Backup Repository - no more space

[sogapex]

Hello,

what is the best way to handle a "full" backup repository ?
In my case, my monthly backup target is full (NAS).
And so, the job fails since, if I understand well, it does its backup thing first and then remove older backups in the chain.

I removed some of the oldest backups files to get some space, but now, one of the VMs is not backupped anymore by the job (Error : file does not exist)

Thanks

[Andreas Neufert]

Please contact our support to solve the situation. The issue is that we keep track of our backup files and if some are lost (manual delete) we do not allow to continue to backup because something happened out of our control at the backup target.

There is a Repository-Advanced checkbox for "changeable media" which deactivate this monitoring and if the existing chain is not there anymore we will recreate the backups.

If you delete backups manually I strongly suggest to do this within our user interface.

[sogapex]

yes, I already contacted the support team and the "problem" is solved. (very quickly as usual)
But, my question here = what is the best way to handle a "full" repository ?
You say : "do this within our user interface"
=> where can I manage that ?
when I go to "home / Backups" and then "right click" on the job name / properties, I can't see a way to remove some backup files there.

[danswartz]

You go to the Backups => Disk view? Then you can see job names. Right-click on jobs and delete from disk?

[sogapex]

I can see this option, but it sounds like to me it would delete the entire job backup from the disk.
In my case, I only want to be able to delete some older backup (example : first full backup and all the next incremental backups in the chain. Or only some VMs's backups. But definitvely not the whole thing)

[veremin]

Manually remove old backups (but make sure you do not remove backups current backup chain consists of - the latest .vbk, for instance). Then, re-scan backup repository. After that, remove missing restore points. Thanks!

[sogapex]

ok, exactely what I did in the end.
Thanks for your help.

Suggestion : having a feature to "maximize" the number of backups => instead of telling Veeam B&R how many restore points we want to get. ("I" just want to store as much restore points as possible on the target media)

[foggy]

Your suggestion is good in theory but has several pitfalls, for example, the need to predict how much space will the next restore point occupy with the ability to free up the required space (currently retention is applied at the end of the job) and also the risk to lose all restore points in case the next one is too big.

[sogapex]

yes, you are right : this is already a complex problem for us (human). Prediction is not a good thing in such a case (backup = we want reliability first)

[GreenAlpha55]

Do not let your repository fill up or you risk losing all your backups! https://www.veeam.com/kb1886

This happened to us 6 months ago on a Synology We've since moved to an R740xd physical server with Raid50 local storage on ReFS.

[Steben]

Hello,
I am a newbie to Veeam and the site I work at was setup by an external firm before I was employed. We run a QNAP NAS with a bit over 10TB storage for our backups. This has been running well since commissioned in 2018 but now is down to 51GB free. Our backups are failing nightly now. I freed some space but this has not helped.
The way its setup is we have a core infrastructure (Core Infrastructure Daily) backup nightly and a Office365 Email backup. The Infrastructure backup when completed is then copied to a cloud repository (Backup Cloud Copy Job). We have 30 restore points for QNAP and 3 for the cloud backup.
My question is it possible to move some of the Infrastructure backup files to another location away from the QNAP without affecting the current backup jobs?

Cheers in advance for patience with a noob and helping.

[HannesK]

Hello,
and welcome to the forums. I merged your question with one of the existing "how to free up space" threads.

My question is it possible to move some of the Infrastructure backup files to another location away from the QNAP without affecting the current backup jobs?

sure, please see this KB article: https://www.veeam.com/kb1729

and a Office365 Email backup.

you are talking about Veeam Backup for Office 365? That's a different story, as it is a database. Is that amount of data relevant compared to you VM backups?

Best regards,
Hannes

[Steben]

Thank you HannesK, I am more concerned with the Veeam backup than O365. I will look over your suggestion to see if it resolves my issue.

[Steben]

I looked at that solution but its not a resolution for me. I want to keep backing up to my QNAP repository but see if there is a way to thin down the current infrastructure folder on there. Currently it is at 8.4TB of used space (Email backup folder has remaining space). I am looking to see if I can export some data out of the infrastructure backup folder to an external drive till I can get funds and approval to expand the NAS.
I am looking at replacing the four 3.64TB drives with Seagate Ironwolf 8tb drives.
Is it possible to do this?

[HannesK]

I'm not aware of the QNAP capabilities... but all systems I have worked with can handle disk space expansion by replacing all disks. Please note that I never worked with SOHO equipment. So maybe QNAP can help you or other forum members that use such systems.