veeam agent for win bandwidth and CPU throttling options

[tranquilnet]

We have been using Veeam BDR for many years, CC for less than a year and just started to beta/test the Veeam agent for windows.

We also have run into issues where a single device will consume the entire bandwidth of a connection and/or consume all of the devices CPU resources.

Other solutions we have (and currently) use, typically have a bandwidth limitation feature that can be set, for example to 512Kbps at the agent level (reduces slow connection issues). They also have options to limit the amount of CPU in use or similar types of settings to manage CPU resources.

Being able to limit CPU usage for example to no more than 50% also comes in handy(reduces slow computer response issues).

Will the agent for windows have these settings? (I suggest that it does)

A more advanced setting (that I have never seen before in a backup agent but I think may be useful) is to be able to set multiple bandwidth limiting settings, each with different values based on the public IP of the devices connection.

For example:

1) If public IP is x.x.x.x then limit bandwidth to 512kbps
2) If public IP is y.y.y.y then limit bandwidth to 2Mbps
3) If public IP is z.z.z.z then do not limit bandwidth
4) If public IP is not any of the above (default) then limit bandwidth to 1Mbps

The advanced bandwith throttling option is not necessary, however, basic CPU and bandwidth throttling are in our experience.

Thanks,

-Will

[Mike Resseler]

Hi Will,

Throttling the resources on your device is supported: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agent ... tml?ver=20. This is normally on per default so if VAW consumed all CPU resources there must be something wrong and that is preferred to be investigated. That setting is introduced (even already in the first version) so that the agent can run without the user "noticing" it and he/ she can continue her work.

For bandwidth: One of the options we have is "disable backup over metered connections" (to make sure that you are not getting suddenly crazy costs )

Finally, configuring network throttling can be arranged if you are integrating with Veeam Backup & Replication: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agent ... tml?ver=20

Hope it helps
Mike

[tranquilnet]

Mike,

We will be using VAW 2.0 direct to our cloud connect server. How can we configure network throttling for these individual (or groups of) device(s) running VAW?

We have already run into issues with our testing where a single VAW agent consumes the entire bandwidth for a connection, causing the device running VAW to respond very slow as well as other device on the network. How do you suggest we resolve that issue before we mass deploy?

Thanks,

-W

[Dima P.]

Hi tranquilnet,

Unfortunately, VAW does not provide the option to set network throttling rules. Try to schedule backup jobs to run in non-production hours to avoid interference with regular user activity.

[tranquilnet]

Are there any new updates on bandwidth throttling options when going direct from device to cloud connect?

Arguably, this data path is more critical to throttle than direct from device to VBR.

The issue is that a direct device to cloud connect backup consumes the clients entire internet connection, regardless of location, causing issues for the user if they are using their device and potentially for other users fighting for bandwidth on the same internet connection.

Theoretically, since we typically manage the clients office infrastructure, we could take the time to design and implement QoS rules but that only helps if we manage the firewall/router at the clients office which is not always the case. This does not help once the client take the device offsite (laptop, tablet, etc).

Having a simple bandwidth limit setting under the backup (or global) settings of the VAW agent would be a great start.

Letting Veeam figure out the best throttle optimization (both CPU and bandwidth) would be great to.

Here are a few examples for competitor products:





What's the chance of getting this feature added in the next release?

Thanks,

-Will

[Dima P.]

Hi Will,

Have you tried to configure throttling rules on the Could Connect side like described in this article: Specify Bandwidth Settings? Thanks!

[tranquilnet]

Thanks Dima for your quick reply.

Yes, I am aware of those per tenant settings on the cloud connect side. It is my interpretation that those settings are used best and were designed for a VBR -> CC and/or a VAW -> VBR -> CC scenario where a tenant would typically be created and configured for each client office location. These settings would work when the VAW devices and VBR servers location remain constant at a single location as well as the internet connection speed at that location remain constant (it may breakdown in a multi WAN environment).

However, the original design seems to breakdown with the ability of VAW -> CC direct backups where the VAW device location, and internet connection, is dynamic. This backup scenario is not one that veeam has historically supported and therefore the available backup settings and features reflect this, from my experience. This has obviously been recognized by veeam with the realease of VAW and the soon to be released VAC proves it (which we are very excited about as an MSP).

Questions:

1) What are the current VAW -> CC real world best practices being used by CC providers for throttling CPU and bandwidth to ensure an optimal client experience?

2) Are there plans to implement VAW level granular CPU and bandwidth throttling settings in the near future?

Can you run these questions up the VAW/VAC development food chain and share with us your findings?

Thanks,

-Will

[tranquilnet]

FYI, I have posted a similar post here: post255993.html#p255993

[Dima P.]

Hi tranquilnet,

Sorry for the delay, last post somehow slipped out.

What are the current VAW -> CC real world best practices being used by CC providers for throttling CPU and bandwidth to ensure an optimal client experience?

There is no way to use native throttling option in VAW UI, but there are some utilities that might come handy. I know it’s not the best solution but might be a good workaround.

