New Veeam 9.5 restore from current Veeam 7 repository ?

[rome1423]

hi, this is about vSphere migration (by VM Copy) , assisted by Veeam

I'm seting up new Veaam 9.5 infra (all VMs) on a new vCenter 6 infra (ESXi on FC SAN),
There is existing Veeam v7 VMs on old vCenter 5.5 (hosts is Esxi 5.1) that are Veeam Proxy Windows 2008R2 servers that has VMDK and RDMs for backup repository

I need to migrate (by VM copy) all the existing VMs (except Veeam, vCenter VMs) on existing vCenter 5.5 to new vCenter 6.
I would like to use Veeam v9.5 to access the current Veeam v7 repository to quickly restore the VMs from lastest backup (after shutdown) to the new vCenter infra.

Will I be able to add the existing Veeam7 repository to the new Veeam9.5 to be used for VM restore?
Will Veeam 9.5 recognize the VMs in the Veeam7 repository?
Or Do I have to add VC5.5 to new Veeam9.5 (with VC6 also added), then do normal VM backup to Veeam9.5 repository first then restore back...?

Any best way to restore or copy the existing VMs (around 50 VMs, 24TB data) to new vCenter with new Veeam v9.5 ?

thanks!

[foggy]

Yes, you will be able to create a repository in v9.5 poniting to the same location, rescan it and perform restores. You may also consider using planned failover for the migration.

[rome1423]

Many Thanks foggy ....also Many more Qns :

A) For using Veeam v7 source backup repository to restore, are the steps as follows :
1. after source VMs are shutdown, we can manually run a Veeam v7 Final backup job to just (incremental) backup/sync them.
1a. Are we able to exclude other powered on VMs from being backup in the same Backup Job?
2. then in Veeam v9.5 rescan the source repository to see latest changes, and do restore VMs to new VC6 hosts.

B) Using Planned Failover, are the steps as follows :
1. Add old VC5.5 to Veeam v9.5
2. Using Veeam v9.5, Setup Replication for source Powered on VMs in VC5.5 to VC6 hosts
2a) BTW, can the destination VM Replica have the exact same name as source VM, i.e. with any replica suffix like "_replica" ? We want everything EXACTLY as source VM.
3. Start the planned failover. When VM replicas are powered on and running without issue, stop/delete the replication job

I read Veeam Quick migration is possible to copy VM and run on it destination hosts,is it recommended?
C) Using Veeam Quick migration, are the steps as follows :
1. Add old VC5.5 to Veeam v9.5
2. from VC5.5 , select source Powered -On VMs, do Quick migration (cold migration). specify destination VC6 host and datastore.
3. Specify to Not Delete source VM files.
3a. Will Source VM or its files be modified during the process?
4. After Quick Migration, the destination VMs in VC6 will be powered up and running. ( No change in VM Name/folder etc)
5. Source VM will remain as it is (powered off)

In Veeam v9.5, plan to have a Veeam Backup server (with Veeam Availability Suite) and 2 Backup Proxy ( also act as Windows repository using big RDM LUNs eg 12TB size)
- any issue with having such big LUNs ? or better to break into smaller sizes ?

Wonder which method is the fastest?
And Any method best for specific scenario :
- Shortest VM downtime
- Process multiple VMs in parallel
- If some VMs have windows clustering eg Exchange , SQL
- Fastest copy/restore
- Most Reliable

thanks!

[foggy]

A) For using Veeam v7 source backup repository to restore, are the steps as follows :

Yes, however, keep in mind, that in case of a Windows repository, Veeam B&R v9.5 will update the components on it, so it cannot be used it in your v7 installation afterwards.

1a. Are we able to exclude other powered on VMs from being backup in the same Backup Job?

Yes, you can exclude the VMs at the VMs selection step of the job wizard.

2a) BTW, can the destination VM Replica have the exact same name as source VM, i.e. with any replica suffix like "_replica" ? We want everything EXACTLY as source VM.

Yes, considering this is a separate environment, you can name the VMs similarly.

3. Start the planned failover. When VM replicas are powered on and running without issue, stop/delete the replication job

Don't forget to make a permanent failover.

I read Veeam Quick migration is possible to copy VM and run on it destination hosts,is it recommended?

Yes, this is another way of performing migration.

3a. Will Source VM or its files be modified during the process?

No.

- any issue with having such big LUNs ? or better to break into smaller sizes ?

No issues, just keep in mind that storing backups on VMFS is not recommended.

[rome1423]

Thanks,
In this case, as source backup repository changed by Veeam9.5 won;t be accessible to Veeam v7, I won't be touching Veeam v7 source backup repository, as it might still be in use.
The current VC5 and new VC6 hosts are using separate FC SAN storage. The old and new hardware are in adjacent racks (side by side).
The current VC5/hosts and new VC6/hosts are connected to same subnet, old and new Veeam VMs are also on same subnet,
BUT VC5 hosts are on 1GB switches (access mode), new VC6 hosts on 10GB switches (trunk mode). they connect via a temp link (either 2x 1Gbps or 10Gbps)

For this datacenter migration, If I use
1. Planned Failover (Permanent) with Replication Job,
2. or do Full source VMs backup Job and then Restore to New VC6/host/datastore ,
3. or Quick Migration (VM Copy) from old VC5 to new VC6
- Should I deploy a new temporary Veeam v9.5 Backup Proxy VM on the old VC5 vSphere cluster, or can use the Veeam 9.5 Proxy on the new VC6 infra for the data transport?
- Is Appliance Mode transport possible in this scenario, or only Network mode can be used?
- OR I can remove a Veeam v7 proxy (VM) on VC5 cluster from old Veeam infra, and use Veeam v9.5 to upgrade the same VM to Veeam 9.5 proxy (temporary) to use for migration?

thanks!

[foggy]

With proxy having access to the source storage, jobs will be faster. You can just add existing v7 proxy to v9.5 and it will upgrade the components there.

[rome1423]

Hi,
How about Importing Backups from repositories A to Backup Server B ? Require to add Windows server (with Repository A) from which I plan to import backups must be added to Veeam Backup & Replication (to Backup Server B)...

from the link: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/backup/80/ ... e_hiw.html
You may need to import backups to Veeam Backup & Replication in the following situations:
▪The Veeam backup server has failed and you have restored it in a new location. You want to restore VM data from backups created by the Veeam backup server that has failed.
▪You want to restore VM data from backups created on other Veeam backup servers. -->does it apply to my scenario ?
▪You want to restore VM data from backups on the backup repository that is not connected to Veeam Backup & Replication -->does it apply to my scenario ?
▪You want to restore VM data from VeeamZIP files created on your Veeam backup server or other Veeam backup servers.

Also, for some important VMs i'd like to use Replica job (by Seeding) then do Permanent Failover at cutover period to minimize downtime.
If Replicating Exchange DAG clusters of 2 VMs or SQL clusters, anything to watch out for in Replication job and Failover ?
Any suggestions?

thanks

[foggy]

How about Importing Backups from repositories A to Backup Server B ? Require to add Windows server (with Repository A) from which I plan to import backups must be added to Veeam Backup & Replication (to Backup Server B)...

Correct, you would need to add the corresponding server to Veeam B&R instance so it could import the backups.

If Replicating Exchange DAG clusters of 2 VMs or SQL clusters, anything to watch out for in Replication job and Failover ?

There's a huge existing thread regarding backup/replication of DAG servers, worth reviewing.