@Veeam How to do a backup wrong: Top mistakes Rick Vanover MCITP vExpert VCP Veeam Software

About the Speaker Contributor to industry publications

Agenda Supportability and platforms Files, application data and restore expectations Consistency levels Missing VMs Error and warning notification Capacity calculations Backup frequency Wrong type of backup

Supportability  Products usually are matched to a platform  VMware vSphere and Hyper-V have big impact

Platforms and design *MUST* include domain of failure in design of backup for VMs Backup

Files, application data and expectations  Files may not be enough to satisfy restore requirements  Ensure proper recovery options  Special applications may require special attention ● systems ● Database systems ● Web services ● Authentication services

Consistency levels  Different products on different platforms may offer different consistency levels in backups Recommended viewing Elias Khnaser’s session on consistency: “Backing up enterprise applications: Transaction consistency is key”“Backing up enterprise applications: Transaction consistency is key”

Missing VMs Age-old problem: New system added, but what about getting it backed up. Does virtualization help this situation? No. It makes it worse Cross-Check what is missing over time with growth

Interactive Demo Datastores, folders, vApps, resource pools in vSphere

Error and alert notification  Nothing worse than going in to do a restore to find that a backup has failed  Ensure alerting and notifications indicate relevant information ● What failed (or incurred a warning) ● Ensure the right person gets the alert  Alerting versus resolutions  , SNMP, pager, logs, reports  This is important if not addressed, retention can be exhausted

“Un-Fixing” problems Sometimes IT pros have to “Make it work” That may mean turning off components that can’t easily be fixed  Don’t throw problems under the rug  Take the time to determine root cause of issues  Learn something from issues to avoid repeat occurrences  Note what you fix and make that available internally for future issues that may come up

Capacity calculations Designing a backup solution takes into account a number of metrics:  Storage capacity: tape, disk, cloud, etc.  Retention requirements  Data profile change rate This is a challenge as VMs grow Deduplication can help avoid doing backups wrong Windows Server 2012 can help avoid shortages  Backup performance  Bandwidth

Backup frequency  All VMs are not created equal  Nor are all protection requirements  If multiple frequencies are in use, how do you know which one is best for the situation?  Does the frequency match the needs of the business and applications?

Avoid taking the wrong type of backup There are many types of backups:  Image  File-based backup  Application backup Also avoid the wrong type of snapshot Is a snapshot a backup? No  But, it can be used as part of a backup  Why is this important? Is data backed up – but useless without the application? Example: exclusions, user data and files

Multiple copies of backup  It is always a good idea to have multiple copies of backups: on disk, tape, copy of contents on disk  Layered approach

Over-complicating things Things to over-complicate:  Raw Device Mapping (RDM)  Pass-through storage  iSCSI in-guest  Lack of enlightenment kit  Obsolescence If virtualization doesn’t need to be complex, don’t make it complex:  Will help backups  Will help troubleshooting  Aid in future changes

What We Covered Supportability and platforms Files, application data and restore expectations Consistency levels Missing VMs Error and warning notification Capacity calculations Backup frequency Wrong type of backup

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