Are there plans to implement VAW level granular CPU and bandwidth throttling settings in the near future?

Sure, we have this requires noted but I can’t give you the exact ETA. May I ask, are you users suffering from internet connection being completely consumed by backup process? I was under impression that if backup process is throttled on the client side (in terms of CPU/RAM consumption) network consumption should be also minimal. Thanks!

[einhirn]

Hello Dima P.,

May I ask, are you users suffering from internet connection being completely consumed by backup process? I was under impression that if backup process is throttled on the client side (in terms of CPU/RAM consumption) network consumption should be also minimal. Thanks!

I just found this thread, looking for a way to throttle VAW's bandwidth usage. I have a quite new computer with enough CPU ressources that I use both, at the office with an 1Gbit LAN link and at home with a 25/5Mbit link via VPN. Because of VPN I can't use the router's traffic prioritization features, everything coming from my computer looks the same to it. With only 5Mbit uplink speed CPU throttling never takes because it is easily filled using only 10% or so CPU. Still the whole system feels sluggish because my internet requests don't get out (or TCP ACKs get delayed etc.).

While I use B&R-Repository as the backup target I can't use IP based throttling rules on the server because our VPN solution lets us have the same IP as we have via LAN - and I don't want to throttle the LAN based backup to say 3 or 4 Mbit.

I was hoping that I could find a way to throttle applications using windows' own tools, but haven't found something worth trying yet.

Thanks for your consideration!

bye
Einhirn

[sg_sc]

+1
My laptop on WIFI because completely useless when VAW consumes al available upload bandwidth.

[tranquilnet]

For now and until a VAW solution for this particular use case is put in place, we ended up deploying a different solution for devices that are mobile and/or do not live on the VBR network.

[kppnbrg]

We have a similar situation here.
Using VAW on clients (8th Gen Intel, SSD). "Entire computer" mode to a Backup and Replication 9.5 repository.
The Repository is a 12-bay NAS.
1GBit LAN between the clients and the BAR VM. 10GBit LAN between BAR VM and the NAS.

The backup is consuming all the bandwidth, so working with that client is no fun.
Especially if you work remotely , e.g. from home office.

The CPU throttle option in the agent doesn't help.
Limiting the read / write data rates at the repository is no option in this case.
Uncheck 'multiple upload streams per job' has no effect.

By the way; Using WAV on Notebooks with scheduled backups is impossible.
When connected to the companys network with VPN (SSL or RAS) the 50mbit line is killed in seconds for everyone.



If there is an option to limit the used bandwidth for the client (per job in BAR, or in VAW) would help a lot!

[sg_sc]

I have actually found that you can limit the bandwidth if you backup to a B&R repository.
In the B&R server under Network Traffic Rules.
You can add a rule with source IP the computer with the agent and destination IP the backup repository (mount) server.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmZ6_uUdxNr2ylluRPjum15V_PFQ

[Dima P.]

Hello sg_sc,

Yup, that should work. In upcoming v3 we will have good set of network throttling options configurable on the agent side, so stay tuned for updates and public announcements. Cheers!

[Homes32]

I have issues as well. A 1GB connection is saturated to 100% during a veeam agent backup with throttling enabled, making any network/internet activity impossible. Is there any workaround for this yet?

[Dima P.]

Hello Jonathan,

Backup throttling affects only CPU/RAM consumption (but since processing goes slower when it's enabled you should see less network consumption as well). What backup target are you using? Thanks!

[Homes32]

I'm targeting a veeam repository backed by a local QNAP NAS. I didn't realize that the throttling didn't affect network bandwidth, so perhaps a repository throttling setting got adjusted/removed. Thanks for the reply.

[Dima P.]

Jonathan,

In case of Veeam B&R repository you can, indeed, use the global network throttling rule and it should affect the backup agent. Cheers!

[sg_sc]

In the upcoming v3 agent, it would be nice if you could set the throttling to a percentage based on the actual connection speed of the network adapter used.
So if you set 50% it would use max 500Mbps of a 1Gbps network card or 27Mbps of a 54Mbps wireless connection.

[Dima P.]

Hi sg_sc,

Thanks for the heads up! I like this idea a lot, the problem is - throughput of you channel may vary, so the exact value should be dynamically adjusted during during the backup. In v3 we will have an option to limit the bandwidth consumption to a desired value, but I've added you vote to the dynamic throttling adjustment based on the percentage value. Thanks!

[masonit]

Hi

Now with Veeam agent for Windows 3.0 it should be possible to limit bandwidth. If I look in user guide it says I should start Veeam Agent for Windows on agent server and set bandwidth limit. That does not seem to work for us. We use mode managed by backup server and protection groups for our agents. Seems like bandwidth limit could be set on protection group instead. But how can I limit only a specific agent in a protection group?

\Masonit

[Dima P.]

Hi Magnus,

We use mode managed by backup server and protection groups for our agents. Seems like bandwidth limit could be set on protection group instead. But how can I limit only a specific agent in a protection group?

For managed by backup server jobs you can use global network throttling rules. Will that work for you?