Server or Workstation mode?

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Hello

i got choice of doing Server or Workstation mode on Windows 2019.
It is the Veeam B&R Server itself and hosting also Cloudberry Backup and is AD DC.
I found that i could use also Workstation mode, what is the downside of doing this?

I understand that a agent is pushing files to backup server instead of the backup server itself controlling everything, but how about Guest Processing? In Workstation mode there are no settings but is it using VSS ? Is this safe to backup an AD DC Database? There is no Exchange but SQL from B&R. How important is the database from B&R in case of an loss?
Could you please advise when to use Server or Workstation mode? I guess Server mode may not always be needed.

[Dima P.]

Hello Thomas,

I understand that a agent is pushing files to backup server instead of the backup server itself controlling everything, but how about Guest Processing?

Application aware options are available only in server (and failover cluster) job type.

In Workstation mode there are no settings but is it using VSS ?

Agent backup is performed with VSS despite the selected mode (that's simply the way how we do backup).

Is this safe to backup an AD DC Database?

It is safe, but I'd recommend to use Server job type for any server workload.

There is no Exchange but SQL from B&R. How important is the database from B&R in case of an loss?

Can you please clarify the question?

Could you please advise when to use Server or Workstation mode? I guess Server mode may not always be needed.

Server mode should be used if you need to take backups of the application residing on the server in application-aware manner and perform application level restores from this backup.

[xrated]

I meant the database from Veeam B&R server, is it a problem when its lost?

And what about linux based NAS (QNAP)? I guess an remote agent is not installable so this has also to be backed up as server even if only SMB protocol is needed?

[Dima P.]

I meant the database from Veeam B&R server, is it a problem when its lost?

No. Backup files can be imported to any Veeam Backup server, so if anything happens with B&R you can quickly build new backup server and import existing backup files to perform restore. Best practice would be to perform Configuration Backup of your Veeam B&R to avoid the complete loss of the infrastructure setup.

And what about linux based NAS (QNAP)? I guess an remote agent is not installable so this has also to be backed up as server even if only SMB protocol is needed?

Unfortunately we do not have an option to backup files over smb protocol yet, but it's planned for the next versions. Cheers!

[jmmarton]

And what about linux based NAS (QNAP)? I guess an remote agent is not installable so this has also to be backed up as server even if only SMB protocol is needed?

If you can stick a Linux VM in front of the QNAP you could then use the Veeam Agent for Linux to back it up via a file-level backup using snapshotless mode.

Joe