Veeam Backup & Replication

The first part of my introduction to Veeam backup solution. To get a general overview, I tried to write down (not only from Veeam documentation) what Veeam Backup & Replication is (what it is used for and what it does). To list the terms (partly functions), tools and basic principles of backup and recovery. This is not a complete list, but only what I found basic or interesting. The description is only brief, the details will be discussed in the next parts. Next time we will look at the basic components and their architecture and topology.

The second part of my introduction to Veeam backup solution. We'll take a look at the core components and services that make up Veeam Backup & Replication. What are the deployment options and what is the architecture of the solution. Possible topologies for VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V. So, in simple terms, how to connect the backup source with Veeam components and storage, and how the data flows.

The third part of my introduction to Veeam backup solution. We'll take a look at the control console, the user interface for configuring and running the entire solution. The console allows you to add and manage backup infrastructure components. Create and monitor various jobs that schedule backups, copy backups to another storage (site), and replication. Perform many types of recovery (Restore, Recovery). Review the main areas of the console (management) and briefly describe the various options and operations (we are primarily concerned with backups, not replications).

The fourth part of my introduction to the Veeam backup solution. We will look at our own backup, i.e. creating a backup job (Backup Job). We'll primarily focus on virtual machine (VM) backups, but we'll also mention agent-based backups. We will briefly list the various options that we can set and use in the task. We'll summarize some of Veeam's backup recommendations. Finally, we will show you how to rename a backup job, including changing the folder name.

The fifth part of my introduction to the Veeam backup solution. We will look at backing up selected applications that Veeam Backup & Replication natively supports. It allows for transactionally consistent backup as well as granular recovery at the application item level. We will briefly describe (and provide links to various documentation) how the backup works, what we should set up and what are the recommendations. We will focus on Active Directory, Exchange Server, SQL Server and Oracle Database domain controllers.

The sixth part of my introduction to the Veeam backup solution. It briefly describes an area that is well covered in the official documentation as well. Creating and running a Backup Copy Job to another backup repository, which may be in a different location. If communication is via WAN (generally a slower line), we can use the WAN Accelerator component.

Part 7 of my introduction to Veeam backup solutions. This is an extension of the Backup Job article. We'll look at the Veeam and Storage integration that allows you to create Snaphosts on storage. We can use these Snapshots for recovery, but also to back up VMs more efficiently from VMware vSphere.

The eighth part of my introduction to Veeam backup solution is dedicated to automatic recovery testing of backed up VMs. That is, verifying that the VM in the backup is functional. The whole technology is called SureBackup. First, we need to create a Virtual Lab on VMware or Hyper-V where the tests will run in an isolated environment. In most cases, we will use Application Groups to determine the services (VMs) that our test VMs depend on, or just to validate the VMs. The actual job that performs the verification is called the SureBackup Job.

The ninth part of my introduction to Veeam backup solution. We'll look at backup and recovery efficiency. What is the topology for different backup situations and which data is transferred which way. By researching, I found out a surprising thing that Veeam can also use iSCSI SAN as a network instead of LAN, which can increase the transfer speed. To monitor the performance of the backup, job run statistics and also bottleneck (component) detection will help us. Finally, let's see the real backup and restore speeds from my environment.

The tenth part of my introduction to the Veeam backup solution deals with restoring data from a backup. We perform all backups in order to restore lost or damaged data if necessary. It is often something that is rushed and needs to be done in the shortest possible time. Therefore, it is necessary to have prepared procedures for various situations that may arise. We don't always need to restore the entire server, but perhaps only certain files or objects from Active Directory. A disaster can occur when we lose the backup server (or the entire site). We will list the options how to restore in that case.

We will very briefly mention our experience with the in-place upgrade of Veeam Backup & Replication 11a to version 12. Overall the upgrade process depends on the components used, but it is done very simply with a wizard. We can also say that it is quite seamless.

The new version of Veeam Backup & Replication introduces a new way of storing backup files. If we upgrade Veeam, we have backups in their original format and can keep them that way. But we have the option to do a simple upgrade to the new format. If we update the backups for the Backup Job, which are the data source for the Backup Copy Job, then we need to upgrade that too. In most cases, it is a more complicated situation where we have to create a new task and connect the backups. The Backup Copy Job has undergone a number of changes. Importantly, we can now use different types of resources and cannot select individual VMs.

