Implementing Veeam CDP, [Continuous Data Protection]

[albertwt]

People,

So how do I implement this new Veeam CDP (Continuous Data Protection) feature in my important VM backup?

I had too many bad experiences with VMware snapshot issue especially during the failed Veeam Backup where the VM snapshot cause the VM to be offline for long hours.

I'm running Veeam Backup & Replication v9.5 Update 2 on vSphere 6.0.

[daphnis]

This feature will only be available in version 10, and to take advantage of it you need to be on vSphere 6.5 (both vCenter and ESXi).

[albertwt]

Ah I see,

My vCenter is already on VCSA v6.5

So hopefully at the end of this year, Veeam v10 is released with this great feature.

[nielsengelen]

It's currently planned for Q4 so you should be able to use endd of the year. Keep in mind this is only for replication.

[albertwt]

Thanks Niels,

So I assume that this can only be used for Replication of Production VM to the warm / Cold Standby vSphere infrastructure?

[nielsengelen]

Correct, this is because VAIO is currently designed like that (more information about it can be found here.

Code: Select all

Caching - Will significantly increase the IOPS available, reduce latency, and increase hardware utilization rates.

Replication - Will allow the user to create VM granular replication policies for use in DR and other scenarios (ie. Snapshot)

[lando_uk]

This feature will only be available in version 10, and to take advantage of it you need to be on vSphere 6.5 (both vCenter and ESXi).

In the VMware info posted it says.

Product Versions Supported
This program supports the following product versions:
vSphere

6.0U1, 6.0U2, 6.5

So maybe not just v6.5?

[dellock6]

Correct, VAIO libraries have been introduced in 6.0u1. This said, we'll see when further information will be available, which version will be supported by Veeam CDP.

[james411]

So I just read Gostev's email and was obviously super excited to read about this new CDP feature. It comes at a perfect time as one of the challenges I've had with replicating with Veeam was a critical SQL server. I tried replicating every 5 minutes and found this was too often and my users would get disconnect from the database. I was just about to buy more SQL Server licensing and setup another server and do log shipping.

Now I'm wondering, will this CDP feature be workable on a production SQL Server to allow me to achieve much tighter RPOs (seconds maybe?)? If so, that would be great as it would save so much work setting up a second server (there is a custom line of business app that must also be setup in addition to SQL which makes it much more of a pain than just setting up log shipping).

Thanks!

[Gostev]

Absolutely - it is the perfect use case for Veeam CDP.

[tcross]

Just curious, will Veeam CDP work with the baisc VSphere Essentials Kit?

[nielsengelen]

VAIO is only available in non essentials editions. Standard and higher.

[cbc-tgschultz]

It was my understanding that CDP would only provide a crash-consistent copy. If that is the case, then that is a disadvantage to consider compared to SQL log shipping/availability groups.

[foggy]

Hi Tanner, you will still be able to create periodic application-consistent restore points within the same job.

[james411]

By the way, will the new CDP feature be available in all editions of VB&R?

[foggy]

It's not yet decided.

[Gostev]

That said, it is unlikely this will be available in all editions... the functionality is just too advanced, and so the associated support costs will be quite high.

[lando_uk]

How would Veeam 10 with CDP compare with Zerto? Would they offer similar features?

[veremin]

It's too early to share any specifics regarding this feature. But just out of curiosity - what features do you like most and what features must be implemented? Thanks.

[crackocain]

Hi

This replication is application aware? SQL, Oracle supported?

[veremin]

It will support application aware image processing. Take a look at this blog post for more details.

[bpayne]

Sorry no sub-forum for the new CDP product that I'm aware of yet. Few questions if I could try and get some insight.

1. Will CDP support VM's that have physical RDM's (eg - most healthcare EMR's require RDMs).
2. I know I'm really reaching with this one, any licensing details yet (per vm? Ent+?).

Thank you

[veremin]

We cannot provide any details at this moment. However, I'm wondering what are the reasons to stay on pRDM (not even vRDM) these days, could provide more details? Thanks.

[bpayne]

I dont disagree with you at all. But, Healthcare EMR applications require physical RDM's (for ex - Meditech, EPIC, etc). And we have customers using both those EMR's. The vendor will not support the application unless you follow their guidelines (which also creates an issue for Veeam Backup - we have to use Networker). And this goes without saying, if you dont have a supported EMR application, you dont have a hospital! According to Zerto and EMC Recoverpoint, those products do support VM's with physical RDM's. So this is an area I reallllly hope Veeam CDP can perform. Thanks for asking. I've been pushing this issue with my Veeam Sales Rep to get Veeam a bit more on board for Healthcare apps (b/c they require some very special backup and replication configurations).

[dellock6]

More than Veeam CDP supporting RDM, I'd wonder if VMware VAIO libraries do, and I highly doubt it. Exactly like snapshots and other techs, VAIO premise is that the IO goes through the hypervisor stack in order to be filtered and processed, with RDM (exactly like in-gues iscsi as another example) data totally bypass this stack and go straight to the volume.
I only found for now this blog (https://dpzoneblog.wordpress.com/2016/0 ... t-title-2/) talking about recoverpoint and seems indeed that VAIO does not support RDM.

PS: Zerto does not use VAIO libraries, so it may be that they support RDM. It's funny that such applications are so interested in certifying data protection solutions (and that's good) and then the accept a solution that not even the underlying hypervisor supports (https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2069900).

[bpayne]

Thanks for your response. That's a HUGE bummer. I'm also trying to get some confirmation from a VMware resource.

[mwvme]

Some of the packaging decisions will be made closer to release. So not sure of the answer right now.

Michael

[DeadEyedJacks]

For in-guest CDP, you might want to take a look at SIOS Datakeeper.
We have some application vendors which insist on using MSCS and RDMs and they certify SIOS.

[Matt.Sharpe]

Hi Guys,

Will the CDP feature in Veeam 10 require any special compatibility with Vendors that are supported to use San Snapshot support. OR will this feature work with vendors such as compellent? Can you also confirm if it requires vSphere 6.5 or will it work with 6.0?

Any information that can be provided on CDP for v10 would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Matt

[veremin]

Will the CDP feature in Veeam 10 require any special compatibility with Vendors that are supported to use San Snapshot support. OR will this feature work with vendors such as compellent?

No special storage device will be needed. The feature won't be tied to particular storage vendor(s).

Can you also confirm if it requires vSphere 6.5 or will it work with 6.0?

Currently we cannot share specifics regarding supported vSphere versions.