Suggestions for offsite backup copy

[brianlees]

We currently backup to a local NAS. I have setup a copy job to copy a second NAS, which is still currently local during config. We are going to be moving this offsite as soon as we have a good setup that we like. The concern at the moment is the amount of data that will need to be transferred across the WAN. So, I have a question about Veeam proxies. If I were to put a proxy at the remote site, what happens during the copy to the offsite location? Meaning, if I have synthetic fulls selected as an option, will the full be transferred or will the incremental be transferred and the remote proxy builds the synthetic full? Basically, I'm trying to understand if the proxy does "a lot of the work" or if it is just a gateway to the NAS. I'm trying to see if I can reduce the amount of data being transferred across the WAN.

On another note, we have Veeam 7 Enterprise (not enterprise plus).

Thanks!

Brian

[Vitaliy S.]

Hello Brian,

What type of repository do you use as a target for your backup copy job? If it is not a CIFS share, then proxy server on the remote site is not required, all the work will be done by source and target data movers (running on source and target backup repositories). By saying all the work I mean that synthetic full will be build locally, on the remote site.

Thank you!

[brianlees]

We are using CIFS shares on the NAS devices for the backups and the copy. So, if I put a machine at the remote location, that remote machine will build the synthetic fulls and just the incremental data will be transmitted across the WAN? If that is the case, is there anything special I need to setup in Veeam to have it work like that or will it automatically do it?

[Gostev]

That is correct. You need to pick proxying server located in the target site when setting up CIFS-based backup repository, that is all.

[brianlees]

So, how would I map the NAS? Would that be when I install the proxy? I specify the local NAS as the storage location for that proxy?

THis is great news, btw. We have several spare servers no longer in use that we could easily use for this task!

[Gostev]

Follow the Add Backup Repository wizard to create the new repository of "Shared Folder" type.

[brianlees]

Would I select the Veeam proxy or the NAS? In the remote office, there will be a Veeam server and the NAS (both on the network).

Or, am I adding the remote NAS as a backup repository on the remote Veeam server and then saying that I'm using the proxy server as the destination for the backup job?

I guess that is where we are a bit confused in the setup, since there is both a NAS and a Veeam server at the remote location.

[Vitaliy S.]

You need to select your NAS share as a repository and on the 4th step of the wizard specify your proxy server as a "proxying server" for the VM data flow.

[veremin]

Also you said that the backup management server is also located in the remote location, right?

Then, you need to specify:

1) Job settings: “Source” proxy (machine that is located in the production site)
2) Repository settings: “Proxying server” (machine that is located in the remote site)

This way, backup data will cross the existing link in highly-compressed and deduplicated state and will be decompressed and written to CIFS repository by proxying server.

Thanks.

[brianlees]

We have a proxy server setup and the remote NAS is has the proxy listed as the host. The original job is setup for synthetic fuels and transform chains. How can I verify that the copy job is using the proxy server to generate those on for the remote NAS? I'm looking in the log files and I don't see anything that indicates it is happening remotely.

[veremin]

If in backup logs there is no indication that remote proxying server is used, then it means that either you have specified something incorrectly or something has gone wrong with the mechanism itself. Either way you might want to open a ticket with our support team and let them take a look at this problem directly, since it's rather hard to make any speculations without seeing your actual setup.

Thanks.

[brianlees]

Thanks. I think the proxy is being used since I see a lot of network activity on it that I don't see on the central server. But, I'll still open a ticket to ensure I have it setup properly.