What is the best way of protecting the Veeam Backup server?

[MikeK]

Thanks for the responses We do indeed save the configuration backup to a repository located at our DR site. This definitely works and provides a copy at our remote site. The option to save it to a network share IMO would be a nice to have in the future.

I've SVMd the VBR server to a replicated datastore and plan to use SRM. We do regular DR testing where we failover critical servers to our DR site and test various applications. The goal is to incorporate the VBR server into our existing playbook and ensure we can actually perform restores during a DR test. Veeam replication would certainly accomplish this as well but introduces another orchestration layer outside of what we do for the majority of our production infrastructure. The configuration backup will, of course, provide an additional layer of protection. Theoretically there shouldn't be any issues with this but I will not know until our next DR test.

Thanks again! Happy New Year.

[NetAdMBC]

I have a VM on which Veeam B&R9.5 is installed. I used to have in on a physical machine and would back it up with Windows Server Backup. Now that it's on a VM, is there any problem with using Veeam to back itself up? I would think it would work, but I just want to be sure I don't end up with something like the scene in Being John Malkovich in which Malkovich enters the portal into is own head....

[veremin]

No issues with such scenario. Additionally, I'd recommend creating a tiny share on physical machine, adding it as repository to a backup console and pointing configuration backup to it. Thanks.

[ProdEng]

Hi,
We have Veeam Backup and Replication Availabilty 9.5 installed on a Phsical server backing up several VMs on a seperate host.
As it does not seem possible to use B&R to backup the physical backup server I am wondering if it is possible to install and use the Free Veeam agent for Windows 2.1 on the B&R box to backup the backup server?
Many thanks for any help.

[DGrinev]

Hi Jason and welcome to the community!

The recommended approach is using native configuration backup, thus in case of disaster you can reinstall the product and restore configuration.
However, you can use Veeam Agent for Windows to protect physical server and create recovery media. Thanks!

[govi]

Hi Veeam Experts,

I have installed Veeam B&R on one of VM Machine and backup is stored on NAS (Backup Repository). Was just wondering if this particular Veeam B&R VM fails then how we can restore the Veeam B&R VM from backup since we don't have access to console. I don't have replication server as of now and may be in feature we will consider it.

Do you have any workaround for this kind of scenario?

Thanks,
Govi

[chjones]

Hi Govi,

In this instance, you could use the VBK Extract Utility (https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... tml?ver=95) and use that to open the VBK file and extract your Veeam Server, then upload it into a datastore, register the VM, and power it on. A good tip is to grab a copy of the Extract Utility out of the Veeam Backup folder and place a copy (or a couple of copies) in separate locations so you have access to it in a disaster.

I'd suggest protecting the Veeam Server in its own backup job to keep that VBK file as small as possible so there is less for the extract utility to process.

You could also use Veeam to protect itself with by creating a replica of itself, with a Veeam Replication Job, onto another ESXi server and storage system.

[reaperhammer]

Hi All,

We have a PROD Veeam server (physical & uses SAN snaps) and a standby DR Veeam Server in a DR site (VM). We use Rental License type. We use a stretched LAN. We have VCenter high availability so all Vmware DataCenters are under 1 vCenter. We backup many VM's in PROD and we want to replicate some to DR.
Setting up replication jobs now and I have thought of 2 options:
1. Have replication jobs run in PROD Veeam server. If failover is required, restore Config backup of PROD Veeam server to DR Veeam server and start failover plans.
Pros, Only one license required (or can we use the same rental license in DR to replicate VM's licensed in PROD??), Only one server is controlling the proxy and repository services on the PROD Veeam server.
Cons, Another manual step is required at failover time.
2. Have Replication jobs running from DR Veeam server all the time and just start failover from there.
Pros, Failover can be done almost immediately.
Cons, 2 "Brains and one body" for Veeam proxy and Veeam Repository services running on the PROD Veeam server - or another proxy server in PROD is required, also the possibility of backup jobs running at the same time as replication jobs and causing failure of either. Additional Veeam licensing required (or not - Can someone answer this?)

