replication to public cloud

[myrdin]

Hi guys,

I am new here but I have been using Veeam b&r on a number of occasions now and I am pretty happy with it.

We are trying to move out from our colo and backup to the public cloud (azure?). I am not sure how it works exactly, so my questions are:

- you set up veeam b/r cloud edition and somewhere you will get a button to backup to cloud right? I am guessing inside Veeam it will ask you for user/pass and it will read the actual conf of your account in Azure or something.

- after that you start your replication. What is your experience with this? I am in Australia, is Azure good for this kind of thing? What is the name of the service exacclty in Azure, Storage Geo Redundant? it looks veeeeery very cheap (like 200 bucks per 2 TB).

- did you actually try it, does it work? any recurring problems or things I should be aware of?

cheers guys,

[veremin]

- you set up veeam b/r cloud edition and somewhere you will get a button to backup to cloud right? I am guessing inside Veeam it will ask you for user/pass and it will read the actual conf of your account in Azure or something.

It’s slightly different, actually. The Veeam Cloud Edition just transports your backup data directly to Cloud. In other words, you have firstly to backup VMs locally and only after that specify the so-called “Backup Plan” in Cloud Edition, that will handle for you a process of copying backup files to a given cloud.

And yes, there you will be asked about information regarding cloud account, password, etc.

Additionally, if you’re speaking here about direct VM cloud replication, please be aware that it’s not possible at the moment.

With regards to Australian based cloud storage providers, kindly take a look at this topic; might be useful.

Thanks.

[myrdin]

thanks very much Eremin.

I am familiar with this solution (except for the Cloud thing) and I am aware i have to backup locally somewhere first and then transfer the backup away,

cheers

[myrdin]

Do you need to install Veeam in a VM in the remote location too or you just need storage space in the DR?

[foggy]

If we are talking about backups to one of the remote storage services listed in Veeam B&R Cloud Edition, then you just need the space. What Veeam B&R Cloud Edition basically does, is simply uploading the local files to the specified cloud storage. That's why it is preferable to use forward incremental mode over reversed incremental as Cloud Edition is not capable of tracking changes on the block level and will transfer the entire full .vbk file to the cloud each time if reversed incremental is used.

[myrdin]

thanks foggy. What about the Veeam B&R standard, not cloud edition. If I am getting some storage space that I will be able to access in some way (like SMB through UNC path), do I still need a VM on the remote site or I can just tell Veeam to put the replica data to a unc path? how does that work?

thanks in advance

[foggy]

It's always better to have Veeam agent at the remote side to have the traffic transferred between loctions in a compressed format. In case of backing up offsite to the DR, this would be an agent-enabled backup repository (or a proxying server, in case you are using CIFS to access the repository location). For replication, you need to set up a proxy server (could be any existing VM) on the target side for that.

[myrdin]

thanks foggy. this would be the scenario:

- local site with Veeam b&r installed and backup to a local storage
- remote site that I can reach with a VPN with a whatever windows host installed.

What would be the difference between replication or just do an additional copy (I don't know if it is actually possible) to the remote hosts given that I can reach it in any way?

Does the replication (or the presence of the "proxy) need additional licenses? or do I need just licenses for the main site? (I won't have anything in the DR site, just the replica of the main site).

thanks again

[Vitaliy S.]

Hello Nick,

What would be the difference between replication or just do an additional copy (I don't know if it is actually possible) to the remote hosts given that I can reach it in any way?

Do you refer to addition copy of the backup files? Well...in case of replication jobs you can fire up the VM in a matter of seconds, as it is stored in the native format on the ESXi/Hyper-V host. As to the backups, then you would need to use Instant VM Recovery option or perform full VM restore that will certainly take some time before you go live.

Does the replication (or the presence of the "proxy) need additional licenses? or do I need just licenses for the main site? (I won't have anything in the DR site, just the replica of the main site).

You need to have licenses for the source site only. Please review our sticky F.A.Q. topic for more on this.

Hope this helps!

[foggy]

What would be the difference between replication or just do an additional copy (I don't know if it is actually possible) to the remote hosts given that I can reach it in any way?

Here is a good topic containing detailed backup vs. replication considerations, worth reviewing.

