Veeam backup agent against a StoreOnce Repository by SAN

[molcinad]

Good afternoon,

I would like to know if a backup performed with a veeam backup agent can use the Direct SAN Access Mode to send its data by SAN directly to the StoreOnce. All the environment is based on physical servers with local storage. I want to know if the servers can send their backup to a veeam proxy server which could send the data directly to the StoreOnce (configured with Catalyst protocol) by SAN.

Thanks in advance for your support.

[Andreas Neufert]

There are 2 roles involved with this:

1) The Agent
2) A "Gateway Server" that has the StoreOnce Catalyst Software included to interact with the storage. This can be network or FibreChannel for the StoreOnce Connection.

If you "just" have one server that writes into a Catalyst Store ( a single unit within the storage not the storage itself), then you can install the Gateway Server directly on the agent as well, by adding the server as "managed server" and then select it as "Gateway Server" and "Mount Server" for the FibreChannel repository.

If you want to use the same Catalyst Store (again a single management unit for a virtual volume, I do not mean the whole storage) with multiple of these server and Gateway combinations, then there is a powershell hack available. https://www.veeam.com/kb2987

Catalyst is faster with a reliable network connection, so think about using network instead of fibre channel.

[molcinad]

Thanks for the reply.
So it would be something like this:

• No veeam proxy server is actually needed
• the connectivity between the veeam gw server and the storeonce can be network or SAN
• The data will go through network from each veeam client to the server who is performing veeam gw role and then this last can send this data by network or san (depending on the configuration)

[Andreas Neufert]

Yes, this would work. Or does every client have FC-SAN access?

[molcinad]

No they haven't. In fact we need to provide the server who will become the Veeam GW with an HBA.
The point is that all these new clients we want to back up are in a different security zone than the current Veeam B&R server is. To avoid moving backup data through the firewalls between them we evaluate the possibility of having a Veeam GW in this zone so it can move the data through SAN to the StoreOnce located in the other security zone.
We already have a Veeam GW in the same security zone where the Veeam B&R server is. I guess that another possibility would be to use that one to send the data to the StoreOnce. But in that case we would not avoid data to travel through network between security zones.

[Andreas Neufert]

Yes, in this case the client with FC-SAN might be a good idea. I would maybe buy a "cheap" PC or workstation to let it run the gateway role that is always-on to not have to mess with one of the clients in production use. But this is maybe a cost question.

Important point is as well that you can not create 2 repositories on the same HPE Catalyst Store (virtual disk that Catalyst Clients write to) by default.
You would have to create for your clients a separate store on the HPE StoreOnce. You would loose then global deduplication between both as HPE only does dedup within a store.
I shared above the link for the creation of multiple repositories on the same store with a powershell hack.