Veeam Backup & Replication Tips and Tricks

SPO3292

VeeamBackup & Replication:Tips and Tricks

Anton GostevVeeam Software@Gostev

Doug HazelmanVeeam Software@VMDoug

#vmworldsponsor

Quick Overview of v6 Architecture

Backup serversBackup proxy serversBackup repositories

“Automated everything”

Intelligent load balancing

Centralized management via Enterprise Manager

Scaling your backups

3 simple rules

Scaling your backups

1. Keep the management server happy● Disable default proxy (requires 6.1 or later)● Allocate enough RAM for job manager processes● Keep concurrent (running) jobs under 100 per management server

2. Backup proxy servers: the more, the better?● No! Too much load on storage and network● Use max concurrent tasks limit on proxies or repositories● Watch for “job timed out waiting for resources” messages

3. Backup repository considerations● Be careful with the reversed incremental backup mode!● Limit concurrent jobs on backup repositories to a reasonable amount● Use ingest rate throttling for cross-SAN backups

A word on backup repositories Don’t underestimate the importance of performance!

● By far, the most commonly reported bottleneck

What makes the best backup repositories?● Windows or Linux server (can be same as backup proxy server)● Local storage, DAS or SAN mounted for physical server● pRDM disk (vSphere 5+), or iSCSI LUN connected via in-guest iSCSI

for virtual server

Sub-optimal backup storage● NAS or network share● VMDK on VMFS (size and recoverability considerations)

RAID level● If you can afford it, use RAID10 (again, performance)

Processing Modes

All you need to know

Direct SAN Access: The good

Fastest processing mode

Least impact on production● Backup processing is fully offloaded to dedicated backup proxy servers● Backup traffic is isolated to the storage network (aka LAN-free)

Does not impact consolidation ratio, so cheapest too

Direct SAN Access: The bad

Supports block storage only● FC (fibre channel): physical backup proxy server only!● iSCSI: physical and virtual backup proxy servers both supported

Physical backup proxy server requirement for FC SAN● Might not go along well with your virtualization project● Consider repurposing older servers

Might be hard for beginners to setup● See Veeam Forums FAQ for step-by-step guide

Manual datastore mapping might be required● For certain SANs, B&R may not able to detect proxy connectivity

Direct SAN Access: The ugly

What’s the worst that could happen?

Windows re-signaturing your VMFS LUNs!● vSphere will no longer recognize datastores● Don’t panic, VMware Support should be able to fix

Three easy ways to get into trouble1. Windows Explorer automounting new volumes (but not with Veeam)2. Clicking Disk Management snap-in popup without reading3. Giving Local Administrator rights to random people

Direct SAN Access: The safe way

Present VMFS LUNs to backup proxy server as read-only● Most SANs support it these days—chase your vendor if yours does not

Disable automount on your backup proxy servers● Do it the right way: use SANPolicy Windows setting!● Veeam backup proxy server setup does this automatically for you

Disable Disk Management snap-in with Group PolicyUser Configuration > Administrative TemplatesWindow Components > Microsoft Management Console >Restricted/Permitted snap-ins > Disk Management

Keep Local Administrator rights on backup proxy servers to yourself● Cannot really do this for default proxy due to FLR requirement● Another reason to use dedicated backup proxy server!

Direct SAN Access: Tips & tricks

Got a fast SAN? Get a modern backup proxy server!● Multi-core CPU (compression) and fast RAM (inline deduplication)

Update firmware and drivers across the board

Disabling MPIO may increase performance

iSCSI SAN? Tweak TCP/IP on backup proxy

netsh interface tcp set global autotuning level = disable

Increase read-ahead buffer● Default is 4MB (optimal setting for most SANs)● To change, create the new value in bytes:

VddkPreReadBufferSize (DWORD)

Hot Add: The good

Easy to setup—very little planning involved● Any Windows VM can be made a Hot Add backup proxy

Fast data transfers with any storage● Direct storage access (albeit through ESXi storage stack)

Supports all types of storage (including NFS)● Shared storage: at least 1 backup proxy server per vSphere cluster● Local storage or DAS: at least 1 backup proxy server per host

Use your existing Windows VMs (save on licensing)● Data processing engine process runs with lower priority (6.1)● Further CPU usage reduction in 6.5

Allows for 100% virtual deployment

Hot Add: The bad

Not as mature as other modes

Affects your consolidation ratio● Backup proxy servers take host resources● Ultimately means more ESXi hosts, and more VMware licenses

Hot Add process itself is slooow● Can take up to 1–2 minutes to complete for each VM—adds up quickly!