[myrdin]

thanks everyone for your answers. I am wondering if this forum has a "point" system, I am assuming the "likes" work that way....

anyway: now that I have clear replication vs backup, my question is:

- can you set up to copy the backups on the main site out to another place (given that I can reach the place?), so basically having two copies of the backups/incremenetals?

cheers

[myrdin]

if this is the scenario :

- local hyper v infrastructure with Veeam b&r backing up on local SAN
- remote windows 2008R2 (that i can reach thorugh a secure channel) with enough space to hold a full backup and incremenetals

- is it correct to say that I have to create a backup repository to point to that windows 2008R2 and create a job to backup over there?
- is it possible to integrate an offsite copy on the existing job instead of creating a separate job for the offisite?
- do I need to install the proxy on the windows 2008r2? how? does it requires an additional license

thanks !

[foggy]

I am wondering if this forum has a "point" system, I am assuming the "likes" work that way....

Not actually a "system", but we always encourage community members to "like" interesting and useful posts (those that have helped to resolve some issue or provide some new and useful information). Kind of a way to say "thanks" to a member who've helped you or shared something valuable with the community. We also have the "Best post of the week" in the weekly forum digest being the post that received the largest number of “likes” during the week.

- can you set up to copy the backups on the main site out to another place (given that I can reach the place?), so basically having two copies of the backups/incremenetals?

Yep, there are a couple of ways you can do that with the current version. The one is to set up separate jobs for two different target locations, and in this case you can use Veeam backup seeding functionality to seed the backup files and replicate subsequent changes. The other is to use third-party software, there are plenty of existing topics on this, the couple of the most recent ones are: Best backup setup for mirroring backup respository and v6 - How to have a local and off-site backup copy?).

However, the upcoming v7 release will provide native functionality to perform this task, probably you've already heard about new Backup Copy jobs.

Regarding your last question:

- do I need to install the proxy on the windows 2008r2? how? does it requires an additional license

You do not need a proxy, however you need an agent. So the backup repository should either be agent-enabled (Windows or Linux type) or have a proxying server if it is a CIFS repository. No need for the license as Veeam B&R is licensed per physical CPU socket of the source hosts (where VMs you backup reside).

[veremin]

Is it possible to integrate an offsite copy on the existing job instead of creating a separate job for the offisite?

Yep, it is. For now you have to create a custom PS script and specify it as a post-job activity; so that, once the job has finished, this script will copy corresponding backup data to external location.

This topic might be helpful, if you’re also eager to implement some kind of GFS rotation scheme.

If you still have some questions of how this process should be automated, don’t hesitate to let me know. Thanks.

[myrdin]

thanks everyone for your answers.

Final questions:

- I am planning to go with two backup jobs using two repositories. I map both repositories (local and remote) and create two jobs (one that point to the local one, one to the remote one). I will install the agent to the destination remote site. is it correct? Does Veeam have any mechanism to do this across WAN and optimize the traffic?

- given that the WAN backup will probably last 2 weeks, will the other backup to the local repository run at the same time?

- The client won't need recovery points at the destination site. One I did the first full backup, can I copy configure the system to copy just incrementals? If I configure syntethic, does the system create full backups out of the incrementals at the remote site? The goal is move as less data as possible after the first sync. A full might take 1 week or 2.

thanks

[veremin]

I will install the agent to the destination remote site. is it correct?

Once a given repository is added to backup console, it means that all required backup components have been already installed.

given that the WAN backup will probably last 2 weeks, will the other backup to the local repository run at the same time?

No, as this is impossible to backup/replicate same machine simultaneously by different jobs. However, in order to reduce the time of initial replication run you might want to backup first to local repository, then move backup data to remote location via external device, and then map a corresponding backup job to remote repository.

If I configure syntethic, does the system create full backups out of the incrementals at the remote site?

VB&R won’t try to perform new full backup via WAN connection, that , indeed might take some time to finish. Instead, VB&R will create a new full backup in remote location, using previously-created .vbk file and chain of .vib ones.

Thanks.

[myrdin]

thanks very much for all your answers.

[veremin]

You’re welcome. Don’t hesitate to contact, if any other questions arise. Thanks.