Configuring Backup from Storage Snapshots

You can instruct Veeam Backup & Replication to use Backup from Storage Snapshots for backup and replication. During backup and replication jobs, Veeam Backup & Replication reads data of processed VMs from storage snapshots, which speeds up backup and replication operations and improves RPOs.

Before you perform Backup from Storage Snapshots, check the following prerequisites:

• You must install the Enterprise Plus edition of Veeam Backup & Replication on the backup server.
• You must configure the backup infrastructure in a proper way:

• You must add to the backup infrastructure a backup proxy that will be used for backup or replication, and properly configure this backup proxy. For more information, see Configuring Backup Proxy.
• You must add to the backup infrastructure vCenter Server or ESXi hosts with VMs whose disks are hosted on the storage system.
• You must add the storage system to the backup infrastructure.

• You must check limitations for Backup from Storage Snapshots. For more information, see Backup from Storage Snapshots.

To back up and replicate VMs using Backup from Storage Snapshots:

1. Configure a backup or replication job. At the Storage step of the backup or replication job wizard, select a backup proxy that will be used for data transport. You can assign the backup proxy explicitly or choose the automatic mode of backup proxy selection.
   Note: A backup proxy that you select must be added to the list of backup proxies in storage system connection settings. Otherwise, Veeam Backup & Replication may fail over to the regular data processing mode. To ensure failover to the regular data processing mode in case Veeam Backup & Replication does not detect a backup proxy, at the Storage step of the backup or replication job wizard, click Advanced and select the Failover to standard backup check box.
   The Failover to standard backup option will also work if Veeam Backup & Replication fails to create storage snapshots for the storage volumes. As a result, all VMs residing on the volumes will be processed by regular data processing mode.

2. At the Storage step of the wizard, click Advanced, then click the Integration tab. Make sure that the Enable backup from storage snapshots check box is selected. By default, this option is enabled for all newly created jobs.
3. If you add to the job multiple VMs whose disks are hosted on the same volume or LUN, select the Limit processed VM count per storage snapshot to <N> check box and specify the number of VMs for which one storage snapshot must be created. Veeam Backup & Replication will divide VMs into several groups and trigger a separate storage snapshot for every VM group. As a result, the job performance will increase. For more information, see Limitation on Number of VMs per Snapshot.

Related Topics

Backup from Storage Snapshots