Veeam Setup Question - 2 ESX Hosts

[jlehtinen]

Hiya all,

I'm setting up a small virtualized environment, and I'm looking for some pointers so I can hopefully get it set up the best way! I've already purchased the licensing for Veeam B&R, I just need a few pointers on the best way to implement.

Here's my intended layout:

Onsite:
-1 server running ESX 4.0 U2
- This server hosts our production VMs

Offsite (connected via private WAN circuit)
- 1 server running ESX 4.0 U2
- This server stores our backed up VMs, and is used as a failover in case of emergency

My questions:

1.) Which server should I install the Veeam backup on? I would prefer the offsite one, and I believe I read here that ESX 4.0 supports 'new' backup methods, so the offsite installation of Veeam would only transfer changes, and not the entire VM across the network. Is that accurate?

2.) Any estimates on the system resources I should dedicate to the Veeam VM?

3.) Are there any consideration or "best practices" for the Veeam SQL databases? From what I've read I should use traditional backup methods for these, since the Veeam VM generally can't backup itself.

4.) This is a vCenter question so I'm just throwing it out there for anyone generous to offer input - but should I also install vCenter on the off-site server? My thought is that would reduce overhead on the in-house production server.

Thanks in advance for any/all input you can offer. It's appreciated!

[Vitaliy S.]

Hello John,

1. Yes, that's right. Having remote installation of the Veeam Backup server would also allow you to transfer changed blocks while using vStorage API backup/replication job modes. As far as remote installation is concerned, please have a look at this forum post describing all the Pros and Cons for offsite and onsite setups:
http://www.veeam.com/forums/viewtopic.p ... 8738#p8738

2.There is no special system requirements for the Veeam backup server running in the VM, however I would recommend you to grant this VM with 4 vCPU to have better performance.

3. Please have a look at the last but one question in the F.A.Q. section for the answer to this question:
http://www.veeam.com/forums/viewtopic.p ... SQL#p18667

4. As regards having the vCenter Server on the remote site, I'm not sure it is the best way to keep it offsite, as you might have some WAN link connection issues, that would lead to vCenter Server being inaccessible to the hosts while performing daily tasks.

Hope it helps!

[jlehtinen]

Vitaliy,

Thank you so much for the fast reply!

That's very helpful.