feature request

[marcozaro]

Good morning , i'm testing your software and so far is great but i have a request:
normally when i setup for the first time a laptop or a desktop for a user , i create an initial full backup and next i choose to do incremental/differential backup but the base backup file will never be touched again from the backup software ; this is great because when you use the pc there is a OS degradation and in this way i can restore the base backup to come back at point when i have delivered the pc without having to reinstall the OS + all company software.
with VEB i can do the base full backup but i have read in the documentation , after the policy of restore point kicks in , the base full backup merge the oldest point so i will have a new full base backup...in this way i will loose the "clean" first base full backup.
i can use the function of stand alone full backup but i will double at least the disk space needed in this way...
also there is another problem related to move these file to the cloud: we have in place an ftp server that get the differential/incremental backup file from the outside client (base full backup is done in the HQ and copied to the server via LAN at first time) , if i get a new full base backup i need to retransfer the big full backup file to the ftp server and this will be not possible on normal internet connection...i saw some topics about saving backup to the cloud and i think this last problem is a huge problem for customer sending data to the cloud.
for the first problem i think is better to have the restore point policy that do not merge the oldest point to the initial full backup but maybe on another oldest point to keep file changing low , or maybe delete the oldest and stop (using a differential policy)

[Dima P.]

Hello Marco,
Thank you for the interest in the Veeam Endpoint Backup!

can use the function of stand alone full backup but i will double at least the disk space needed in this way...

The size of the standalone full backup is the same as the regular full back up, so if you are seeking the ability to create restore point with no retention that is a perfect solution. It was designed specifically for such use cases.

if i get a new full base backup i need to retransfer the big full backup file to the ftp server

Unfortunately this is how it works. To keep the chain on the increments you must create a full backup on the first place. With the current Endpoint functionality you can create a standalone full backup and store it locally, then configure the daily job to backup only the necessary folder and files, so once the restore is required you can either restore the entire OS from the local standalone full and then run a file level restore to get the user data back.

[marcozaro]

but with AOMEI backup or comodo backup you have the first full backup untouched even if i have scheduled an incremental or a differential backup..because there is no a kind of reverse incremental....or maybe i can deselect it...
i have in place also a business veeam solution (backup & replication 7) to backup our vmware cluster and i use this feature called reverse incremental which is great for disk backup to have everytime a last full backup but if i need to transfer off site file produced by B&R will be a nightmare..that's why we choose to save reverse incremental to tape.

[marcozaro]

also don't forget as mentioned that maintain one stand alone full backup and one full backup to be used for the creation of restore point will double the disk space on file server...
if i don't understand wrong , is not possible to setup then a daily backup only for file and folders because user can create new directory and save file where they want...in this case i can miss some files from software that for example do not save file into standard documents folder...or maybe your product will have a feature that is able to do incremental backup file only from an extension list?
in this case i can create a list of extension of file that are company related
the best would be a feature that automatically (after the stand alone full backup for example) scan the entire computer and backup only incrementally files that are document related..i'm sure to have seen this feature in comodo backup...

[marcozaro]

forgot to say that otherwise you need to provide your mobile user with a usb hard drive and use the backup function "only when usb connected" but you can imagine the problems arise: hard disk lost - stolen , standard hard disk on usb are subject to easily broken and are an added cost for company...you know users
and is not feasible provide usb ssd hard drive because a 300-500 gb cost a lot...

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Marco,

normally when i setup for the first time a laptop or a desktop for a user , i create an initial full backup and next i choose to do incremental/differential backup but the base backup file will never be touched again from the backup software ; this is great because when you use the pc there is a OS degradation and in this way i can restore the base backup to come back at point when i have delivered the pc without having to reinstall the OS + all company software.
.....
also don't forget as mentioned that maintain one stand alone full backup and one full backup to be used for the creation of restore point will double the disk space on file server...
if i don't understand wrong , is not possible to setup then a daily backup only for file and folders because user can create new directory and save file where they want...in this case i can miss some files from software that for example do not save file into standard documents folder...or maybe your product will have a feature that is able to do incremental backup file only from an extension list?
in this case i can create a list of extension of file that are company related
the best would be a feature that automatically (after the stand alone full backup for example) scan the entire computer and backup only incrementally files that are document related..i'm sure to have seen this feature in comodo backup...

Yes, you're correct about disk space usage with full backups, though I'm not sure that I completely understand the scenario with "clean/original" full backup of the guest OS. If you want to revert back to the original state, you will also lose users data that has been written to disk already? Do you restore this data afterwards?

As regards a possibility of missing user's data due to user's fault, then entire computer backup should solve this issue, right? I do not expect large incremental files to be created for this mode, but I might be wrong with this assumption....

Thanks!

[marcozaro]

i use the initial full backup that is not anymore changing because many times i need to move the laptop from one user to another (there is a quite huge turnover) and i prefer to deliver a fresh pc to the new user instead of just deleting the user profile...because you know user during time install software , browse internet , download file and gets viruses or gets bloatware.
in this way i gets back the pc to initial state of the delivery to the user, ok i loose update on windows and other stuff but that's what i need instead of format and restore the standard image that comes with the laptop.

for the second your question , if i backup entire computer again i do not solve my problem because as already written , when the policy of restore point kicks in , i get the initial full backup modified and i loose the clean full initial backup need for the previous point

[jeancharles]

Hello,

Just my own experience, store the backup on a deduped target, as a NetGear Nas or Windows 2012 (R2 or not) file server. You will have huge dedup and not have the storage costs.

[marcozaro]

Hello jeancharles , backup destination are already on a vmware 5.0 VM windows 2012 R2 but the disk is raw mapped and it is 2 TB (to avoid veeam backup and replication backup of these huge disk).
do you think in this way i'm using dedupe from windows 2012 or do i need to do somethings else?

[Vitaliy S.]

i use the initial full backup that is not anymore changing because many times i need to move the laptop from one user to another (there is a quite huge turnover) and i prefer to deliver a fresh pc to the new user instead of just deleting the user profile...because you know user during time install software , browse internet , download file and gets viruses or gets bloatware.
in this way i gets back the pc to initial state of the delivery to the user, ok i loose update on windows and other stuff but that's what i need instead of format and restore the standard image that comes with the laptop.

Yes, I see your point, thanks for clarification. Our IT department is using guest OS templates that are installed automatically for every new user.

Hello jeancharles , backup destination are already on a vmware 5.0 VM windows 2012 R2 but the disk is raw mapped and it is 2 TB (to avoid veeam backup and replication backup of these huge disk).
do you think in this way i'm using dedupe from windows 2012 or do i need to do somethings else?

If the corresponding option is enabled in the Windows Server configuration, then nothing extra has to be done.

[jeancharles]

hi,

The only "problems" with windows 2012 Deduplication are :
not inline deduplication, you need free space until the deduplication task runs.
Does not work with single files over 1TB. Maybe VEEAM should take it into note to allow splitting full backups in 1TB Max files.

To enable Windows 2012 Dedup, you need to go to Roles, in the File Server Roles you open the options and select "deduplication". After a reboot, you can open the Windows 2012 disks and volumes console and choose your partition where the backups are stored, right click it and select "enable deduplication", "standard file server", "1 day old" and go!