Standalone vs. Managed - Overhead, resources, options

[jeffshead]

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Veeam B&R 11
Veeam MS Agent 5
vSphere 7.0u1d (soon to be updated to U2)
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Veeam B&R is installed in a seperate Windows VM. On the same ESXi host, I have another Windows Server VM with a large independent disk. This VM was excluded from the main Veeam B&R vCenter backup job. I need to back up this VM, in its entirety, including the independent disk, with indexing and application processing. The destination will be a HDD in a USB docking station which is currently attached to this VM via PCI passthrough. I also need to run pre-job and post-job scripts which mount/unmount the USB drive and turn on/off the power outlet (remote IP power switch) that it is plugged into.

Standalone job caveats:

• No option to run pre/pro job scripts.
• Since the job is for a server (application processing), there is no Veeam option to eject the USB drive after backup.

Managed job caveats:

• No option to backup to the attached USB drive. Can only select a repository.
• No option to eject the USB drive after backup.

I currently have the Veeam MS Agent (standalone) installed on this VM and it works but Veeam MS agent does not provide the pre-job and post-job script option as does a B&R managed job.

What is the best approach to take?

• Keep the standalone agent installed and use CLI to perform the backup and run the other scripts? I have very little experience with scripting so I'm sure that will take me countless days to figure out even with the help of this forum.
• Uninstall the standalone agent and create a B&R managed agent job. This option would make management easier and presumably the scripting portion as well since you can specify pre/post scripts but I would have to make that external USB drive a repository since the locally attached USB drive was not a selectable option for the destination. If I were to go this route, should I remove the USB drive from the VM I'm backing up and attach it to the B&R VM?

Considering that the VM being backup and the B&R VM are on the same ESXi host, will there be much difference in performance and resource usage between the two approaches? Are there other things that I'm not taking into consideration?

[PetrM]

Hi Jeff,

I guess you could create a job managed by Veeam B&R and point it to a local storage. Thus, you get full scripting functionality and continue running backups to a removable local storage. Also, you may have a look at the option "Eject removable storage once backup is completed", it's available in Workstation mode and probably you could use it instead of running scripts.

Thanks!

[jeffshead]

I guess you could create a job managed by Veeam B&R and point it to a local storage. Thus, you get full scripting functionality and continue running backups to a removable local storage.

I think you may be mistaken. As I indicated in my original post, local storage is only available if you select Managed by agent, however, the pre-job/post-job scripting option is not available with this mode. If I select Managed by backup server, there is no local storage option (only repositories) but the pre-job/post-job scripting option is available.

So the only way I see it, is to select the Managed by backup server mode and A) keep the USB drive attached to the VM that is being backed up and make it a second repository or B) move the USB drive to the Veeam B&R VM and make it a second repository. Is A or B the best option?

[PetrM]

Hi Jeff,

Yes, you're right, I overlooked it somehow, my bad. In this case, I guess option B might be a choice, I'd prefer to manage repository separate from a workload which is being protected. For example, you don't need to make extra manual steps to reconnect USB and import backups during restore.

Thanks!

[jeffshead]

The reason I'm using a USB drive is so that I can eject and physically disconnect it, via scripting, once the backup has completed. It will be disconnected by removing power from the remote IP PDU power outlet that it is plugged into. The pre-job script will power on the outlet and mount the drive.

Since the only way to use Veeam's pre/post job scripting option is to make the USB drive a repository, do you foresee any issues with the drive being mounted/unmounted and powered on/off? How will Veeam B&R and Veeam One react if that repository exists only just before the backup is ran? Will this work?

[PetrM]

I don't see any issues with this approach. In Veeam One, there is an alarm related to backup repository connection failure, you can find more information in the corresponding appendix. But I guess you may also consider this option to make Veeam recognize USB as a rotated drive.

Thanks!

[jeffshead]

In this case, I guess option B might be a choice, I'd prefer to manage repository separate from a workload which is being protected. For example, you don't need to make extra manual steps to reconnect USB and import backups during restore.

I tried this and the backup job fails. I get the following in the log:

Code: Select all

A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond 192.168.0.140:6184 (System.Net.Sockets.SocketException)
[02.06.2021 11:12:18] <01> Warning         at Veeam.Backup.Core.CForeignConnectionPool.Wait(WaitHandle waitObj, CConnectionState state, Int32 timeout, String timeoutError)
[02.06.2021 11:12:18] <01> Warning         at Veeam.Backup.Core.CForeignConnectionPool.CreateConnection()
[02.06.2021 11:12:18] <01> Warning         at Veeam.Backup.Common.CPool`2.Acquire()
[02.06.2021 11:12:18] <01> Warning         at Veeam.Backup.Core.CForeignConnectionPool.GetConnection()
[02.06.2021 11:12:18] <01> Warning         at Veeam.Backup.Core.CForeignInvokerClient.<>c__DisplayClass27_0.<InvokeInternal>b__0()
[02.06.2021 11:12:18] <01> Warning         at Veeam.Common.Remoting.CRetryableMethod.DoInvoke[Ret](ActionDelegate`1 dlg)
[02.06.2021 11:12:18] <01> Warning      [Retry(3/3)] Failed to perform remoting procedure. Sleeping for 20 seconds.

Are you sure an agent can backup to a USB repository that is directly connected to the B&R server?
I do see several rules in the Windows Defender Firewall that were added by Veeam. I even tried disabling the firewall. I can ping the VM being backed up from the B&R server.

[PetrM]

Hi Jeff,

It seems to be unexpected and looks like rather a connectivity issue. Could you please contact our support team and ask our engineers to check debug logs? Please share a support case ID.

Thanks!

[jeffshead]

Fixed it. I moved the server from the Manually Added group to a new, temp group that I created. Next I deleted the backup job, repository, uninstalled all agent components, re-created the repository and created a new backup job.

Not sure which step was the actual fix. I suspect moving the server to the other protection group because prior to doing this, I tried deleting the job and removing the server a couple of times but I got the same errors.