Dedicated NIC for backup traffic

[adam900331]

Hy.

I am implementing a Veeam B&R environment. I installed the Veeam B&R on physical server which has two NIC card, 1Gb and 10Gb. This server is backup proxy too. Now only the 1Gb NIC card is configured and I can access the server on it. I would like to configure the 10Gb NIC card for backup traffic. The 1Gb NIC card will be available only management network. So can I config the 10Gb NIC card to use only the backup trafic. If yes, how?

Thanks.

[rennerstefan]

Hi Adam,

Do you plan to put the 10g nic in a Dedicated network or is your plan to have both on the same subnet.
The last one will never be recommended as two interacts with different ips on the same subnet will get you lots of problems like dns issues etc.

For the first one you can set a preferred network rule and outside of veeam you should anyway make sure that the backup traffic then stays in the dedicated network by e.g. using firewall rules on the routinf etc.

Let us know some details on how exactly you plan to implement it.

Thanks

[adam900331]

Hy Stefan.

The 1Gb and 10Gb NIC will be different network segment. So can I config it with preferred network?

Thanks.

[rennerstefan]

Yes that would be the first steps.
As mentioned in addition I would also make sure traffic can’t go any other way.

Details also here:
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110

[adam900331]

Okay, but is the preferred network rule suitable for backup VM data from ESXi using network transport mode?

[rennerstefan]

Yes, as the guide says it’s used for all veeam components.
Reg traffic from vsphere host to proxy it depends on the transport mode. For hot add, direct san and BfSS it’s anyway directly going to the proxy on a dedicated way. For NBD you need to ensure that the vsphere host also has a NIC in your backup LAN so that traffic stays in there.

[adam900331]

Great, thanks.

So in practise. If my 10Gb NIC network detail:
IP: 192.168.1.10
Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gw: 192.168.1.1

If my 1Gb network detail:
IP: 10.0.1.10
Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gw: 10.0.1.1

Th preferred network rule which i have to config: 192.168.1.0/24
255.255.255.0

Can I add other network to preferred network?

[rennerstefan]

Yes that’s what I would do
Adding the other is not required.

Thanks

[adam900331]

Thanks!

[adam900331]

Hy! I tried it in practise, but I think something is wrong with this setting. I create a rule which allows to forward backup data during restore process on network transport mode. I create a rule on preferred network which include the 10Gb NIC network (192.168.1.0/24). But when I start a restore process I check the performance monitor, and still use the Veeam the 1Gb NIC. How can I configure it correctly to use 10Gb NIC?

Thanks.

[adam900331]

Anyone help?

[jorgedlcruz]

Hello Adam,
I would suggest to perhaps opening a support ticket to verify all is configured properly.

I remember this scenario on a Customer, but they went one step away, and used their hosts file on Veeam Server and Proxies/repos for all the VMware components pointing to the backup address, in your case a hosts file:
vcsa.yourdomain.com 192.168.1.50 or whatever IP vcenter is
esxi1.yourdomain.com 192.168.1.60

Etc. It was a bit extreme, but that led to 100% using that path always, as it was the only one Veeam knew for backup and restore.

Anyways, a support ticket can clarify without this additional step most likely.

Please let us know

[adam900331]

Thanks your comment. I use community edition, can I open support ticket? If yes, how?

Thanks.

[jorgedlcruz]

Hello, you can still yes. Under your my.veeam.com you should be able to do it, it will take some time to be picked up, etc.

Give the hosts solution a quick go and see if it helps.

[adam900331]

Thanks, I opened a support case.
Case #05653313

[FrenchBlue]

Hello,

If the ip's of the esxi servers to backup are not in the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet, then you have to add a permanent static route (with gw being 192.168.1.1) at the OS level to force traffic to use the 10 Gbits interface to reach these servers. Otherwise it will use the default route which is probably on your 1Gb nic. And potentially the same on the esxi servers to reach the VBR through the proper interface.

[adam900331]

Thanks, FrenchBlue! It works for me now.

[albertwt]

So how are the performance and the throughput when using the dedicated network ?