Concise list of tasks that leverage Veeam proxy role

[TitaniumCoder477]

Ok, so I'm having a bit of difficulty finding just a simple, conclusive answer. If there is one that I'm missing, please do point me in the right direction!

I need to know exactly which tasks below leverage the "Veeam proxy" role:

Backup job - YES
Backup copy job
Replica job - YES
Tape job
Instant VM recovery
Other types of recoveries
Gateway role - if repository doesn't support data mover services - YES[

I want to factor in CPU and RAM if a proxy server is going to be helping out in any of the above roles. I know the backup job and replica jobs definitely involve the proxy role (whether on appliance model or distributed model), but I can't locate information (apart from Visio diagrams that don't show the proxy role but perhaps rope it into the Backup server role? - example https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... tml?ver=95).

If I'm missing any other tasks in the list above that DO harness the Veeam proxy role, please let me know.

[tsightler]

Ok, so I'm having a bit of difficulty finding just a simple, conclusive answer. If there is one that I'm missing, please do point me in the right direction!

I need to know exactly which tasks below leverage the "Veeam proxy" role:

Probably the easiest way to think of it is that the proxy role in Veeam is used specifically in cases where we are reading data from, or writing data to, the hypervisor datastores, and really not for any other case. It "proxies" the data between Veeam and the hypervisor. If the data isn't moving between those two, then the proxy role isn't used.


Backup job - YES
Yep, since we are reading data from the hypervisor, a proxy process is reading that data, compressing it, and sending it to a repository process. It's possible that both the proxy role and repository role are on the same server, but there are still to processes, it's just that the same server is performing both roles, so you must plan for the resources of both components.

Backup copy job
Nope, no data is moving to or from the hypervisor, only between repositories, so the data will flow directly between repositories. If the repositories do not support data mover services, then the data will flow via either a) the manually selected gateway server, or b) if automatic gateway then the defined mount server for that repository is used.

Replica job - YES
Correct, data is moving between Veeam and the hypervisor so we need a proxy to do that.

Tape job
Nope, data is moving between the repository and the tape server. Of course, you could put the tape server role on the same server as the proxy role is installed on, which would mean you'd need to plan for resources for both, but it's a different role.

Instant VM recovery
This might be the one case were data is moving between Veeam and the hypervisor that doesn't use a proxy, but it's not being streamed between the two. Instant restore data flows from the repository, to the mount server which can also be enabled with the vPower NFS server (for VMware, it's a little different for HyperV). No proxy in this case.

Other types of recoveries
Other than Full VM or VM disks restores, proxies are not used, because data isn't going to the hypervisor.

Gateway role - if repository doesn't support data mover services - YES
This is actually incorrect. The gateway role is the equivalent of the repository role in cases where the repository itself doesn't support a datamover. It's certainly possible that a single server will run both the proxy role and the gateway role, especially when automatic selection is enabled, but the roles are distinct. The proxy datamover is still reading data from the hypervisor and processing it before sending it to the gateway datamover, even if they are both on the same box.

I want to factor in CPU and RAM if a proxy server is going to be helping out in any of the above roles. I know the backup job and replica jobs definitely involve the proxy role (whether on appliance model or distributed model), but I can't locate information (apart from Visio diagrams that don't show the proxy role but perhaps rope it into the Backup server role? - example https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... tml?ver=95).

If I'm missing any other tasks in the list above that DO harness the Veeam proxy role, please let me know.

This is where I think it became confusing. Notice your first sentence "I want to factor in CPU and RAM if a proxy server is going to be helping out in any above roles", this makes total sense, however, then you immediately revert to talking about tasks which use the "proxy role". It's totally possible that a single "proxy server" can be configured with the proxy service as well as the tape server, gateway, mount server, and vPower NFS server roles, but those extra roles are not using the proxy role, they are simply coexisting on the same server. If you configure all of those roles/service to run on their own servers, for example, the repository server, or the VBR server itself, then none of them will use resources on the proxy server.

[TitaniumCoder477]

Thank you so much! That's a great write up and helped a lot!