Backing up to CIFS vs ISCSI

[mjr99]

I am trying to decide which way to go for a backup storage replacement project. I am buying new backup storage of about 100TB. We are currently using about 57TB.

This is a VMWare/Windows environment. I am looking at 2 options right now for the Veeam Repo.

1. Synology NAS as a CIFS share.
2. Synology NAS connected via ISCSI to a physical windows server.

Option 1 is attractive because I can skip buying another physical server. Any reason not to go that route? Is the CIFS reliable on something that large?
Option 2 is fine just more costly. I've done this before for some other projects. However, if I can avoid buying another physical server that is always good.

Thanks for any info/opinions you might have!

[Dima P.]

Hello mjr99.

You can use CIFS as a repository with Veeam B&R but you must specify a gateway server for this CIFS share (which should be a Windows host anyway). Take a look at this Help Center article for more details. Thank you.

[jmmarton]

CIFS may not perform as well as iSCSI, though your mileage may vary. Also keep in mind if you wish to use ReFS then the storage must be "local" to Windows which would also mean using iSCSI. You could always spin up a Windows VM to act as the repository and connect to the Synology using iSCSI, though it would be recommended to use a physical Windows server instead to get the best performance.

Joe

[slos]

With out knowing more specifics about your setup ISCSI will generaly peform better but an SMB share offers a possible built in air gapped backup