The procedure in this post shows you how to setup the DELL DR series system as a backup repository for the Veeam Backup and Replication software. This post is a quick reference guide to help you through the DR functions needed to configure the DR system to work with Veeam backup and replication software.
The following DR system procedures are included in this paper:
- Create a DR CIFS container for Veeam Backup and Replication software;
- Configure the DR cleaner schedule;
- Configure a DR replication; and
- Add the DR CIFS container as a Repository for the Veeam Backup and Replication software.
Assumptions
I assumes that you have a basic understanding of the DELL DR system points listed below, and have a production system prepared to run the steps in this procedure:
- DELL DR system rack and stack;
- DELL DR initial configuration;
- DELL DR time and location setup; and
- DELL DR joins the Active Directory – Optional but recommended.
Design Architecture
1. Create a Veeam Container (CIFS)
1-1 Login to the DR System using these credentials:
- Username: administrator;
- Password: St0r@ge!
1-2 Select Containers and click the Create link at the top of the page, and then enter the Container Name.
1-3 Select the preferred Storage Access protocol, i.e. NFS or CIFS. Click Next.
1-4 At Enable the NAS access protocol, tick the checkbox for CIFS, then click None for the Marker Type.
1-5 For improved security, add the Veeam backup and the Veeam proxy servers FQDN or IP to the allow access client. Click Next.
1-6 Review the Configuration Summary and then click Create a New Container.
1-7 Confirm the configuration.
Note 1: If you are using a secondary DR system, repeat the steps above on the second DR system. In this paper, the secondary DR system will contain a container named VeeamDRContainer.
Note 2: The DR system CIFS protocol is based on SMB version 1.0.
Note 3: Restriction of the DELL DR System root access means the Veeam repository will be supported only through the CIFS share and not through NFS.
2. Configure the DR Replication
2-1 Select Replication, and then click the Create link at the top of the page
2-2 Configure the Source and Replica container relationship. On the example below, the replica container is located on the secondary DR system with the IP address 192.168.1.45. The username and password are the DR default.
Note: For improved security, it is recommended that a user is created for the replication. To learn how to create a DR User, refer to the DR System User Manual.
3. Configure the Veeam Backup or Proxy Server
After preparing the DR system to host the Veeam backup points, the next step is to configure the Veeam backup server, or Veeam proxy server, to connect to the DR CIFS share we created in Section One.
The following steps can be performed on the Veeam backup server, or Veeam proxy server, depending on the architecture chosen (or any server holding the transport service).
3-1 Map the DR system CIFS containers to the Veeam server, the Backup or Proxy.
3-2 Map the first DR system CIFS container. This container will be used as a production repository to save the Veeam backup points.
3-3 Map the secondary DR system CIFS container. This container will receive the DR replicated points from the production DR system.
3-4 Add the DR container as a repository on Veeam Backup Infrastructure. Right click on Backup repository, and then click Add backup repository, or click on Add Repository at the top of the page. Enter the new Repository Name, and then click Next.
3-5 Select Shared Folder (CIFS – SMB), and then click Next.
3-6 Enter the Shared folder path, and then provide the required access credentials. Click on the desired Gateway server.
3-7 The Maximum concurrent tasks and the combined rate MB/s are to be configured. In this example, the default configuration of four concurrent tasks and zero MB/s limit will be used. Click on Advanced.
3-8 At the Storage Compatibility Settings box, Aligning backup files data blocks must be deselected as the DR system is using a variable block deduplication
3-9 Check Decompress backup data block before storing.
DELL offers three versions of the DR system, DR 2000V, 41000 and 6000. (See the table below). Each version has its Max concurrent task and limit of the data rate.
Single server (single stream) performance is approximately 400+MB/s. The DR system is much faster than a single server can send data in most cases, so the bottleneck is usually on the server sending the data or in the network.
Note: Deselecting the Decompress backup data blocks before storing option may increase your overall deduplication storage capacity usage. It is not recommended to switch these settings after data has been written to the DR.
3-10 If desired, click the checkbox for Enable vPower NFS for the DR system.
3-11 Review the Repository Summary and then click Finish.
Note 1: To learn more about Veeam vPower NFS, refer to the Veeam Backup VMware User Guide.
Note 2: Veeam vPower NFS will use the media server to mount the backup point to run the VM on the ESXi host; therefore, a slow start of the VM will be noticed.
Note 3: At the time of writing this guide, DELL is not recommended using the vPower NFS when using the DR systems.
4. Create Veeam Backup Job
On completion of the preparation and configuration completed in the DR system and Veeam backup and replication software, Veeam is now ready to run a backup job, and to store the backup in the DR CIFS repository.
In this section, we will go through the job configuration to write and store the backup in the DR system.
4-1 Create a new backup job and Enter the job name and click Next.
4-2 Select the desired VMs to be backed up by clicking Add.
4-3 Click Next.
4-4 Configure the backup proxy, the Repository (DR system), and the Retention points to keep on disk. And Click on Advanced.
4-5 On storage tab, Enable inline deduplication. Set the Compression level to None and the Storage Optimization set to Local target.
Note: Veeam dedupe is carried out with large block sizes. It must also be considered that keeping Veeam dedupe running may significantly increase the processing speed.
4-6 If desired, tick the check boxes for Enable application-aware processing and Enable guest file system indexing.
4-7 If desired, configure the Run the job automatically and then click Create.
4-8 Review the New Backup Job Summary, and if required, select the check box for Run the job when I click Finish, and then click Finish.
4-9 Monitor the Job progress
5. Importing the backups from the secondary DR
As the DR system will be used to replicate the Veeam backup points, Veeam backup server will not be aware of the secondary location where the backup point stored i.e. the secondary DR system CIFS share. To view and restore the backup point from the secondary DR system after the replication, a backup scan must be run to scan the secondary repository. To automate the import/scan process, the below steps must be performed.
5-1 On Veeam backup server, create a file name “veeamscript.ps1” and add the below three commands and save the file to any location, for example, Veeam home directory.
5-2 On Veeam backup server, create another file name “veeamrun.cmd” and add the below two commands and save the file to any location, for example, Veeam home directory.
5-3 From the Windows Run, execute the following command: msc, and create a new Task.
5-4 Enter the Task Name and select Run with highest privileges.
5-5 On Triggers, Schedule the task to run every 5 min by choosing Daily, Recur every one days, Repeat task every 5 minutes for a duration of 1 day.
5-6 On Action, add the cmd file created in step 2, by clicking the New
5-7 Action: Start program. And program/script: the file name created in step 2. Then click Ok, and Ok to save and exit.
6. Imported Backup
6-1 After the script starts running; the replicated backup point will appear under Disk Imported on the Veeam Backup and Replication option as shown below.
7. DR system Monitoring
Using the DELL DR system dashboard, you will be able to monitor and track the DR system capacity, storage savings, and throughput.
Note: Deduplication ratios increase over time. It is not uncommon to see a 2 to 4 times reduction (25-50% total savings) on the initial backup. To receive the full benefit of the DR system deduplication, it is recommended that the backup points be kept for at least 2 – 4 weeks.