Hot Add as a vSphere feature has a number of limitations● Good news—many are being removed as VDDK matures● See FAQ on Veeam forums FAQ for the complete list

Hot Add: The ugly

Snapshot removal problems due to locks● Veeam B&R: multiple hooks in place to work around

CBT must be disabled on backup proxy VM● Prevents stun on Hot Add due to CBT initialization

NFS-specific issue

● Extended VM stun on hot remove in some scenarios

Hot Add: Tips & tricks

Add extra virtual SCSI controller to backup proxy server● A single SCSI controller can have a maximum of 16 disks attached● Concurrent jobs on the same backup proxy server can result in more!

Keep vSphere and Veeam up to date● Single block size in VMFS5 removes the most common hot add issue● Latest Veeam Backup & Replication will have latest and greatest

VDDK version

Try increasing read-ahead buffer● Seems to really help with certain NFS storage

Avoid cloning backup proxy VM

● For example, to provision additional backup proxies

Network (NBD): The good Easy to setup—in fact, no setup is required

● Any existing server (physical or virtual) would do

Supports all types of storage, including NFS● Server placement does not matter (unlike with Hot Add)

Very quick to initialize data transfer

Can be quite fast—with 10Gb Ethernet

Network (NBD): The ugly

Painfully slow performance on 1Gb Ethernet● Average speed reported is 10-20 MB/s

Leverages ESXi management interface

Network (NBD): Tips & tricks

1 Gb Ethernet Use for sites with low change rate

● Works faster than other processing modes in such conditions

Keep at least one Hot Add backup proxy server around● Full VM and virtual disk restores take forever over NBD

Keep in mind intelligent load balancing algorithms● Network backup proxy servers have lowest priority!

Upgrade to 6.1 or later● Improved network proxy location awareness

One last thing

This hack significantly reduces supportability!

Cut up to 5 minutes of processing time per VM by disabling VDDK logging

Apply in stable environments only!● Create the new value and set to 1:

DisableVDDKNetworkOutput (DWORD)

Deduplicating StorageYes, you can afford it!

Deduplicating storage: The good

What gives? Global dedupe!● Deduplication across backup files from different jobs● Perfect for long-term backup archival

Top hardware appliances among Veeam users● EMC DataDomain● ExaGrid● HP StoreOnce

Top software appliances among Veeam users● ZFS-based appliances● StarWind

Windows Server 2012 dedupe is awesome

Deduplicating storage: The bad

Hardware appliances are expensive● Although they do provide excellent dedupe ratio

Software appliances are resource hogs ● Both performance and dedupe ratio are sub-par, too

Windows Server 2012 dedupe is awesome● Included free of charge—start using it today!● Provides very decent dedupe ratio

Deduplicating storage: The ugly

Random access performance is lacking● A problem for all solutions featuring inline deduplication● Typically insufficient out-of-the-box for large-scale vPower usage

Exception: post-process deduplication

ExaGrid● Raw disk landing zone (full-speed vPower from recent backups)● Veeam-specific logic further optimizes performance

Windows Server 2012 ● Backups “land” on raw storage at full speed● Only old backup files are deduplicated—great for vPower● Decent speed even off already deduped backups

Deduplicating storage: Tips & tricks Already own storage with inline deduplication?

● Inline data “rehydration” process is what makes vPower slow

Reduce the block size in Advanced job settings● WAN (256KB) and LAN (512KB)● Reduced block size might impact backup performance

Use Linux-based backup repository● Large client cache, or even caching client file system (FS-cache),

can significantly improve vPower performance

Deduplicating storage: Tips & tricks (continued)

Keep Veeam dedupe on Use incremental backup mode

● Choice of synthetic or active fulls depending on actual storage

For best dedupe ratio on device side…● Disable compression (significantly increases amount of data transferred

from backup proxy server to backup repository over network)

For best backup performance and smallest window● Keep compression at default

If you like to avoid extremes…● Set compression to Low (dedupe-friendly)

Deduplicating storage: Tips & tricks (continued)

Got more than one deduplicating storage device?

Use internal replication to sync backups offsite!● Extremely traffic-efficient approach● Many customers use and report great success!

