NAS Backup Integration with Storage Systems

There are two approaches in backing up file shares residing on enterprise NAS storage systems.

Integration with Storage System as NFS or SMB File Share Server

You can add the storage system as a root folder of the server where NFS or SMB file shares reside. The procedure of configuring the file share protection in this case will look as follows:

1. Add the storage system as an NFS file share to the inventory, as described in Adding NFS File Share, or as an SMB fie share, as described in Adding SMB File Share. As a file share path, specify the root server folder.

When adding the storage system in this way, you cannot configure what containers, volumes or file shares will be available for further protection. Therefore, to configure them, you must carefully configure inclusion/exclusion settings when creating a file share backup job.

Mind that servers accessed by NFS (with file shares and folders within them) and servers accessed by SMB (with file shares and folders within them) are added to the inventory separately. For example, if the storage system IP address is 173.25.136.64, add an NFS share for this server by specifying its root folder as 173.25.136.64:/, and add an SMB share for this server by specifying its root folder as \\173.25.136.64.

2. Create a file share backup job, as described in Creating File Share Backup Jobs. As a source to protect, you can select the following entities:

• whole server
• file share residing on the server
• separate folders within the share

To protect all file shares residing on one server, you must add to the file share backup job both NFS and SMB shares previously added to the inventory.

3. Configure what files and folders must be included in or excluded from processing by the file share backup job. For more information on how to include/exclude files and folders from processing, see Select Files and Folders to Back Up.

Integration with Storage System as NAS Filer

You can add the storage system as a NAS filer. This option is preferable if you want to leverage the backup from storage snapshots technology. For more information, see NAS File Share Backup from Storage Snapshots.

The procedure of configuring the file share protection in this case will look as follows:

1. Add the storage system to the backup infrastructure, as described in Adding NetApp Data ONTAP, Adding Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series, or Adding Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale, depending on the type of the NAS system you use.

Depending on storage settings, the IP address for accessing the storage system can differ from one used for accessing it as a server where file shares reside. You can also use the DNS name of the server.

When adding the storage system, make sure that you do not forget to perform the following steps:

1. Enable the NAS filer role for the added storage system.
2. Specify what protocols the storage should use as a NAS filer: NFS and/or SMB. Only file shares using the selected protocols will be displayed when you add the storage as a NAS filer and thus available for protection.
3. Select storage volumes to analyze for the presence of newly added file shares. You can either configure Veeam Backup & Replication to analyze all storage volumes, or exclude some volumes from processing, or specify only certain volumes that will be processed. Only file shares on the selected storage volumes will be displayed when you add the storage as a NAS filer and thus available for protection.

At this step, you must carefully consider what file shares on what volumes must be protected and via what protocols. Limiting the number of volumes reduces the storage load.

2. Add the configured storage system as a NAS filer to the inventory, as described in Adding Enterprise NAS System Share.
3. Create a file share backup job, as described in Creating File Share Backup Jobs. As a source to protect, you can select the following entities:

• whole storage
• container (for Dell EMC Isilon/PowerScale — access zone, for NetApp Data ONTAP — SVM)
• volume
• file share

You cannot specify separate folders within file shares. Therefore, to configure files and folders to be protected, you must properly configure inclusion/exclusion settings.

4. Configure what files and folders must be included in or excluded from processing by the file share backup job. For more information on how to include/exclude files and folders from processing, see Select Files and Folders to Back Up.