GFS vs Full Synthetic

[jack.summers]

Hi I was wondering does the free version of Veeam Agent for Microsoft windows have GFS Support and is this better when compared to a fully Synthetic backup scheduled. I have a client who wants to retain a full years worth of backup and is starting to complain about the cloud storage space consumption and was wondering if there was a better way and if GFS was the way to go?

Kind Regards

Jack

[DGrinev]

Hi Jack,

There is no GFS feature available in the Veeam Agent for Windows.
However, you can deploy Veeam B&R Community edition, which will provide you this ability, along with the ability deploy Veeam Agent for Windows.

Thanks!

[jack.summers]

Thank you for the reply. I will get this setup and give it a go, what do you think about the GFS vs Fully Synthetic? Would this reduce the space that my client is currently taking up in the cloud?

Kind Regards

Jack

[DGrinev]

Jack,

Can you elaborate a bit about the scenario implemented right now or the one you're thinking about?
I am confused by the question, since the GFS is a kind of Retention Policy and the Synthetic full is a method of full backup creation.
You can choose whether your GFS restore points will be created by Synthetic full method or Active full method.

Thanks!

[jack.summers]

Our customer would like to be able to perform restores up to a year back so currently we performed a full back up and from then on in we have been running fully incremental. We was wondering would we save space in our cloud storage by switching to GFS where we would have a retention of 7 days, 1 a week, 1 for every month and 1 yearly these would probably be Synthetic full backups instead of Active full backups. Unless you could think of a better solution? Thank you for your prompt reply DGrinev.

Thanks!

Jack

[DGrinev]

Yes, it should be more efficient in terms of storage space consumption, but you won't be able to restore every day of the past year. Since you will have 1 full backup for each month and 7 RPs for the most recent week.
If it does fit the needs of your customer, then you're good to go with the GFS scheme.

Also, do not forget the 3-2-1 Backup Rule.
What the restore points to keep value right now? Thanks!