Just a few notes on the in-place upgrade of Veeam Backup & Replication 12 to version 12.1 (globally Veeam Data Platform 23H2 update). In my environment, it was simple and without any complications or issues.

We will look at backing up Oracle databases using the Veeam Plug-in for Oracle RMAN. We will describe a newer option (from VBR version 12), when backup is controlled from Veeam Backup & Replication Server. That is, centrally as common backup types. This is the managed mode (Managed Mode) of the Veeam Plug-in. Protection Groups are used to deploy and manage plug-ins (as well as agents).

The way backup files are stored has been modified in Backup & Replication 12. Primarily Per-Machine Backup with Separate Metadata Files is used. The Backup Copy Job has also changed quite a bit. In this article, we'll take a look at how the new Backup Copy Job works. And we'll practically describe copying backups to a remote location when the data is large and a complete transfer over the WAN would take too long. We will use Seeding and transfer the data (initial Full Backup) offline on an external USB drive. After that, we map the copy job to the transferred data.

Secure storage of backups is crucial today. It is important to ensure that our backups are not deleted or corrupted. We will explore the possibilities of Immutable Backups. We need a Storage System that supports Immutability. This can be a cloud service, hardware device, or software (for example a Linux server acting as a Hardened Repository). In Veeam, we will create a Backup Repository from it with activated Immutability.

This article is about Veeam Hardened Repository. That is, a repository that supports Immutability. It is built on a server with a Linux operating system and storage space. We will practically describe the deployment of Managed Hardened Repository and its use for storing backups. This means that we will use Veeam Hardened Repository ISO for installation. For simplicity (this is for testing) we will use a virtual machine in a VMware environment.

This article deals with the use of Object Storage as a primary backup repository. It can also be used to store a secondary backup copy. The goal is to use the immutability property of object storage to secure backed up data against Ransomware, etc. In practice, we will describe two variants. The first is when the object storage is S3 compatible (in our case NetApp ONTAP). And the second is Microsoft Azure Blob Storage (Storage account).

It is clear that we need to secure data in backups from unauthorized access. Probably the best method is backup encryption. There are various options for when, where and how data files can be encrypted. For common situations, it is most appropriate to perform encryption in a (backup) job (Job Encryption). We can enable encryption for Backup or Backup Copy Job, but also for many other jobs. We will look at general information as well as practical settings and impacts of encryption.

Wasabi is a Cloud Object Storage service, fully compatible with Amazon S3. It offers attractive pricing and simple operation. In Veeam Backup & Replication we can use it as a Backup Repository for direct storage of backups (primary copy / Performance Tier) or secondary copy (Backup Copy / Capacity Tier). Veeam has direct support for Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, but we can also work with it as S3 Compatible Object Storage. Support for Immutability is included as standard for protecting backups against Ransomware.

Veeam can perform a health check for backup files (the last Restore Point), which checks the integrity of the data blocks. This is generally recommended. If this operation returns an error, it usually means that the backup file is corrupted. But the problem can also be elsewhere. For example, the job could not run correctly. This short article describes a specific error message and its solution.

Object storage systems are significantly different from traditional file storage. The way Veeam Backup & Replication works with them is also different in many details. It starts with how individual Restore Points are stored. Working with metadata, using Checkpoints, is essential. It continues with the way Retention Policy is applied and merging backups into a full backup. And it ends with setting and extending Immutability. More recovery points are stored on object storage than specified by retention. In the introduction, we will review the basic terms. At the end, we will look at the structure of data (backups) on object storage.

Veeam Backup & Replication version 12.3 introduces a brand new feature, Veeam Backup for Microsoft Entra ID. It is an option to back up Microsoft Entra ID. Backup of many types of objects is supported, such as users, groups, applications, Conditional Access Policies, and logs. We can perform granular recovery of certain objects or their attributes. Everything works simply, as we are used to with Veeam. The only drawback is licensing. In the first part, we will look at the features, requirements, components, and licensing. We will describe the process of adding an Entra ID Tenant. Including a mention of a possible problem if the PostgreSQL database is not set up/functional.

