Backup to Rotating NAS Devices

[rsmith.rdi]

I have a customer that is wanting to rotate two NAS devices. Has anyone successfully implemented this? If so, are there any special configurations that need to happen? What if the devices are connected via iSCSI?

Desired Setup
- Two Synology NAS devices running the current DSM named "NAS01" and "NAS02"
- Connect to an iSCSI LUN and map as a V:\ on the local system
- Veeam would perform backups Monday - Sunday
- Client would swap the device on Monday morning and the second device would re-establish as the V:\ for backups to continue

Is this possible? If not, can it be done with a standard CIFS share instead? Such as \\nas01\Veeam and \\nas02\Veeam?

Any insight / advice is greatly appreciated.

[togenshi]

I use Veeam Backup and Replication in the middle to then Backup Copy to the rotated NAS. Its fairly straight forward and reliable.

[Vitaliy S.]

Yes, you can definitely use Veeam backup prepositions and rotated drives engine there, but have you tried using this functionality > Backup to Rotated Drives ?

[rsmith.rdi]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I read through that article but I don't feel it addressed one of my concerns. In reading it, it seems that someone must go in and click "Register" each time they swap the drive. That's not ideal. I've been testing it since I made my post yesterday but establishing the ISCSI connection to NAS01, setting the drive to V:\ and running the backup. I can then power down the device, attach NAS02 via iSCSI, set the drive to V:\ and the job runs. The issue I seem to have now is that the disconnect and reconnect process doesn't seem to always grab the V:\. I though the device identifier and drive mapping were stored somewhere in the registry so that when the NAS units are swapped they'd always grab the V:\. If that's not the case, and the volumes will just be issued whatever the next available letter is, I could configure VEP to use that drive letter and never have to worry about having the client go in and "Register" the device when they swap the units.

Thoughts and feedback appreciated.

[rsmith.rdi]

UPDATE
So I've found that there is no easy to reserve the drive I want. That's fine considering the client doesn't connect anything else so the server assigning the next usable drive will be consistent so long as they make sure to shut down NAS01 before connecting NAS02.

[Dima P.]

Hello Ryan,

Thanks for the heads up! Indeed there is no way to properly rotate the shared folder destination in VEB. However, you have two possible options – one is to use the USB rotated drive feature. Another is to backup to VBR backup repository with rotated drives feature enabled.

[hoFFy]

I have a customer wanting the same... rotating NAS devices

Dima, the USB rotated drive feature scans for USB drives, or am I wrong? How can I use it for iSCSI or CIFS targets? My only idea is to use a CIFS share on the NAS, when both have the same name and IP address or won't this work?
VBR is no option in my case, because the customer hast no virtual environment.

[Dima P.]

USB rotated drive feature scans for USB drives, or am I wrong?

Yes. When enabled you can swap USB drivers locally and keep one backup chain per drive.

How can I use it for iSCSI or CIFS targets? My only idea is to use a CIFS share on the NAS, when both have the same name and IP address or won't this work?

Unfortunately, this won’t work. Only removable storage (such device has specific ‘removable' class in the OS) can be selected as a rotated media.