With Veeam Backup and Replication CE, do I still need Agent?

[daystrom]

In my small office I have previously used this setup:
veeam agent for windows to backup the windows 2012 r2 server
veeam backup and replication free to create VeeamZIP files of two hyperv vms

veeam backup and replication free is gone and replaced with veeam backup and replication community edition. I've been exploring veeam backup and replication CE and am wondering if Agent is still needed? veeam backup and replication CE can backup a "windows computer". Is the functionality of that parallel to what Agent provides? I have not tested the veeam backup and replication CE "windows computer" feature. It'd be important to be able to restore to bare metal.

[nielsengelen]

I presume you are talking about adding a Windows computer in the inventory node view of VBR. This is used to add a windows server as a backup repository or proxy. If the 2012 r2 server is a physical server, you will still need to use the agent to back it up. Unless you are running VMware or Hyper-V, since then you can use VBR to make a backup job for the virtual machine.

[daystrom]

No I was talking about a creating a backup job. When I click on the menu item Backup Job, the three options are Virtual Machine, Windows Computer, and Linux Computer. The second two options sound like they'd back up a pc just like Agent does. I've not tried that menu option.

[daystrom]

And yes I am talking about backing up a physical server.

An interesting issue with veeam is that the depth of the product so far exceeds the bounds of what I have had exposure to, that some/many features and solutions provided by veeam products whose utility is obvious to those working in the context of larger orgs, are completely off the edge of the map to me. That said veeam products do a rather remarkable job of exposing the needed features for a semi literate user like myself.

[wishr]

Hi Daystrom,

When you choose to backup a Windows Computer, B&R will deploy Veeam Agent to the machine then utilize it for backup and restore operations. Agents will work in Agent Management mode, allowing centralized configuration and management. You can also create a Recovery Media for bare-metal restores, so your use case should be covered by our Community Edition.

For virtual machine backups, Veeam Agents are usually not utilized but could be used in certain circumstances , for example, when you'd like to back up a physical Hyper-V server (host) itself. In the case with VMs B&R communicates directly with Hyper-V API's to create backups based on native Hyper-V checkpoint/snapshot creation functionality.

To get some basic understanding of the B&R features, capabilities, and usage scenarious I'd recommend you to start with our user guides (note separate guides for B&R, Agent Management, Standalone Agent), then explore the Best Practices portal. It is not necessary to go through all the articles because the amount of information may be overwhelming at first. Instead, you may pick up just topics where you have some unanswered questions. And of course, do not hesitate to search through the forum or ask us directly!

Thanks

[danswartz]

Agent based backup is also useful for a VM if it cannot be snapshotted for some reason (such as being a hyper-converged storage appliance, with PCI devices passed in...)

[daystrom]

Thanks wishr and danswartz. So B&R utilizes Agent when it's set up to back up a windows computer. That's great. I will check out the docs.