Veeam Backup & Replication version 12.3 introduces a brand new feature, Veeam Backup for Microsoft Entra ID. It is the ability to back up Microsoft Entra ID. Backup of many types of objects is supported, such as users, groups, applications, Conditional Access Policies, and logs. We can perform granular recovery of certain objects or their attributes. In the second part, we will show you how to create both types of backup jobs (Entra ID Tenant and Entra ID log). We will mention enabling Conditional Access Policies backup. And we will take a very brief look at recovery.

Today, reliable data backup is absolutely essential. At the same time, we must understand that the storage for backups must be modern, fast, secure, and always available. Security applies both to the storage system itself and to the data it holds. Data must be encrypted and immutable to resist even the sophisticated cyberattacks. In this article, we will explore various on-premises solutions for primary backup storage that meet these requirements. We will focus on their features, compare them, and discuss their use in Veeam Backup & Replication environments (although these storage solutions can be used with other tools as well).

Snapshots are commonly used when backing up virtual machines (VMs). There can be different types of snapshots that are performed at different levels (locations). First, we will briefly explain what a Snapshot is. Then, we will focus on Storage Snapshots. Veeam offers integration with a number of storage system manufacturers, which allows you to work with Volume Snapshots directly on the disk array. One option is to use Snapshot orchestration (creation and management) in cooperation with VMware integration. The main advantage is the ability to easily and quickly restore a VM directly from a Snapshot.

On Thursday, June 12th, a meeting of the Czech Veeam User Group (VUG) community took place in the conference hall of OKsystem company. The program offered a series of interesting presentations focused on backup, security, and news from the Veeam world. The concluding networking session, which enabled sharing experiences and establishing new contacts in a pleasant atmosphere, was not missing either.

The upcoming version of Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) 13 brings a number of new features. Among other things, the ability to run it on Linux in the form of Veeam Software Appliance. In this article, we will briefly look at the new installation ISO with Just Enough OS (JeOS), which can be used to deploy various Veeam roles. We will focus on Veeam managed Hardened Repository (VHR). We will show the installation process and adding this repository to the Veeam Backup Server.

One of the supported immutable storage options in Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) is Hardened Repository (VHR). We will look at the properties and functions of VHR. We will focus on the variant where we install VHR from the ISO provided by Veeam, thereby obtaining a Managed VHR. We will describe how Immutability is set up and managed on backups (files), how the XFS file system is used, and what services run on the server.

One of the supported Immutable Storage options in Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) is Hardened Repository (VHR). Veeam has been offering Managed VHR for some time, which is installed from the Veeam Hardened Repository ISO. We'll take a practical look at configuring an HPE ProLiant DL380 G11 server for the Hardened Repository function and installation from VHR ISO 2.0. The server is equipped with NVMe SSD drives and redundantly connected to the network using PortChannel (LACP). For installation, we'll use HPE iLO (Integrated Lights-Out) remote management.

In the previous part, we focused on configuring the HPE ProLiant DL380 G11 server and installing the managed Veeam Hardened Repository (VHR) from VHR ISO 2.0. The goal is to obtain backup storage for Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) that supports Immutability. In this part, we will look at adding the Hardened Backup Repository to VBR and using it for secure backup storage. We will show how to create a backup job, obtain information about immutability on backups, copy backup files, and also the option to move existing backups to the Hardened Repository.

The final part of the series dedicated to managed Veeam Hardened Repository (VHR) installed from VHR ISO 2.0 and the use of Immutable Repository in Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR). In this part, we will show practical tests confirming that immutable files cannot be deleted, we will look at selected information via SSH on the server, and perform simple performance tests. At the end, we will provide a brief summary.

This article addresses an error for which I found no information on the internet. The error "Backup is not in user's control scope" appeared in Veeam Backup & Replication after launching a new backup using Oracle RMAN. Veeam Plug-in for Oracle RMAN is used in Standalone Mode, meaning backup management is handled on the Oracle server side. Two Oracle DB servers are configured as Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC).