Is Pure FC Backup Possible with this Setup?

[fkckbrown]

I was asked about re-configuring our Veeam to do Pure FC backups so we don't have back ups going over the network where it could be a bottle neck. I am not sure if we can do it with the setup or what way I would need to have stuff setup to do a Pure FC backup. Below is the setup:

Our Veeam server is Physical and has the back up repositories physically connected to it. We also have Tape drives hooked up to the server over SAS. We are a VM shop and I have two virtual proxies for Veeam to do backups with. They are set to Auto Selection, but they normally do Virtual Appliance backup (Hot Add) with a Network backup as fail over. The VM's themselves are on a HP 3PAR. The Veeam server has dual 10 GB network adapters teamed and the Proxies each have a single 10 GB network adapter.

I know there are benefits to having Veeam in a Virtual Machine, but I was trying to set it up so if the VM Environment goes down I would still have a way to recover data to a new VM Environment in a short amount of time (compared to rebuilding the Veeam server), plus I need a physical for the tape backups for offsite storage. I can hook up the Veeam server to our SAN Switch, which is what our VM Environment and 3PAR Storage is connected to. I know Veeam can also do a backup of the 3PAR directly, but I don't think we have the right license for us to do that with 3PAR.

With the setup we currently have, is it possible to do VM Backups without sending data over the network (I know network access is still needed for Veeam to talk to the proxies and other items, but I want to limit backup data over the network and try to speed up the backup times).

[veremin]

Does a VB&R server have a direct access (via FC) to underlying storage? If so, assign a proxy role to it, and use it in Direct SAN mode.

Additionally, if your license supports HPE 3PAR Virtual Copy, utilize backup from storage snapshots functionality.

Thanks.

[fkckbrown]

The VB&R physical server does have connect into the storage system though the SAN Switch, which the 3PAR is hooked up to. If I am understanding you correctly, I would need to have the physical Veeam server be the Proxy, except have it in Direct SAN mode. Can I do that with the Virtual Proxies while maintaining the physical VB&R server (with it connected to the SAN Switch)?

I know I have read that Direct SAN mode had some limitations. We are on the latest version of VB&R and are on VMware 5.5 (so far we are not planning to move to 6 any time soon unless we find benefits to going to 6). Any issues I should be worried or know about?

[veremin]

Can I do that with the Virtual Proxies while maintaining the physical VB&R server (with it connected to the SAN Switch)?

You can leave Hot Add proxies as is. However, to leverage Direct SAN mode and thus guarantee pure FC backup physical proxy server is required. Thanks.

[fkckbrown]

What are the storage requirements for Direct SAN? I know we looked at it and I think we were worried about the amount of space we would need to do storage snapshots. We have gotten more storage in our 3PAR so it might not be an issue now, but it is something we still need to look at.

[veremin]

Requirements are mentioned in the first link I've provided.

As to space considerations, I'm not quite following you on that, since usage of Direct SAN mode doesn't result in any additional space consumed during backup activities.

Thanks.

[fkckbrown]

I might be mixing it up with Snapshot backup of the 3PAR, or some other features. I thought I had read were it takes the load off VMware by using the 3PAR snapshot to do the backup of the VM Guest.

[veremin]

Yep, I also think this is the source of confusion. Anyway, as I've stated already, Direct SAN and Backup from Storage Snapshots are two different things; so, might be worth checking the provided link and seeing whether Direct SAN approach meets your "Pure FC" requirements. Thanks.

[nunciate]

We use FC only with our backups. Replications don't use FC on the target. If you are planning to do any replication it will always use Network Mode on the target assuming we are talking a physical proxy.

We have a SAN which is FC connected to all of our VMware hosts. SAN Volumes are mapped as datastores in VMware. Backups and replications create VMware snapshots which are promptly removed after the jobs finish so no storage concerns there.

The backup server is physical and also FC connected to the SAN. All SAN volumes must be mapped to the physical backup server in at least read only mode.
We have an identical setup in our DR site. We backup VM's here via SAN Mode. We replicate all VMs to DR (SAN Mode on Source, NBT on Target). We then backup all replicas in DR as well via SAN Mode.

We also use a Quantum Scalar i80 Tape Library in both Prod and DR. They are also FC connected to the physical backups servers so none of that traffic ever hits the network either.

[veremin]

We use FC only with our backups. Replications don't use FC on the target.

Small correction - Direct SAN mode is used only during the first session of the replication job. Then, either NBD or Hot Add one will be utilized.

So, to speed replication process it's recommended to have at least one Hot Add proxy at the target site.

Thanks.