VM Backup

When you perform a backup, Veeam Backup & Replication retrieves VM data from the source storage, compresses and deduplicates it. After that, Veeam Backup & Replication writes data to the backup repository in Veeam proprietary format.

In Veeam Backup & Replication, backup is a job-driven process. To perform the backup, you need to configure a backup job. For details, see Creating Backup Job.

During runs of backup jobs, Veeam Backup & Replication creates backup chains. The chain consists of the following backup files:

• Full backup file (.VBK) that contains a copy of the entire VM.
• Incremental backup file (.VIB or .VRB) that contains only those data blocks that have changed since the last backup job session.
• Metadata file (.VBM) that contains information on the backup job, VMs in the backup, number and structure of backup files, restore points and so on.

The amount of these files and how Veeam Backup & Replication places them depend on the chosen backup method. For details, see Backup Methods.

After you performed backups, you can use them to restore the following instances: entire VM, VM files or VM disks, guest OS files and application items. For details on restore, see Data Restore.

Reference

For details, see the About Backup section in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.