What is the best way to backup/replicate this simple system?

[Joris85]

Good day all,

I am new to the VEEAM experience, but have experience with VMWare.
Today we have a system that contains of 1 VM-host (vSphere 4.0 Essentials Plus) with local storage that contains 4 Virtual (W2008) Servers and 4x1Gb ethernet Ports.

One of those Virtuals Servers has VEEAM Backup and Replication installed.
The VEEAM Backup and Replication software takes backups of all Server to a NAS that is directly connected to the Server (Netgear) and that has a network folder.
This works perfectly.

Now we are asked make a quote to improve this system, also in terms of redundancy.
Because of the already available licenses, I thought of doing this:

1. Buy a new VM-Server that will be used as a hot-standby, connected to the existing VM by Ethernet, using vCenter 4.0
2. Configure VEEAM for (contineous?) replication (of all 4 servers, including itself) to that Server
3. Keep taking the backups to the NAS

Is this a good idea? Will this be possible?
Do you need ISCSI for this (I am not experienced in this matter)?
Do I need additional OS licenses for this?
Can I replicate the VEEAM backup machine itself to the 2nd host?
If the 1st hosts goes down, will the Host that contains the replicated machines start them automatically?
Or there better solutions for this? Or where to find more information?
I could not find a architecture like this on the internet, they always seem to have the VEEAM backup on a seperate machine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Joris

[Joris85]

The version of VEEAM installed =

Full license
Licensed sockets: 2 (2 in use, remain 0)
Edition: Standard

So I am not sure for the system above I will need an additional Veeam license?

[dellock6]

Hi joris, I've already designed small solutions like this one, and your ideas are all good. Two nodes without shared storage, only local datastores, you use Veeam twice, first to do replicas from ESX 1 to ESX 2, with a frequency that suits your needs. A second activity from Veeam to backup all VMs to the NAS. Few retention points for replicas (they need to be powered on probably from the last version in case of problems), more retention points in backup.

For the licenses, you would need two additional licenses if the second server is going to have 2 sockets. I would also consider the Essentials bundle for your environment, it's limited to 6 sockets so for you is not even a limit, and has lower price and gives you also Veeam One.

Luca.

[Joris85]

Hello Luca,

Thank you very much for your helpful response.

Will it be cheaper to buy a VEEAM Essentials license for 4 CPU then an additional license for 2CPU?

Will I have enough with a VEAAM Server installed on only 1 of the 2 hosts?
What will happen when this Host goes down? Do I then need to start the machines on the 2nd host manually?

Best Regards,

Joris

[veremin]

Will I have enough with a VEAAM Server installed on only 1 of the 2 hosts?
What will happen when this Host goes down? Do I then need to start the machines on the 2nd host manually?

For such scenario it stands to reason to deploy additional VB&R server at your second site and let it be responsible for only replication job. Thus, if need be, all functionality (Failover, Failback and etc.) can be performed by VBR Server at your second site without any issues.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

[Joris85]

Thank you very much.
So I should install another VEEAM instance with 2CPU license on the secundary server just for the replication action, and the old license on the primary server remains active to do the backups to the NAS.
Does that makes sense? Is there any advantage then in buying the VEEAM Essentials Kit for 4CPU? I will check the pricings. I don't know if I can spread the Essentials Kit over 2 VEEAM instances.

Best Regards,

Joris

[veremin]

In case of only replicating your VMs to the new host, none of additional license is required, since, as it’s mentioned in this sticky FAQ, Veaam Licensing concerns only with “source” host. And in case of failover, you can manually revoke licenses from the host that is down.

However, Essential kit is likely to give you a lot more scalability/flexibility, along with effective reporting/monitoring tool VeeamOne.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

[Joris85]

Thank you,

The disadvantage is that I would need 1 additional W2008 OS license + installation and 1 additional VEEAM license, which will increase the total cost significantly.
Whereas, if I put the current VEAAM Server on the 2nd Host and pull replication and do Backup to NAS from there, no additional license is required at all.
The only disadvantage of that would be that the backup is traveling from the primary to secundary and then to the NAS? Is that correct?

Sorry for all the questions, just want to make sure I understand things.
But maybe it's better we offer the system as you mentioned.

Best Regards,

Joris

[veremin]

Please be aware that replicated servers should also be covered by MS licence, unless you have Software Assurance, which allows cold backup servers to stay powered on for limited DR testing.

Here you can found an existing MS document regarding it.

Thanks.

[veremin]

The only disadvantage of that would be that the backup is traveling from the primary to secundary and then to the NAS? Is that correct?

In fact, the situation is slightly different.

If after having moved VB&R server to another location, you’ ll try to backup VMs that reside at first site, using proxy server that also is located at the same site, traffic flow won’t leave boundaries of this site.

VB&R server is nothing but the “brain” of the system, which is responsible for job management and scheduling, indexing tasks, and general orchestration of the backup and replication environment.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

[Joris85]

Thanks,

I see.

I will give multiple choices using a secundary VM-Host, depending on price

1. Only do backup, no replication, in case of Primary Server failure a manual restore of the latest backup on the Secundary Host is required, no additional licenses required.
2. Do backup and replication, in case of Primary Server failure automatic restore of replicated machine is done, 4 MS Assurance licenses required (extended every 3 years), and ideally a extra VEEAM license.
3. Buy a SAN as shared storage, in case of Primary Server failure the Secundary will automatically take over.

I hope these are the best practices?

Best Regards,

Joris

[Vitaliy S.]

Yes, but in option 2 you do not need to purchase extra Veeam licenses, since your secondary Veeam server will be targeted to the same source hosts.