New Vsphere 4 setup - New install of Veam backup 4

[ECTF]

Hi guys,

first post here so please be kind to me. Ive recently installed a 3 host vsphere 4 enterprise solution running on dell M600 blades in a blade chassis. Shared storage is an ISCSI Equalogic 5000x SAN connected via 2 x Cisco 3750 (Gig switch stack) with jumbo frames etc enabled. the esx hosts connect via multipath gig links on the ciscos. equalogic has dual controller with 3 nics enabled on each controller. We are soon extending the storage array with an additional equalogic, possibly 6000xv
There is a sperate seperate physical vcenter server for management of the esx hosts, vmotion, HA DRS etc etc running on Windows 2003. Vcenter uses full SQL 2005 standard installed locally. This setup works and performs really well. We are currently in the process of virtualising a high proportion of our physical server infrastructure (30 plus guests) including SQL and soon to be exchange.

My next task is backup of these vm's. We have purchased veeam backup and I am now wondering what is the recommended install ? Being completely new to Veeam. I could do with some recommendations.
I have a 2TB DAS that I am tempted to attach to the vcenter server, install veeam backup on vcenter and dump the backups /replicas onto the DAS. Any gotchas on this ? Will veeam run ok on my vcenter server or would you recommend it on a seperate physical or virtual server away from vcenter ? what will speed be like, as currently our online backup facility is horrendously slow !

can veeam use my current SQL instance that vcenter uses ? if i put veeam on a seperate physical server will it need access to the vmfs storage that currently only my esx hosts have access to ?

looking forward to your replies.

P.

[TrevorBell]

Hi,

Your setups of 3 ESX boxes and eql is simular to mine here is what i do -:

Run a daily backup of the Live servers to a LUN on the eql SAN ( this way i get fast backup speeds and fast recoveries if i need them )

Run a daily Replication of the Live servers to a DR room 300 meters away ( Replicate 2 Dc`s and a few other mission critical servers ready incase of power issues in server room )

I have a 2TB Drobo in the DR room and once a week i copy from the SAN the latest backup just to have another copy. ( incase we have explosion here in the Gas company or total power failure we can then request our Dr partner onsite with Dr truck and generator i have a back ready to restore.

To be honest the beauty of Vb is there are many way to backup your hosts but its really down to what your company requires in SLA as to which strategy to take.

Hope that helps

Trev

[TrevorBell]

Also i used to run Veeam on the physical Vcentre server but now i run Veeam backup on a VM this was you can leverage Virtual Applicance mode within Veeam which should give you say an extra 10% speed increase in backups.

Maybe experiment with the setup you have first to get the hang of things then go Virtual for Veeam
Trev

[Vitaliy S.]

Hello David,

Yes, you can install Veeam Backup and Replication to the same machine where your vCenter resides, however you may also install it to a VM to use a Virtual Appliance mode (as Trevor suggested), so it depends on what mode you would use.
Also you can use already installed SQL server for Veeam installation, just point to the remote SQL server during the installation and the setup will create Veeam DB there
As for the speeds it really depends. Just you to be aware - we've got an Evaluator's guide (if you already haven't seen it) that contains useful tips on different setups and speed values that you should see in your setup (however please do remember that actual speed heavily depends on your infrastructure) http://www.veeam.com/veeam_backup_4_0_e ... ide_pg.pdf

Thank you