Local storage requirements for offsite only design.

[DappyDuck]

Hi Guys,

We have a client who wishes to only have an offsite backup target.

So local backup proxy on site, then backup target offsite.

My question is, would we require adequate local backup storage in order for the backup proxy to process the backup data before sending the data to the offsite backup target?

or

Does the local proxy process and send the backup data to the backup target at the same time without the requirement for local backup storage?

Thanks in advance?

Cheers

[foggy]

Craig, in case of a regular backup job backing up right to the remote repository you do not need large local storage, as proxy server will transfer the processed data on the fly. However, a better practice to get backups offsite is using backup copy jobs. Actually, this is one of the most common scenarios – to have both local backup job with short retention period and remote backup copy job that copies data offsite for long term archival purposes. In this case you need some local storage for the backups created by the regular backup jobs to be stored, however offsite data transfer is optimized with the help of WAN accelerators and production VMs are not affected as much due to backup copy job activity being performed outside the backup window.

[DappyDuck]

Hey Foggy,

Thanks for the reply - funnily enough the original proposed design to the client was exactly how you described in your post - however, the client now wishes to have no hardware on site and wants to investigate direct to cloud.

Do you guys recommend direct to cloud backup, the client has a 50Mbps connection - I can see the benefits of having cloud only, however I do worry about the potential restoration delays? with the WAN accelerators in place, is this a problem on a 50Mbps connection or do Veeam customers regularly backup direct to cloud?

Thanks

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Craig,

The first thing to keep in mind when talking about DR plan/strategy is RTO and RPO. If your client agrees with delivered SLA, then he can go with backup to the cloud strategy only.

Me personally, I would NOT recommend storing your backup files in the cloud location only. 3-2-1 backup rule should be considered as best practice no matter what.

with the WAN accelerators in place, is this a problem on a 50Mbps connection or do Veeam customers regularly backup direct to cloud?

Regular backup jobs cannot use WAN accelerators, only backup copy jobs can. Given that there will be no local backups, backup jobs can take some time to transfer all data to the cloud (depends on the source VM data, link latency and target storage).

Thanks!

[DappyDuck]

Hi Vitaly,

Again, I totally agree with you and your thoughts. I have discussed RPO and RTO but the client is in the process of speaking to the board in regards to this, so I am awaiting these figures.

You guys have answered my immediate questions, which I really appreciate.

Thanks

[foggy]

You're welcome. Feel free to ask for any additional clarification, if required.