Copy X number of restore points to rotating repo (i.e. USD HDDs)

[leviu]

I wanted to minimize RPO for a client cheaply so I figured I'd buy an external HDD for every day of the week as well as 3 more disks for Sundays (they work on Sundays) to make Sunday backup copies more a of a "weekly" backup copy. Someone will swap the disks every morning. This would mean that at most they would lose 1 or 2 workdays of data (instead of a week as in the previous setup of rotating disks weekly) in case the backup server gets cryptoed/backups deleted.

This works fine (mostly - see comment bellow *cough* gostev please fix *cough*), but not the way I wanted it to.
I was looking to keeping a copy of 3 restore points on each disk from the 3 restore points of the evening daily backup. However, I don't see any way to do that currently in Veeam. It will keep 3 restore points on the disk rather than copy 3 restore points (just copies the latest). Since the rotation occurs daily for a disk to get 2nd restore point it has to wait a week to be connected (or longer for the Sunday "weekly disks).
The use case for this if that there is something wrong with a particular backup (e.g. the snapshot contains a corrupt copy that was not there in the previous one) there would still be 2 previous snapshots to rely on.

Tl;DR: So is there a way to instruct Veeam to copy more than 1 restore point in a backup copy cycle? If not I am requesting this feature.

I've configured the backup copy in periodic mode that runs each cycle at 12:01 each day. If I do immediate there is not enough time for daily the backups to copy over until 8:00 when the disk gets swapped. Daily backups occur at 19:00 and can take up to 2:00 to finish them all.

In regards to the annoying thing about periodic backups (support case 04780019) - when the new backup copy cycle runs at 12:01 it first FAILS the backup copy job and then restarts it. The backup eventually copies over, but until then Veeam shows the last status as FAILED, Veeam ONE goes red, and I and the CLIENT get emails about it. What's the official solution? Known bug - ignore the emails . I might be able to - no matter how annoying that is to sift through what's a real "FAIL" each day and what is isn't, but telling that to the client opens their ears to other potential backup solutions the next time it comes to renewing a support contact.

Thanks,
~leviu

[HannesK]

Hello,
periodic backup copy mode only copies the latest restore point (no way for all restore points like the mirror mode).

As you says that you are only swapping disks, I ask myself about how backup copy jobs fit here. I would assume "backup job only" is easier to handle.

As far as I see, support already explained how backup copy jobs work and that the failed status is correct and expected.

Best regards,
Hannes

[leviu]

As you says that you are only swapping disks, I ask myself about how backup copy jobs fit here. I would assume "backup job only" is easier to handle.

A bit confused about the "self reflecting" statement =).
In any case using backup copy jobs here for a very simple reason: it does not put a load on the live infrastructure.
A secondary reason is the application guys demand that their Oracle DB must be brought down using their task scheduled scripts in Windows before any kind of backups (despite me pointing out about Veeam application awareness for Oracle DBs - which I use for replication secretly anyway).

As far as I see, support already explained how backup copy jobs work and that the failed status is correct and expected.

They did not say that its "correct". Here is a direct quote:

This is considered to be a known issue which will be fixed in future releases.
As the issue is purely cosmetic, we ask that that you please simply disregard such emails (perhaps set up email filters for the error text). Unfortunately, no hotfix is available at this time.

[HannesK]

ah sorry - I just checked the latest internal comments (not everything of the conversation)

yes, I checked the issue and bug #300907 also affects the mirror mode. So changing that would also not help.

[leviu]

I just realized that when you say "mirror mode" you mean immediate copying! Wait, so that DOES copy all the restore points?

If yes, is there a way to make it run at a certain time (and not make it immediate) like giving it some PS command with task scheduling? Or a dumb file copy (I assumed this locks the daily backup files preventing the backups from running)?
As much as I dislike gheto solutions (i.e. that are not managed via the Veeam UI) the benefits here outweigh the cost.

Would this be even considered a feature request? To allow a form of backup copying for X amount of restore points (despite whether they are new or not)

[HannesK]

Wait, so that DOES copy all the restore points?

in general: yes. If you ask for copying restore points that were already copied, then "no".

you can limit the backup window: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110 That might do something similar.

The backup copy job is the opposite of a "dumb file copy". Remember it does things like having multiple backup jobs as source within one job and many more operations that fit the needs of many customers.

File copy jobs are pretty "dumb" https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110 - but not sure whether that fits all the needs you have (normally customers go with BCJ because file copy jobs are very limited).

If many customers come up with that kind of request, then we consider it it. We build the software for our customers (not for us )

[leviu]

If you ask for copying restore points that were already copied, then "no".

That is exactly what I a was looking for. Thanks for trying.

The backup copy job is the opposite of a "dumb file copy"

Its next best thing in backups after the invention of snapshots.

If many customers come up with that kind of request, then we consider it it. We build the software for our customers (not for us )

Veeam doesn't exactly have a Uservoice. I guess people will just stumble on this post while searching for a similar solution and comment here (or link to it if it gets archived).