I personally prefer Option 1

[skrause]

From a licensing standpoint Veeam doesn't care how many Veeam servers you run, just how many objects (either host sockets or VMs depending on licensing model) are being backed up/replicated.

[mkaec]

From a licensing standpoint Veeam doesn't care how many Veeam servers you run...

I really like that about Veeam.

[foggy]

I personally prefer Option 1

Yes, it's completely a matter your preference, select approach that is more acceptable in your environment. Licensing question is out of scope here, as mentioned above.

[reaperhammer]

Thanks for that information, can you confirm this still applies when using the rental license type with automatic license reporting enabled? I was worried that if PROD Veeam server reports we need 100VM's license then DR server reports we only need 50VM's the Veeam license server will only know the last number that was reported, if that happened to be DR, that would be a big problem for PROD.

[foggy]

Veeam license server will know the total number of protected VMs, so you should be fine with the rental license. Anyway, only actually protected VMs are reported.

[rurouni]

Hi, all

We are building a Drp based on Veeam Replication for some vms between two sites.
Prod site actually hosts the backup infrastructure including vbr server, repositories, and proxies.
How should we consider the total loss of primary site? I read a lot that some suggests to place the vbr server on the secondary site so that it would not benaffected and you could manage to failover from there.

However, to me it is not satisfying since in this configuration if you lose the secondary site you ll loose your ability to backup and replicate, which is not acceptable.

So my question is: what are your suggestions if you need to protect the vbr server so that you would be able to perform failover once the primary site failed?
If the vbr has failed. Is it still possible and consistant to perform the DR « manually »
Is there a more clever Way to keep the replication console available so you can safely perform your Failover?

Regards

[bdufour]

Install two instances of veeam one at the primary site and one at the DR site, but run everything out of the DR site and back up the configuration. if you lose the DR site you can restore the config at the primary site and start running from there. you can install as many instances of veeam without licensing issues bc its not tied to installs. trust me, running veeam and ALSO vcenter out of the dr site is the way to go.

you can fail over manually - ive tested this thoroughly, but its not ideal - bc you would lose all restore points after you consolidate the replica disk at the DR site and they will no longer be tracked by veeam. once the primary site comes back up you will have to re replicate the VMs back to primary using the primary site vms as seeds (if it isnt a total loss).

so even if your veeam server is at the DR site, but vcenter is at the primary site and you lose the primary site there would be no way to fail over from veeam without vcenter, unless vcenter is at the dr site with veeam or replicated to the dr site and restored first (but it may not work depending on how you initially set up vcenter) OR you configure your replication jobs through the host at the dr site and not vcenter.

hope this helps!

[foggy]

I've merged your post into existing thread one discussing similar issues, please review it for other considerations on protecting Veeam B&R server. Thanks!

[mensa]

Just create a regular backup job with VBR server VM.

I did that, but I always get that error now:

Code: Select all

Failed to create VM snapshot. Error: CreateSnapshot failed, vmRef 33, timeout 1800000, snName VEEAM BACKUP TEMPORARY SNAPSHOT, snDescription Please do not delete this snapshot. It is being used by Veeam Backup., memory False, quiesce False
Error: A general system error occurred: 

Are there any special settings which I should set for Veeam B&R VM itself?

[foggy]

No. Try to create snapshot of this VM manually using vSphere Client.

[rurouni]

Hi
Thanks for the answer.
We got further in our dr planification.
We decided to upgrade vcenter to 6.5 and enable ha feature so even in a disaster on primary site the vcenter remains available as is on secondary site.
However going back to veeam itself, i m wondering if it would not be clever to dedicate an instance hosted on secondary site exclusively for réplications.
What would be the pros and cons if the roles are distinct. I already come to think of that
Pros:
- no dependency on the prod site and main instance
- separated maintenances on a dedicated instance with no impacts on backups on one side and replications on the other side.

Cons:
- no consciousness of backup operations. (It could bring collisions between backups and replications snapshots, higher parallel load on the production storage/esx)

I also came to wonder if it would not be clever to set up replication instance directly on DR esxi hosts instead of vcenter to eliminate vcenter dependancy for DR.

