Seeding Backups to Azure Blob Storage

To reduce the load on the network during the initial synchronization of backup files to Azure, you can use capabilities of Azure Data Box.

Azure Data Box is a storage device that you order from Microsoft. It emulates a cloud storage endpoint on-premises.

After the initial setup, backup data is offloaded to Azure Data Box. The storage device is then shipped back, and its contents are uploaded to your Azure storage account.

To learn more about ordering Azure Data Box, see Azure Storage Documentation.

To seed backups to Azure Blob Storage do the following:

1. Set up Azure Data Box
2. Add Azure Data Box to the backup infrastructure and then offload the data
3. Prepare Azure Data Box for shipping
4. Synchronize the seeded data

Setting up Azure Data Box

Before you add Azure Data Box to Veeam Backup & Replication, you need to set up the storage.

To learn more about installing Azure Data Box, see Azure Storage Documentation.

To learn more about connecting to Azure Data Box via REST APIs, see Azure Storage Documentation.

After you perform the steps in the Azure Storage Documentation, you will have a storage account name, access key, and blob service endpoint that can be used to connect to Veeam Backup & Replication.

Adding Azure Data Box and Offloading the Data

To offload backups to Azure Data Box, do the following:

1. Add Azure Data Box as an Azure Blob storage as described in Adding Azure Blob Storage.
2. Add the Azure Blob storage that you have created in the previous step as the capacity tier in a scale-out backup repository.
   Keep in mind that you have to select the Copy backups to object storage as soon as they are created check box.
3. Press and hold  the [ CTRL ] key, right-click the scale-out backup repository from the previous step and select Run tiering job now.

Preparing Azure Data Box for Shipping

Before shipping Azure Data Box back to Microsoft, do the following:

1. Put an object storage repository that is associated with Azure Data Box into the maintenance mode, as described in Switching to Maintenance Mode.
2. Perform the steps described in this Microsoft article.

After shipping the device, wait for Microsoft to receive it and copy your data into your Azure storage account. You will be notified of successful data upload to your Azure storage account.

Synchronizing the Seeded Data

To connect Veeam Backup & Replication to your Azure storage account, do the following:

1. Add an Azure Blob storage, as described in Adding Azure Blob Storage.
2. Edit the scale-out backup repository used for offloading the data, and change your Azure Data Box object storage to the Azure Blob storage that you have created in the previous step.
3. Enable importing backups from Azure Blob storage and wait for the synchronization to complete.
4. Remove Azure Data Box object storage from Veeam Backup & Replication, as described in Removing Object Storage Repository.