Migrating large database server to Veeam

[toreml]

Hi.
We are moving backup from an other system and over to Veeam.
Some of the SQL servers are quite large - with databases up to 1 TB.
The inital backup will take a long time - so I was wondering - could I first do a none application aware backup of the server and then change it to application aware when the first backup is done?

Reason for doing this - is that I can the continue to backup the SQL database and logs on the old system while the initial backup is running.

Is this a good solution - or is there any other way to do this?

Regards
Tore ML

[wishr]

Hi Tore,

I would suggest the following sequence to achieve backup consistency:

1. Create an initial backup with "Application Aware processing" enabled and "Perform Copy Only" option chosen for logs processing;
1.1 While it's running you can keep backing up the logs using a 3rd-party solution;
2. Once the initial Veeam backup is done disable the 3rd-party logs backup;
3. Modify your backup job and switch "Perform Copy only" to "Process Transaction logs", then choose "Do not truncate logs" option on the "SQL" tab and run the backup job to create a consistent point (1st incremental backup) you can restore logs from. *Note that the initial restore point mentioned in my point 1 won't allow you to do that, but at this moment you'll have your logs backed up with the 3rd-party solution, so it should be acceptable.
4. Once the incremental backup is done switch from "Do not truncate logs" to "Backup logs periodically", do not forget to set a schedule for the backup job itself to run on a regular basis and back up SQL logs.

That's it! Should you have any questions - just let us know.

BR,
Fedor

[toreml]

Thanks for the tips - I'll try this.

Tore