Reuse instance of SQL Server from vCenter Server for Veeam?

[mfo]

Hello,

we are planning to install Veeam Backup & Replication on the same machine as the VMware vCenter Server. The vCenter Server is using SQL Server Express 2005 as it is installed by default.

When installing Veeam Backup & Replication, I can choose between using the existing SQL Server Instance from vCenter or to install a new one.
My question is whether its a good idea to use the existing SQL Server installation already used by vCenter Server or if I should separate these two and set up a new instance. Using the same instance may give me a performance advantage as I don't need to run two SQL Engines but using a new instance gives me a nice separation of the vCenter DB and the Veeam DB. So which option is the best practice?

Our datacenter is pretty small with 2 ESX Hosts and around 10-15 virtual machines.

regards,
Christoph

[Gostev]

Hi Christoph, sure - you should just reuse SQL Server Instance that is already in place. I would do this!