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Veeam - backup to the backup server?

Posted by networks_jj
Data Backup Disaster Recovery Planning
We're a small org with 3 hosts in our primary site and 2 in another (20ish VMs). We're using ESXI essentials, so no vMotion or anything and all host rely on local storage. We have multiple hosts to mitigate long downtimes, but management is not investing in super lower RTOs. With that in mind, each host is big enough to support other VMs if needed and the plan for host failure is to restore VMs to a different host until the problem is fixed or the server is replaced. 
Well, we had a host go down yesterday and included in its VMs was our primary Veeam backup server. The host recovered and we didn't need to move VMs, but I realized I had not planned well for no access to the primary backup server. We backup the Veeam config daily to separate storage, so I had that but if I'm honest I'm not sure what to do with it. We have our 'primary' Veeam VM at our primary site, and a proxy in our DR site. We back up VMs local to their site and send backup copies to the remote site. 
If I lose the primary backup VM, what do I need to do? Install Veeam somewhere else, restore the Veeam backup file, then start restoring VMs? Can I setup a secondary Veeam server that already has access to jobs and what not on it to avoid extra work during an already flustering time? 
We're using Veeam Backup and Replication and I have plans to replicate servers between hosts, so they're all more readily available if we lose a host. However, I'm not sure how that works if the primary Veeam server is not available either. Same scenario or can VMware manage the replica (power it on)?
Not trying to re-invent the wheel here just some help to better understand how I should manage my backup servers in the event it is lost. Thanks in advance. 
Spice (8) Reply (10)
networks_jj

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10 Replies

  • Hi, considered what you have shared. It’s like you are already setup the key items to handle Veeam Backup Jobs except the Replication portion.

    You can approach the Veeam Backup Server recovery by:
    1. Backup the Veeam Server offsite (copy) then restore it. Then simply review the configurations only.
    2. Setup a new VM and then restore the configuration file that you have backed up. Using the process https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/hyperv/vbr_config.html?ver=110

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  • we have a similar set up here.  for our main ESXi host we have a replica job to another ESXi host.  Interested to see what other are doing in this situation.  

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  • Bill_Chz wrote:

    Hi, considered what you have shared. It’s like you are already setup the key items to handle Veeam Backup Jobs except the Replication portion.

    You can approach the Veeam Backup Server recovery by:
    1. Backup the Veeam Server offsite (copy) then restore it. Then simply review the configurations only.
    2. Setup a new VM and then restore the configuration file that you have backed up. Using the process https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/hyperv/vbr_config.html?ver=110

    Thanks.. with only 1 Veeam server orchestrating the backup jobs I don't see how I would restore the offsite backup of the server without a second Veeam server. Maybe just a setup VM on a different host that can have Veeam installed then restore the config in the event the primary Veeam server is dead. 

    jim.mcneil wrote:

    we have a similar set up here.  for our main ESXi host we have a replica job to another ESXi host.  Interested to see what other are doing in this situation.  

    I need to get replication done. I am curious if the Veeam server is down; does Veeam need to be restored before anything can be done with the replicas? 

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  • The replica sits on the target host in a shutdown state with the NIC disconnected.  You can bring it up at will for testing, etc., and in the case of an outage all you need to do is start it and attach the NIC.  No need for Veeam to bring it up.

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  • Da_Schmoo wrote:

    The replica sits on the target host in a shutdown state with the NIC disconnected.  You can bring it up at will for testing, etc., and in the case of an outage all you need to do is start it and attach the NIC.  No need for Veeam to bring it up.

    Thanks!

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  • " Maybe just a setup VM on a different host that can have Veeam installed then restore the config in the event the primary Veeam server is dead. " Yes, you can have an idle Veeam Server that you can simply restore the configuration file and then link your repositories to initiate restores.

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  • Just have an offline clone of your existing Veeam B&R machine sitting somewhere and call it a day. I have it lying around on my work laptop as Hyper-V virtual machine so I can quickly power it up to restore the primary one 😎 You can use your favorite V2V converter https://www.vmwareblog.org/v2v-converters-overview/ to convert your VMware virtual machine to Hyper-V if you want to follow this route.
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  • Supaplex wrote:

    Just have an offline clone of your existing Veeam B&R machine sitting somewhere and call it a day. I have it lying around on my work laptop as Hyper-V virtual machine so I can quickly power it up to restore the primary one 😎 You can use your favorite V2V converter https://www.vmwareblog.org/v2v-converters-overview/ to convert your VMware virtual machine to Hyper-V if you want to follow this route.

    I risked the snapshot stun for 1 replica and put it on the other host. Then copied the replica to remote site host for extra insurance - Same concept though. 

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  • networks_jj wrote:

    Same concept though. 

    Totally. Just make sure you are using a local database that was cloned too and not the same external one. I missed that part once back in the days and crippled the whole backup configuration.

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  • Da_Schmoo wrote:

    The replica sits on the target host in a shutdown state with the NIC disconnected.  You can bring it up at will for testing, etc., and in the case of an outage all you need to do is start it and attach the NIC.  No need for Veeam to bring it up.

    But be carefull with this workaround. When you get the backup server back online, you need to configure the started replicas active with a later permanent failover. Otherwise, you delete the active VM when you delete all replicas that are no longer in use. We once very successfully deleted about two-thirds of our infrastructure with this. That was a really hard test for our backup and our nerves. But all went well ;-)

    Bye Tom

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