Suggestions Backup Strategy

[uris.chan]

Hi All,

Currently, we are using Windows Backup (for AD/Exchange) + Veeam Free Backup running in a Windows 2008 R2 VM to backup to a USB docking station mounted via vSphere. The USB interface, due to the ESXi host only having USB 2.0, is very slow and is thus inefficient.
I am looking at purchasing Veeam B&R Standard, as well as a NAS to improve on backing up the infrastructure.

Our infrastructure:
- 3 ESXi (of which, only 2 requires backup). All ESXi servers only have USB 2.0 interfaces
- ESXi connect to a SAN via 8 Gbps FC
- Total 12 VM backup (2 AD, 2 Exchange, 1 File Server, 1 SQL Server, 5 misc servers (Windows + CentOS) and 1 Sharepoint (yet to be commissioned). Total space is around 4-5 TB estimated) on a SAN volume.
Strategy
- Install Veeam B&R running in a Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise or 2012 R2 Standard VM
- Purchasing Synology RS815+ with 4 x 4TB HDD in RAID5. Mount as iSCSI LUN to Veeam VM
- Configure Veeam B&R to use the iSCSI LUN as the backup repository
- Mount a USB 3.0 docking station with 4 TB SATA HDD for monthly off-site backup

Questions:
- Is there a better architecture to recommend within a similar budget?
- Is there a big different in deduplication between Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise and Windows 2012 R2 Standard? I prefer to save the Windows 2012 R2 license if possible
- My ESXi host does not have USB 3.0. Conversely, this means that the USB docking station cannot reach USB 3.0 speeds. However, the Synology NAS will have USB 3.0. Is there any way to copy a full backup to the USB drive which is mounted to the Synology NAS?

Thanks!
Uris

[uris.chan]

I realized that there is a Windows 2012 R2 Storage Essentials NAS (Thecus W5810)

Will that be a better choice, to use the W5810 as a data repository, or even, as a backup proxy (not sure if the hardware specifications can support it as a backup proxy)

As it is a Windows system, I can mount the USB 3.0 and use a scheduled task to copy the backup to the USB disk.

[Shestakov]

Hi Uris and welcome to the forums!

Your plan looks good in general. answering your Qs:

- Is there a better architecture to recommend within a similar budget?

You can leverage Direct SAN transport mode for fastest backup processing. Regarding repository, I would not suggest using one brand over another, but you can check what our customers say in the related topic.

- Is there a big different in deduplication between Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise and Windows 2012 R2 Standard? I prefer to save the Windows 2012 R2 license if possible

Do you mean, if you use one of these two as a backup proxy server? If so, no, there is no difference. It matters if backup proxy is powerful in terms of RAM though.

- My ESXi host does not have USB 3.0. Conversely, this means that the USB docking station cannot reach USB 3.0 speeds. However, the Synology NAS will have USB 3.0. Is there any way to copy a full backup to the USB drive which is mounted to the Synology NAS?

Yes, you can use backup copy job for that purposes.
Thanks!

[uris.chan]

Hi, Shestakov,

Unfortunately, I won't direct SAN access as I won't have a physical server with FC connectivity to the SAN. Can a backup proxy VM have direct SAN access?

Here is the 2 options I have (let's take brands out of the equation). Another thing to note is that I only have 1Gbps network switches (so no 10 Gbps). Also, the USB should be mounted to the NAS as the ESXi host does not have USB 3.0
1) VM as B&R server + Backup Proxy (4 vCPU, 8GB RAM), NAS (Atom C2538 4 cores, 4GB RAM) exposed as iSCSI share as backup repository. USB mounted to NAS and shared as SMB
2) VM as Backup Proxy (4 vCPU, 6GB RAM), NAS (Celeron J1900 4 cores, 4GB RAM, Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials) as B&R Server + backup repository

This is what I can think of.
Pros of option 1
- NAS is a simple ISCSI repository. Specifications should be decent for pure iSCSI block sharing
Cons of option 1
- Backup copy job goes from NAS -> VM -> NAS (SMB) -> USB (unless somehow Veeam can recognize that the USB is attached to the NAS and does NAS -> USB)
- All load will be on the VM, potentially impacting the ESXi server

Pros of option 2
- Backup copy jobs go directly from disk -> USB. Much faster copy backups
- Less load on ESXi host
Cons of option 2
- Can Veeam Enterprise Manager run on Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials?
- Can 4 GB RAM support Veeam Enterprise Manager? No way to upgrade the RAM as the OS limit is 4 GB

P.S. I mean as a backup repository, using Window storage server deduplication, does Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise and Windows 2012 R2 Standard have any feature difference (deduplication wise).