Keep the backups imported for easy DR● To automate repository refresh in DR site, use:

Get-VBRBackupRepository -Name "DR_Repository" |

Sync-VBRBackupRepository

WAN AcceleratorsYour WAN on steroids

WAN accelerators: The good

Two types of WAN accelerators● Caching WAN accelerators provide significant bandwidth savings with

Veeam replication, but are typically quite expensive● Transport layer WAN optimizers are unlikely to offer significant

bandwidth savings with Veeam replication, and are usually cheap

Both improve reliability of TCP● Long distance wireless or satellite links● IPsec rekey operations on a VPN tunnel● WAN links with high jitter, packet loss or occasional drops

Both allow long-running jobs to finish more consistently● For example, initial replication over network

Both improve WAN utilization for most workloads

WAN accelerators: What’s hot?

Top caching WAN accelerators among Veeam users● Cisco WAAS● Riverbed● SilverPeak

Top WAN optimizers among Veeam users● Hyper-IP

WAN optimizers: Tips & tricks

Veeam Backup & Replication leaves little room for bandwidth reduction by WAN optimizers

Built-in WAN optimizations in v6:● Multiple TCP streams to maximize throughput● Network traffic compression

Consider using on unreliable networks, but don’t expect them to add you extra bandwidth● Update to Backup & Replication 6.1 Patch 1 before evaluating

Veeam Backup & Replication not using all available bandwidth?● Increase the amount of TCP streams (default is 5)

DownloadStreamsNumber (DWORD)

Caching WAN accelerators: Tips & tricks

Multiple TCP streams can cause issues!● Disable multiple streams in B&R traffic throttling settings

Disable network traffic compression in Veeam● Low (dedupe-friendly) compression level might be a better option

If required, have network admins configure bypass on Veeam backup proxy servers to avoid polluting caches

Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5We never stand still

What’s coming in 6.5

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange

Veeam Explorer for SAN Snapshots

VMware vSphere 5.1 support

Windows Server 2012 support

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange Visibility into Exchange VM backups

● Immediate: No need to provision storage, restore the VM or restore the mailbox store

● Agentless● Requires no special backups or metadata collection—even works with

existing Veeam backups (and SAN snapshots)

Free!● Included in all versions of Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5,

including Free Edition● Eliminates need for expensive standalone tools licensed per-mailbox

Currently available in “exclusive beta”

Just restored a 145 GB #MSExchange Public Folder database in 2 min. using @veeam. Then restored a single item all under 10 min. SWEET!

The new #veeam explorer for exchange looks veeamy. That's right, I just made up a new word (it means awesomesauce)

Really excited with the new @veeam Explorer beta for #Microsoft Exchange VM backups - we have lots of interested customers ready for this!

Even the *beta* of @veeam Exchange Explorer works a treat. Saved literally, hours of work.. and saved my bacon. #recommend

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange (continued)

Capabilities● Browse: familiar Explorer-type interface● Search: familiar Outlook-like Find, including Advanced Find● Export: export to PST file, MSG file or attachment

Uses cases● E-discovery● Item-level restore: export and send to affected user● Mailbox archive

Supports Exchange Server 2010

Veeam Explorer for SAN Snapshots

Veeam restores from SAN snapshots

Supports tiered data protection strategy

Perform all restores through familiar, easy-to-use Veeam interface

Supports HP StoreVirtual VSA and HP LeftHand

SAN snapshots + Veeam restore = Best RPOs and RTOs for operational recovery

Veeam Explorer for SAN Snapshots (continued)

Fast: recover entire VM or individual items in < 2 minutes● Fully automated: clone & promote snapshot, present to vSphere, clean up

● Restores directly from VM files on the SAN snapshot: no staging or intermediate restores required

Flexible● Specific VM● Individual guest files: Windows, Linux, et al● Individual Microsoft Exchange items

Free● Worry-free: automated process eliminates human errors and protects

integrity of SAN snapshots and production LUNS

● Agent-free: no agents to deploy on hosts or VMs

● Literally free: included in all editions of Veeam Backup & Replication 6.5, including Free Edition

Questions? Comments?

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SPO3292

VeeamBackup & Replication:Tips and Tricks

Anton GostevVeeam Software@Gostev

Doug HazelmanVeeam Software@VMDoug

#vmworldsponsor