Changing from virtual to phys Veeam servers, combining roles

[kapple]

Hi,

We are thinking about a redesign of our Veeam infrastructure. Unfortunately, I am having a hard time identifying if what we are considering would be considered a Veeam “Best Practice”, or if we would gain anything by it. We are considering these changes as we migrate from our vSphere 5.5 infrastructure, to vSphere 6.5.

We currently run Veeam B&R 9.5, update 2, for VMware vSphere.

We currently have one virtual B&R server, a SOBR, and a proxy on each of our three ESXi 5.5 hosts. Our B&R server does not act as a proxy or repository. We have 2 physical backup repositories, each with an iSCSI array as the SOBR extents. One of these physical servers also serves as the tape server, with a Dell TL2000 connected to it.

Our VM storage is on NFS arrays.

We are going to be introducing seven more hosts in the very near future.

We are considering deploying a physical B&R server to replace the virtual server. We would use our current tape server for this purpose, and not use it as a backup repository. This server has 16 CPU cores, and 24 GB RAM. Is there any reason that we should not combine the B&R and tape server role on the same physical box?

We are also considering deploying two physical servers to act as both proxies and backup repositories, and doing away with the SOBR. Our backup storage would be our same iSCSI arrays connected to these severs, and possibly an additional NFS array. These servers would have a dedicated 20GB dark fiber link to our virtual infrastructure, so network latency should not be an issue. These servers are about 2 miles away from our data center.

Our thinking is that by combining the proxy and repo servers on the same physical box, and taking our Veeam servers out of vSphere, we would cut down on ESX host load during backup jobs. Is there any reason that we should not combine the repo and proxy on the same physical machine, providing we have adequate RAM and CPU?

What would be your thoughts as to what we would be gaining in this configuration? What would be pitfalls we should be aware of? Any input regarding this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ken

[lando_uk]

We have 4 physical servers, all are proxies and repositories. So long as you have plenty of RAM, mixing roles isn't a problem.

[foggy]

Just make sure the server meets the combined system requirements.

[kapple]

Thanks foggy & lando_uk.