Exchange 2016 Multiple Volumes Parallel Processing Question

[mdornfeld]

Hi
We're currently an Exchange 2010 shop with a DAG. On each Exchange server, there is simply an OS drive (C:) and a data volume (E:) in which we have 20 Exchange Mailbox's reside. The backups from Veeam are always reliable, though with the high transaction volume, the snapshot release time can be killer. We do have Veeam issue the Exchange log truncate as well.

We are looking to deploy Exchange 2016 in a DAG as well, but in discussions for each Exchange server, we thought it might be advantageous for us to deploy the databases across multiple separate volumes, within reason of course. For instance, a OS drive (C), but then maybe an E, F, G, H, & I for data volumes, and just distribute the mailbox databases across the separate volumes.

Also, we've enabled parallel processing in Veeam (running version 9 U2).

With parallel processing enabled, the net of having multiple drives should be that they backup in parallel, but that individual snapshots should release more quickly, assuming everything works correctly. Does either Veeam or other members have experience in this being supported, recommended, and working well?
-- The Exchange log truncate is issued correctly after each volume?
-- The system doesn't lag too much by having 4 simultaneous volumes getting backed up on the same Exchange server?

Thank you for any advice and practical experience, official or not,
Matt

[foggy]

Hi, Matt. Snapshot is created for the entire VM, not for individual disks, so don't worry about logs truncation in such setup. Due to disks parallel processing, the time the VM will run on the snapshot will be much shorter, indeed. Since the data is read from the snapshots, the VM itself will not suffer from parallel processing, however, the load on production storage will be higher (which, in its turn, might affect running VMs, though).