[POLL] Windows Server 2008 (non-R2) support in v10

[Gostev]

Hello all,

We're considering to drop Windows Server 2008 support for backup infrastructure servers in Veeam Backup & Replication v10, and would like to hear your opinion on this plan. We will continue to support Windows Server 2008 R2, so we're only talking about non-R2 installations here.

Essentially, this means that Veeam Backup & Replication v10 will not support Windows Server 2008 (non-R2) for backup server, backup proxies, backup repositories, WAN accelerators, tape servers, mount servers, gateway servers (so all servers running one or more B&R components), as well as the Enterprise Manager server.

However, we will continue supporting Windows Server 2008 as a guest OS, including full application-aware processing functionality. The scope of the change is limited to the servers running any Veeam roles.

There are 5 major considerations that lead us here:

1. There are certain technical and security benefits in supporting Windows Server 2008 R2 only, for example this will allow us to use a later version of .NET Framework.

2. The introduction of vSphere 5.5 already required all of our customers to upgrade their 32-bit Windows Server 2008 backup proxies to 64-bit ones (due to VDDK 5.5 system requirements). Most have also updated to 2008 R2 as a part of this process (2008 R2 is only available in 64-bit version).

3. Around the same time frame, the introduction of 64-bit data movers also pushed our customers to upgrade OS on their Windows-based backup repositories to 64-bit one for improved scalability.

4. Already, Windows Server 2008 R2 is the minimum version of Hyper-V we support, and is also the minimum version that our Agent for Windows (formerly Veeam Endpoint Backup) supports. It makes sense to put Veeam Backup & Replication in sync.

5. This will allow us to reduce the amount of platforms we need to test against by one, which became important with the introduction of Windows Server 2016. Everybody wins when we do not have to spread our QC resources thin, allowing our engineers to spend more time on more current platforms.

[EDIT] Additionally, Windows Server 2008 OS has issues in system cache allocation logic under heavy I/O (such as during backups) that causes long-running backups to come to a complete crawl, making it a bad candidate to run Veeam data mover on - thanks to @ian0x0r for the reminder!

Please vote and let us know your opinion!

Thank you.

[EddyChong]

We still have customers using Windows storage server based on Windows Server 2008 as Veeam backup server also repository. The capacity is still capable to hold the backups is the reason prevent them from purchasing new hardware.

[AlexLeadingEdge]

We have a handful of Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs) running Small Business Server 2008 (Windows Server 2008) and they're in extended support until 14/01/2020, but they're not virtual machines. We will eventually migrate them to Server 2016 (or later), but due to cost of a new server it will be at or around the time of Extended Support. As they aren't virtual machines these customers don't use Veeam B&R, and most of them will be gone in the next two to three years anyway.

For these machines we use Veeam Endpoint, Shadow Protect and CrashPlan. Veeam Endpoint goes to a locally attached USB drive that is rotated daily and kept in a fire proof safe, Shadow Protect goes to an internal drive that increments every 15 minutes for rapid recovery of lost files, and CrashPlan backs up to a central server in another city, so we have three forms of daily backups depending on the crisis issue (fire, earthquake, flood, lightning strike, hardware failure, etc.)

"Yes" is the technically correct answer, but the answer probably isn't very helpful in regards to Veeam B&R and for your purposes for future planning so I have voted "No".

[stevenfoo]

We still have numerous of windows server running on 2008 (not R2). As such having not to support that will be a disaster to our company.

Veeam need to be align with Microsoft End of Life support policy as well. Windows 2008 is not due until 2020.

So please keep support windows 2008 until Microsoft does not support it. That would be more fair and keep customer investment in Veeam.

[jmmarton]

It's not entirely accurate to say support for Server 2008 is until 2020. Mainstream support for Server 2008 ended 13 Jan 2015.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lif ... ver%202008

To retain support through 2020, you must purchase premium assurance. Without that additional purchase it has been out of support now for two years.

Joe

[stevenfoo]

We know that mainstream support date.

We are still getting patches. That's all we need and get the server up and running.

Our policy is to utilized to max. days of patch of Microsoft provide for windows 2008.

If veeam drop that then we can't backup our server for window 2008 anymore.

[patrickds]

@stevenfoo
You should pay better attention to the statement:

Essentially, this means that Veeam Backup & Replication v10 will not support Windows Server 2008 (non-R2) for backup server, backup proxies, backup repositories, WAN accelerators, tape servers, mount servers, gateway servers (so all servers running one or more B&R components), as well as the Enterprise Manager server. However, we will continue supporting Windows Server 2008 as a guest OS, including full application-aware processing functionality.

Your backups of Win 2008 or not in any danger, only Veeam backup infrastructure components will not run on it.

[haslund]

If veeam drop that then we can't backup our server for window 2008 anymore.

Are you saying you are using Windows Server 2008 for the Veeam infrastructure, meaning you installed the Veeam Backup Server on a Windows Server 2008 machine?

