Backup or Replication for large (24 TB) datastore

[perryny]

I apologize if this question has been asked and answered a hundred times before...

I'm currently using Veeam B&R 8.0.0.817 to backup (reverse incremental) two ESXi hosts and 5 VMs. We have 24 TB of production data across 3 datastores.

All backups are at the production site. Time to setup an off-site backup.

My first choice would be to replicate my existing environment to an off-site location to have immediate, full access to the server data if the production site goes down.

But I don't know what hardware is required at the remote site to meet the need. Do I need a similar server to what I have at the production site? If so, it'll be hard to justify an $20k+ expense for a server which will likely/hopefully never be needed.

If I can't actually replicate the server due to cost, I would like to create an additional, initial, full, on-site backup to an external storage device, and then move that storage device to an off-site location where continued incremental backups will be performed.

If this is the route I go, can anyone recommend a preferred storage unit - and can this storage unit operate independently (communicate with the production Veeam server), or does it also need to be connected to its own, off-site computer running Veeam and/or VMware?

Sorry for my ignorance, but I've been reading forum threads for hours, and I'm still as lost as ever.

Thanks for your help.

[skrause]

In your first method: Replication, you will need a VMware environment with similar disk capacity as the full VM is stored (with additional snapshots for retention points) there as a replica. Basically you would want a mirror of your production environment in terms of capacity. Performance you could probably skimp on if it is a DR scenario.

As far as option B goes, if you use a "cheap" server with a ton of direct attached storage as a repository for backup copies in the remote location (The Dell r510 was a great option for this with its 12 hot swap 3.5" drive bays but they discontinued that model and I don't think they have an equivalent anymore) that is the easiest solution. Or you could purchase any number of NAS devices or other storage that can be accessed via a CIFS share for a reasonable cost as well. I am not that well versed in the available NAS devices but I am sure there are people on the forums who will have opinions on Synology/QNAP/etc. and how they work with Veeam.

[perryny]

Thanks for your reply.

With Option B, If I go with a "cheap" second server, do I need to purchase all of the same VMware / Windows Licenses that are running on the production server?

And will I have to initially build the replication server (install VMs, Windows, etc.), or does Veeam "replicate" everything?

The production site is running a Dell VRTX chassis with two physical server blades (each running one instance of ESX1 5.5).

Can I replicate this to a single server with direct-attached storage? I'm looking at the Dell R230 server with the MD1400 for storage.

Alternate recommendations welcome and appreciated.

[skrause]

With "Option B", you would be sending your Veeam backups from your primary site to a file share in the secondary location through Backup Copy job(s). This would not be replicating VMs to an ESXi host that can be turned on quickly, the backups would need to be restored somewhere first. If you use a windows server, you would just need the Windows license. A NAS device exposed as a CIFS share would require whatever licensing the device requires.