Disk Full Repo - Unstructured NAS Backups - Options?

[evander]

Hi, looking for some advise with the following problem please.

50+ TB of SMB NAS backups.
The target repo is full and finding a solution is problematic as I cant run any successful backups. I have a new fully populated Dell R760xd2 on order that will become the new repository but that is a medium to long term solution. I need an immediate solution for now.
Current repo server is fully populated with disk so I cant easy add more physical disks.

Some options I can think of:

Option A:
I have a temp repo I can use short term with 60TB free space but I cant backup to there right now due to the Capacity license used by original backup job and I need double the license count if I do create a new backup job.
If I revoke the licenses from original and use on new repo, can I still restore historical backups from the original repo if needed, after revoking the license? I dont want to lose my retention period on existing repo.

Option B:
Can I convert the original repo to a SOBR and add a few TB of space from another repo to allow the backup to complete? How easy is this and any consequences?

Option C:
Can I reconfigure the existing backup job to just point to new repo? What is the consequence of doing this? Will it move existing backups or just start a new full backup to new repo? And how will the Capacity license count be affected by this change?

Happy to consider any other options that allows me to get a successful backup please?

Thanks.

[david.domask]

Hi evander,

I would go with Option A. Revoke the license, restores with Veeam are always free, so even Community Edition would be enough for you to perform restores in a disaster.

Options B and C have some caveats, namely that the SOBR trick will work but it will require more space than you're planning for and I think just not as clean of a solution. Option C will produce a new full backup, and it will handle the licensing just fine.

Give this section of the User Guide a read to understand the instance consumption with Unstructured Object and File Backup jobs

[evander]

Thanks David, I went with Option A but now after revoking all capacity licenses I still get an "Error: Unable to process the workload: your license has been exceeded" when running the newly created backup job pointing to new temp repo. The original job is disabled but not deleted.

I have 60TB Capacity Licenses and am only backing up about 50TB so not sure why this is happening. The license window shows 60TB Capacity available and zero used
Any suggestions how to fix as i still cant run a successful backup?

Thanks.

[evander]

I suspect because the original File Share backup job exists (although disabled) and is pointing to the same file share source, Veeam is assuming the license is exceeded when the new job, also pointing to the same file share source, tries to run. Even though the license has been revoked.

If I delete the original job, just the job (NOT delete from disk) will I still be able to restore from past backups? I know that is the case with normal VM backups but I am concerned about File Share backups since they seem to work very differently, point in case with this issue.

Thanks.

[david.domask]

Hi evander,

I believe it's because of the 2nd job still existing and the previous backups. From the User Guide I linked before, you should see how we're calculating the instances for a source backed up by multiple jobs.

So should just be:

1. Remove the old job
2. CTRL+Right-Click the old NAS Backup and select "Remove from Configuration" (you can import it later by just rescanning the repository)
3. (Optional but worth checking) Check the Licenses once more to ensure the licenses are revoked, then try the job again

[evander]

Thank you David for your detailed step by step assistance, I am did as you suggested and the backup is running now and seems to be progressing well without error. I hope it completes to successful completion.
Your assistance is much appreciated. I wish all product forums were this good

[david.domask]

Hi evander,

Glad to hear it; if you haven't gotten a licensing error yet, I think you're in the clear then! I'll suggest some wording changes to our User Guide section on revoking to see if we can't make this more clear.

[evander]

Thank you, that would be great.
I would also perhaps suggest a feature improvement on the revoking of licenses for Capacity so that it works the same way as for normal VUL licenses in that as soon as you revoke it, it becomes available to be used by any job regardless of what jobs exist or have existed. Ideally and/or a license report button that shows you what jobs are currently holding the Capacity licenses (even after revoked)

Also just to add, the backup completed successfully

Thanks again.

[david.domask]

Makes sense on the suggestions! I think for the license calculation part that won't be as proposed given how it currently works to calculate the licenses, but the feedback is noted.

And glad to hear the backup went well