What are your opinions on all those?

[DGrinev]

Hi,

An independent instance of VBR at DR site correlates with the best practices.

also came to wonder if it would not be clever to set up replication instance directly on DR esxi hosts

Yes, you can do this as it's the common practice to choose DR ESXi as a target for replication. Thanks!

[marius roma]

I remember that the topic was widely discussed in this forurm.
Can anybody please point me to the latest topic about the best way to backup a Veeam B&R 6.5 server running as a Windows Server 2016 VM hosted by a VMware vSphere infrastructure?
Regards

marius

[Dima P.]

Hi Mario,

Will configuration backup work for this customer? Cheers!

P.S. Should I say it's time to upgrade?

[marius roma]

Many thanks.
I implemented "Configuration Backup" but it requires a VM with Windows, SQL and Veeam B&R installed and updated.
We must ensure that the VM is updated.
In case of disaster we must import the configuration and solve any possibile issue.
I would rather prefer a way tu perform a regular backup of the current Veeam B&R VM and, in case of disaster, just restore it.
Our previous physical Veeam B&R server was backed up using a third party application.
What is the best way to perform a full backup of the VM acting as Veeam B&R server?
Regards
Marius

[foggy]

Just back it up with application-aware image processing and keep in mind hotadd limitations.

[lucius_the]

Maybe you're going to laugh about this one, but still

I am actually thinking about something that I have a use case for. Let's consider just two ESXi hosts. Both of which I'm backing up with Veeam B&R. Veeam B&R Server is actually just a VM running on one of those two hosts. On both hosts I also have a separate VB proxy VM, because of security and better speed to the NAS. Having a Veeam Server in a VM on of those hosts means I want to have a replica of that VM. Obviously, I don't want to waste time by rebuilding the Veeam Backup VM in case I really need it (that would be in the case the host where the Veeam Server VM is located actually dies). So it's a proper candidate for a replica.

Of course I should have the Veeam B&R on a third, separate host. But even in that case I still might want a replica of it, right ? Why not ? Ok not really the same situation, as chances are that the third host will not fail at the same time as the host I'm trying to protect. Of course this is not the recommenced setup, but world is not perfect, so let's skip obvious comments and consider this for a moment.

In such setup, is it possible/viable to plan a replication job for the VM that holds the actual Veeam Backup Server ? Does that have any good chance of working as expected ? Again, I have a separate VM with VB proxy on this host, so that's supposed to do the actual replication work, but VB server still is the machine I'm trying to replicate. If it completes (I didn't test yet but I see no reason why it wouldn't complete) - question is in what state would the B&R VM replica find itself when I power it on the new host ? I guess, as the backup would have started on that machine (as it's a VB Server), the replicated machine, when started, would find itself in a state when snapshot was taken. And that would probably be in the middle of doing backup - of itself. So... what can one expect ? Would it try continue/finish that backup when started ? Would it just fail the job as the source is not reachable ? Would something seriously screwy happen ? Or could this actually work ?

I know this is probably not the best idea, but I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

On surface, it sounds cool anyway. You only have two hosts and your VB Server is in one of them, but you can replicate it so if one fails, the other host has a ready-to-use replica of Veeam B&R Server. It does sound cool, but what about real life. Possible ?

[lucius_the]

I think I overcomplicated this question. I guess the basic question here is: can one use Veeam B&R to backup the Veeam B&R server - when it's installed in a VM ?
Yeah, that's it actually

[veremin]

Yes, you can. Thanks!

[falkob]

You could also have a look at the Veeam Best Practice Guide:

Protecting Veeam Backup & Replication Configuration

Best Regards !

Falko

[nestorius]

Hi,

I have a disaster scenario : My veeam b&r is installed on Server 2016 std. virtual machine. If my veeam server virtual machine corrupts (and all virtual machines corrupt). How can I recover my datas. Thanks...

[Andreas Neufert]

All Metadata is in the backup files as well.

Install a new B&R server and import backup files, then restore.

If you have a Config Backup, you can restore it as well to get the job information and other things.