Regards,
Uris

[Shestakov]

VBR server doesn`t need to have lots of resources and/or fast connections, it`s a managerial console.
VBR Proxy should have at least 2 GB RAM + 200 MB for each concurrent task
You can use same VM as proxy and VBR sever.

And regarding repositories, our recommended approach is to have 2 backups, local, faster one and a secondary for long-term backups.

Data flow for backup jobs is always Disk > Backup proxy > Network > Backup repository > Disk
So you if you use VM as a proxy(hot-add) you need to have fast connection between ESXi and NAS.

Data flow for backup copy jobs is Disk > Source backup repository > Network > Target backup repository > Disk
Proxy is not involved.

I mean as a backup repository, using Window storage server deduplication, does Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise and Windows 2012 R2 Standard have any feature difference (deduplication wise).

Microsoft servers improve deduplication from version to version and as far as I know there is no difference between editions in terms of deduplication, so WS 2012 looks like a better solution.

Thanks!

[uris.chan]

Hi Shestakov,

Thanks for the link.

For the VBR Backup Repository, is 4 cores (Celeron cores aka JT1900) + 4 GB RAM sufficient to act as an backup repository? Also, can the VBR repository runs on a Windows server that is enforced to use the Essentials Experience?

I have revised it to run this way:
- VBR Server + Proxy running as VM (using Hot Add) - 2 cores, 4GB RAM
- 1st VBR repository on the same VM, using local ESXi storage (VMs are running on SAN). Retention is 1 day
- 2nd VBR repository running on NAS (Windows 2012 R2 Storage Server Essentials, 4 core, 4GB) for long term storage
- Backup copy job to copy from 1st VBR repository to 2nd VBR repository
- Backup copy job of monthly backup from 2nd VBR repository to USB storage for remote storage

My only challenge is sufficient stoage on the 1st VBR data repository, which is only 1.2 TB. I may have to stagger my full backups to ensure sufficient space on it.

Regards,
Uris

[Shestakov]

For the VBR Backup Repository, is 4 cores (Celeron cores aka JT1900) + 4 GB RAM sufficient to act as an backup repository? Also, can the VBR repository runs on a Windows server that is enforced to use the Essentials Experience?

Yes it is. Review the System Requirements for more info.

VBR Server + Proxy running as VM (using Hot Add) - 2 cores, 4GB RAM

I would give it 4 vCPUs instead of 2 to make it able to execute up to 4 concurrent tasks.

1st VBR repository on the same VM, using local ESXi storage (VMs are running on SAN). Retention is 1 day

That`s possible, but not the best idea. Please review this topic.

- 2nd VBR repository running on NAS (Windows 2012 R2 Storage Server Essentials, 4 core, 4GB) for long term storage
- Backup copy job to copy from 1st VBR repository to 2nd VBR repository

All good.

- Backup copy job of monthly backup from 2nd VBR repository to USB storage for remote storage
My only challenge is sufficient stoage on the 1st VBR data repository, which is only 1.2 TB. I may have to stagger my full backups to ensure sufficient space on it.

Why not to use NAS as the 1st repository and USB as the secondary one. You can also consider GFS retention option for monthly backups.

[uris.chan]

Hi Shestakov,

I understand that it is not recommended but the speed between my NAS and the backup proxy is likely only to be 1 Gbps. I don't think we can make use of LACP since it is a 1-to-1 connection.

With the total size I am estimating (around 4TB), is the network speed good enough assuming I provision a dedicated network link for this backup?

Regards,
Uris

[Shestakov]

Uris,
Link aggregation is supported.

With the total size I am estimating (around 4TB), is the network speed good enough assuming I provision a dedicated network link for this backup?

It depends on such factors as Data Reduction rate(compression, dedup) and backup window. Here is a handy calculator.
Thanks!

[uris.chan]

Thanks Shestakov. I will consider your suggestion.

[Shestakov]

You are welcome, Uris.
Let me know how it works once you try.