Backup Copy vs Remote Backup

[evander]

Hi - Which is preferred and why?

A) Backup to local disk and use Backup Copy to copy files to remote site

B) Run normal Backup Job to remote site repository

Currently I am running two jobs, one to local and one to remote site. It works very well but will I benefit from using Backup Copy instead?

Thanks.

[foggy]

There are several reasons for the backup copy jobs to be used (aside from the fact that they were designed specifically with this scenario in mind):

- Backup copy jobs do not "touch" your production VMs (as additional regular backup jobs do);
- They happen outside of your backup window, so it does not matter how long they run (allowing to use slower backup storage)
- Backup Copy jobs provide the ability to implement GFS retention (keeping multiple full backups on certain schedule) to enable long-term backup archival;
- Backup Copy jobs can optionally leverage built-in WAN acceleration that allows for up to 50x faster data transfer than a traditional file copy across the WAN.

Hope this helps.

[evander]

Thanks Foggy, that's makes good sense.

The only downside I can see then to using a Copy job instead of a Backup job would be that if your single backup job was corrupted (for whatever reason) having a copy of that corrupted backup would not help very much. Don't get me wrong, the chance that Veeam will have a corrupted backup is very slim and I wholly believe in its leading edge technology to prevent exactly that, but given the choice of the options you listed above and if none of those reasons are of any major benefit to me, would it be fair to say that running two separate backup jobs (local and remote) would be the best option?

In reply to evaluating your reasons listed above in my own personal environment:
- The amazing speed at which Veeam Backup runs, means I have plenty of time during the evening to run multiple jobs (including terabyte SQL boxes)
- Retention is not a major issue for me. At least not more than the native Backup provides
- WAN Acceleration - now this I could definitely use but the problem being that I would need to have Veeam Enterprise Plus. I am currently on an Enterprise License. Do I upgrade... that is the burning question...

[foggy]

Of course, it is up to you to choose what meets your specific requirements best. If you are ok with running two jobs and this does not have any negative effect on your environment, feel free to go this way. I just would like to mention that if you use SureBackup to verify every backup for recoverability, you will avoid the corruption you're talking about.

[Gostev]

The only downside I can see then to using a Copy job instead of a Backup job would be that if your single backup job was corrupted (for whatever reason) having a copy of that corrupted backup would not help very much. Don't get me wrong, the chance that Veeam will have a corrupted backup is very slim and I wholly believe in its leading edge technology to prevent exactly that, but given the choice of the options you listed above and if none of those reasons are of any major benefit to me, would it be fair to say that running two separate backup jobs (local and remote) would be the best option?

The best option is testing the recoverability of backups produced by local job with SureBackup. Please understand that having multiple backups will not help you anyhow if VM is unrecoverable, they will give you nothing but the false sense of comfort. The only real guarantee is doing automated recovery verification, and making copies of tested backups.

I am currently on an Enterprise License. Do I upgrade... that is the burning question...

If you had Enterprise as of July 1st 2013, you can still upgrade to Enterprise Plus for free.

[evander]

Thanks Foggy and Gostev, I don't use Surebackup at the moment but plan to implement when I upgrade to v7. I have only just recently upgraded to Enterprise edition and having been waiting for v7 before making the change.
I have thought about the free upgrade to Enterprise Plus, but I probably will add an additional physical server in the next 6 months or so and will have to get additional Veeam licensing then and... my existing licenses are due for renewal soon too. If I upgrade to Enterprise Plus, I will need to buy Enterprise Plus licenses then...which would be more money