[Nils]

I guess this also applies to Windows 7? We're using W7/x64 for remote backup proxies - no DCE for branch locations.

[haslund]

I guess this also applies to Windows 7? We're using W7/x64 for remote backup proxies - no DCE for branch locations.

As far as I can see from Microsoft: (roughly)
Windows Vista = Windows Server 2008
Windows 7 = Windows Server 2008 R2

[ian0x0r]

Server 2008 (none R2) had its own issues with Veeam and memory utilisation. I have tried to avoid using it as a OS for the Veeam install for the last 4 years

[Nils]

@haslund: Thanks - forgot all about Vista, should've looked that up first. We're good!

[ferrus]

We know that mainstream support date.

We are still getting patches. That's all we need and get the server up and running.

Our policy is to utilized to max. days of patch of Microsoft provide for windows 2008.

If veeam drop that then we can't backup our server for window 2008 anymore.

@stevenfoo

Your backups of Win 2008 or not in any danger, only Veeam backup infrastructure components will not run on it.

Also - this is only for Veeam v10, and later.

As long as Veeam continue to support Veeam 9.5 on 2008, until MS remove support - this should align correctly with your policy of utilizing the max days of support, at the cost of new features.

[dwoodward]

My customers use Windows 2012 or newer for any Veeam infrastructure.

[ddayton]

I voted no since I am not using Windows Server 2008 non-R2 for anything related to Veeam infrastructure. I have two non-R2's running that must continue to be included in the backup and replication support of Veeam, but hope that they can be migrated sometime to at least 2012 R2 in a year or two.

[Gostev]

Server 2008 (none R2) had its own issues with Veeam and memory utilisation. I have tried to avoid using it as a OS for the Veeam install for the last 4 years

That's a very good point I should have added to my list and totally forgot... the issue is really nasty and used to cause lots of support cases and looong forum discussions let me go back and update the original post with one.

[Gostev]

As long as Veeam continue to support Veeam 9.5 on 2008, until MS remove support - this should align correctly with your policy of utilizing the max days of support, at the cost of new features.

Yes, we will ensure that 9.5 is supported at least through 1/14/2020 (end of patches from Microsoft). This should be easily doable, as we are talking 2 years after v10 release, which is basically our standard support time frame these days. Heck, we are still supporting v8 (which supports Server 2003) today - and it was released back in 2014.

[BarryH]

We are not using Server 2008.

[RubinCompServ]

To the people voting "Yes" because you still have WIndows 2008 in your environment, please note that this question is not whether to discontinue backing up Windows 2008, just whether Veeam (or any of its components) can be INSTALLED on Windows 2008.

[AlexLeadingEdge]

To the people voting "Yes" because you still have WIndows 2008 in your environment, please note that this question is not whether to discontinue backing up Windows 2008, just whether Veeam (or any of its components) can be INSTALLED on Windows 2008.

Yes, but the current wording doesn't say that, hence the confusion. I myself read Gostev's email after I read the poll and saw what they were really asking in the poll.

We have gone out of our way to not install Veeam B&R on Server 2008. Most of our backup servers are on Windows 10 and are often not on the domain because if the SBS server is the faulty machine then the domain is no longer accessible.

[RubinCompServ]

Yes, but the current wording doesn't say that, hence the confusion. I myself read Gostev's email after I read the poll and saw what they were really asking in the poll.

The question, itself, doesn't say that, but the top post most certainly does:

Essentially, this means that Veeam Backup & Replication v10 will not support Windows Server 2008 (non-R2) for backup server, backup proxies, backup repositories, WAN accelerators, tape servers, mount servers, gateway servers (so all servers running one or more B&R components), as well as the Enterprise Manager server.

However, we will continue supporting Windows Server 2008 as a guest OS, including full application-aware processing functionality. The scope of the change is limited to the servers running any Veeam roles.

[Gostev]

Sorry, there's a size limit for the question

[wilson.ho_fxhk]

1) We still have Windows 2008 (non-R2) servers using Veeam backup infrastructure components and
2) They can’t upgrade due to MS license not allowing us to upgrade to R2.
3) MS still supports Windows 2008 (non-R2) till Jan 2020.
4) We have no plan to purchase new license to upgrade the OS.
5) Due to Veeam supporting policy, only latest Veeam version is supported.

[veremin]

5) Due to Veeam supporting policy, only latest Veeam version is supported.

Actually, we do support at least one major version back. For instance, the oldest supported product version is 8.0 at the moment (released in 2014). Regardless, 9.5 will be supported at least until January 2020, as Gostev already noted at the top of this page.

[AlexLeadingEdge]

When does support for B&R 8.0 end? We still have one client with B&R 8.0 because they have a Windows Server 2003 machine which cannot be upgraded because of specially written software that won't run on newer machines, and their company is open 24/7 so the server is always in use.

[foggy]

With v10 release.