Technicalities of Veeam B&R Server - what does it do?

[Vini]

We've Veeam up and running, and it's working fine. But I don't really understand what Veeam does, actually, its more 'how' it does it.

Our Veeam B&R (8.x) server, is a 'minimum spec' VM on a fairly low spec host. It has 160GB of storage. The OS takes up ~30GB. It's configured with a single VMXNET3 NIC, and the host only has two gig connections. It's working well. Well enough, but no doubt it can be improved/bettered. So, in a bid to understand things a bit better...

What exactly does this server do?
What is vPower NFS?
Would there be any benefit in beefing it up?
Would it benefit from being a standalone physical box?

From what I can tell Veeam initiates a snapshot on the host. I suspect, the B&R server then acts as a bridge to the storage device, so that the Snapshot on the host passes through the B&R server (vPower NFS??) on its way to the storage box...

I've also seen that running an Instant Recovery, fires up the VM on the B&R server... Is this the only benefit from having a chunk of storage available on the B&R box?

I'm just looking to understand it a little better, and if possible, improve backup reliability/speed.

Appreciate any comments.

[Shestakov]

Hello James,

What exactly does this server do?

Veeam backup server is the core component in the backup infrastructure that fills the role of the “configuration and control center”. The Veeam backup server performs all types of administrative activities:
▪Coordinates backup, replication, recovery verification and restore tasks
▪Controls job scheduling and resource allocation
▪Is used to set up and manage backup infrastructure components as well as specify global settings for the backup infrastructure
In addition to its primary functions, a newly deployed Veeam backup server also performs the roles of the default backup proxy and the backup repository (it manages data handling and data storing tasks).

What is vPower NFS?

vPower NFS Service is a Windows service that runs on a Windows backup repository server and enables it to act as an NFS server. vPower NFS allows VBR to mount a compressed and deduplicated backup file as a regular VMDK file directly to the ESX(i) host via NFS, so ESX(i) hosts get transparent access to backed up VM images.

Would there be any benefit in beefing it up?

For sure. vPower technology is used to enable the following features:
▪SureBackup: Recovery Verification
▪Instant VM Recovery
▪Multi-OS File-Level Recovery
▪Universal Application-Item Recovery (U-AIR)

Would it benefit from being a standalone physical box?

Could you clarify the question, please? Do you mean to have a VBR Server installed on a physical machine?
If yes, this post can give some valuable information.

I've also seen that running an Instant Recovery, fires up the VM on the B&R server... Is this the only benefit from having a chunk of storage available on the B&R box?

Basically, you don`t need a lot of space on VBR server for Instant Recovery. However, as mentioned above, by default VBR server works as a backup repository, so in a case of dedicated backup repository disaster, you can use VBR as a backup repository. A corresponding F.A.Q. topic contains more useful information.

Please read all provided links and ask additional questions. Thanks.

[Vini]

Thank you very much for your time and effort to respond Shestakov, it gives me something to read over Christmas.

[Shestakov]

You are welcome, James.
Once you have a question when you are done with reading, don`t hesitate to ask.
Have a great Holidays!