load Balancing]

Post by SGL3 »

Ok great the static route worked (where "run server on this side") did not. When using this method will the ability for multiple TCP connections remain? If yes this would be our preferred option.
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Re: Multiple NIC's on Veeam server [Not Load Balancing]

Post by tsightler »

Adding the static routes only forces Windows to push the traffic to those IP addresses of a specific NIC and won't impact B&R in any way, so multiple TCP streams will still work.
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