GFS to disk and monthly to RDX confusion

[dekkar]

Hi all...... Wanting some input from some experts who have created GFS and RDX backups....

Here is what I want:

I have a 600Gb VM that I want a GFS to disk rotation.

I want a backup of this VM to RDX once per month.

Not 100% sure which is the best approach. In the "Backup Copy" option, there is a GFS scheme pre-loaded, whcih is fantastic..... But how does it work?

Should I be creating a Veeam backup of this VM (1 restore point) , every night, then scheduling a Backup Copy of this? Does the backup copy holds the restore points in the GFS Scheme?


Should I be creating a separate backup job for the RDX? Or can I do a copy the same as above? I just noticed that the Backup copy job can only be scheduled every Minute/Hour/Day..... Not every Month...


Thanks in Advance..
Nathan

[foggy]

Nathan, what kind of GFS retention do you need for this VM on the local disk? Do you want to copy full backup to RDX each month (are you going to change drives) or this could be a monthly incremental job?

[veremin]

Also, are you going to utilize rotated media as primary or secondary location? Thanks.

[dekkar]

Hi Guys, thanks for the replies.

The plan is to have 4 friday and 12 monthly backups to local disk (GFS)

The RDX tape will be rotated once a month (12 tapes). If it comes down to it, I can swap RDX tapes and manually run a copy job.

Thanks,
Nathan

[foggy]

So your understanding is correct, you need a regular backup job (whatever retention) and a backup copy job to implement GFS retention on the local disk (using this regular backup job as a source). For, RDX you can create another backup copy job and implement the rotated drives scenario.

[dekkar]

Thanks foggy for the confirmation. In regards to the 'master' backup job. I would plan on running this say at 7pm, with only one restore point. Then running the backup copy later on that night with the GFS retention policy. Hopefully all goes well!


Thanks Again.

[foggy]

If you're using reverse incremental, I recommend to set it to at least 2 restore points. Just to be on a safe side and avoid situations where you could find yourself without any valid backups.

[jakep]

Hi there,

I've been asked to design and implement an off-site removable storage back up plan.

We are using Veeam Backup & Replication 7.0 at the moment.

We want to use a GFS rotation with daily, weekly and monthly backups.

We are planning to buy 20 RDX cartridges, 4 daily, 4 weekly, 12 monthly.

What would be the ideal way to set this up within Veeam?

Would reversed-incremental be the way forward in this scenario?

Would it be worth waiting for 8.0 for the improved rotated drive functionality?

Sorry for all the questions, new to this!

Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

[Shestakov]

Hi Jake and welcome to the forum.

We`ve merged your post into the corresponding one. Please review and ask questions if you have any.

Would it be worth waiting for 8.0 for the improved rotated drive functionality?

Well, it depends on your needs. New release has a number of great improvements, but you can also setup backup infrastructure using v7 and update to a newer system once it available.
Thank you.

[jakep]

Well, it depends on your needs. New release has a number of great improvements, but you can also setup backup infrastructure using v7 and update to a newer system once it available.

Thank you for merging and replying.

After doing a bit of searching on here it seems the best way would be to create a separate backup job for each backup? So 4 daily backup jobs, 4 weekly and 12 monthly or would that be a less than ideal situation?

Cheers.

[Shestakov]

Jake,

After doing a bit of searching on here it seems the best way would be to create a separate backup job for each backup?

I`m a bit confused with the question. Could you clarify it?

You need to create a backup job for all VMs you want to backup. Then you need to create backup copy job where you can set GFS retention policy.
Do you want to implement rotated media capability as well?

[jakep]

Jake,

I`m a bit confused with the question. Could you clarify it?

You need to create a backup job for all VMs you want to backup. Then you need to create backup copy job where you can set GFS retention policy.
Do you want to implement rotated media capability as well?

Yeah sorry, not wording my questions very well.

At the moment, we have a Backup Job for 6 VM's to a local NAS. We would also like to implement a rotated media policy for off-site backup too, preferably a GFS type rotation with 4 daily, 4 weekly and 12 monthy.

So the best way would be to then create a backup copy job(s) for this? All in one job or separate jobs?

*EDIT* I've found the GFS type retention settings now. If I set it to 4 restore points, 4 weekly points and 12 monthly points, would this suit my requirements?
Thanks

[Shestakov]

Thanks for clarification Jake,

For rotated media implementation, make sure you have at least patch #3a. You can also install #4, since patches are accumulative.
Here on the forum you can find a separate post about backups to rotated drives.

So the best way would be to then create a backup copy job(s) for this? All in one job or separate jobs?

All VMs can be in a single backup job in case you want for them same retention policy, repository etc.

[jakep]

Thanks for clarification Jake,

For rotated media implementation, make sure you have at least patch #3a. You can also install #4, since patches are accumulative.
Here on the forum you can find a separate post about backups to rotated drives. All VMs can be in a single backup job in case you want for them same retention policy, repository etc.

Thank you.

I'm still not sure if what I require can be done.

Can I use Veeam to create a GFS rotation scheme with reverse incremental's, with 4 daily drives Monday-Thursday, 4 Weekly drives for Friday and 12 Monthly on the last day of the month etc?

If so, please could you tell me the best way to implement this? I have read all the threads regarding this and I'm no closer to a solution sorry.

Thanks.

[veremin]

I don't think that backup copy job GFS mechanism would work in your case, since the drivers will be rotated on regular basis.

Probably, you can assign repository role to the rotated drive, create a backup copy job and point it to the "rotated" repository and set the mentioned regkeys. This way, the backup copy job won't fail when it doesn't find previous restore points, but rather create a new full backup on the inserted media. Though, you will have to make sure that proper drive (weekly, monthly, etc.) is inserted and also manage retention yourself.

Thanks.