Contents

Veeam Backup: Best Practices and Configuration Guide

๐Ÿ” Veeam Backup: Best Practices and Configuration Guide

Veeam Backup & Replication is a powerful tool for protecting your data across virtual, physical, and cloud environments. This article focuses on key architectural decisions, backup security best practices, and real-world deployment scenarios.


๐Ÿ” Secure Backup with Immutability

Why This Matters
Immutability is the foundation of a secure backup strategy. It protects your backups from ransomware, human error, and malicious insiders by making data undeletable for a defined retention period.

1.1 โœจ Use Immutable Storage

โ–ถ Recommended Linux Configuration
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# Format disk with reflink support
sudo mkfs.xfs -m reflink=1 /dev/sdb
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/veeam
sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt/veeam

# Create hardened backup user
sudo useradd -m -s /sbin/nologin veeamrepo
sudo chown veeamrepo: /mnt/veeam
  • Use XFS with reflink for Veeam immutability
  • Mount target to /mnt/veeam
  • Configure in Veeam as “Hardened Repository”
Best Practice
Never use root for backup repositories. Harden access with non-root accounts and disable SSH password login.

1.2 ๐Ÿ”’ S3 Object Lock & Retention

โ–ถ Setup S3 Bucket with Object Lock (e.g., MinIO, AWS)
  1. Create a bucket with Object Lock enabled
  2. Enable Versioning
  3. Set default retention policy (e.g., 30 days)
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# Example with MinIO Client
mc alias set minio https://minio.example.com minioadmin minioadmin
mc retention set --default GOVERNANCE 30d minio/veeam --insecure
Security Tip
Assign write-only access for Veeam user to prevent accidental or malicious deletions.

1.3 ๐Ÿ”„ Apply the 3-2-1-1-0 Rule

Backup Strategy
  • 3 copies of data (1 production + 2 backups)
  • 2 different media types (e.g., disk + object storage)
  • 1 offsite backup
  • 1 immutable copy
  • 0 errors after recovery verification (e.g., SureBackup)

1.4 ๐Ÿ” Limit Access & Isolate Backup Networks

โ–ถ Network & Identity Hardening
  • Use separate credentials for:

    • Backup console
    • Repositories
    • Hypervisors
    • S3 buckets
  • Protect backup console with:

    • Multi-Factor Authentication (2FA)
    • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
  • Isolate repository access with:

    • VLAN segmentation
    • Firewall rules
    • SSH key-only access
Do Not
Never expose repositories directly to the internet. Backup data should only be reachable via secured Veeam components.

1.5 ๐Ÿ“Š Monitoring & Patching

โ–ถ Stay Ahead of Threats
  • Enable email notifications for job results and warnings
  • Regularly review backup logs and audit access
  • Apply Veeam updates and patches promptly
  • Integrate with monitoring platforms (e.g., Zabbix, Icinga)
Pro Tip
Schedule periodic restore tests and SureBackup jobs to validate recovery integrity.

โš™๏ธ Initial Setup of Veeam B&R

Overview
Before configuring backup jobs, Veeam must be properly installed and its infrastructure components set up. This includes the main server, proxies, repositories, and connections to hypervisors.

2.1 ๐Ÿ–ฅ Install Veeam Backup & Replication

โ–ถ System Requirements
  • Operating System: Windows Server 2016 or newer

  • SQL Server: Use built-in SQL Express or an external instance

  • Hardware:

    • 2+ vCPUs
    • 8+ GB RAM (16 GB recommended)
    • SSD for configuration and database preferred
โ–ถ Installation Steps
  1. Download Veeam B&R ISO

  2. Mount ISO and run Setup.exe

  3. Choose Backup & Replication

  4. Follow the wizard and install:

    • Veeam Backup Service
    • Console
    • Explorers
    • Transport & Catalog Services

2.2 ๐Ÿงฑ Add Backup Infrastructure

โ–ถ Add Hypervisors
  • Go to Backup Infrastructure > Managed Servers

  • Add:

    • VMware vCenter Server
    • or Microsoft Hyper-V hosts

Use service accounts with minimal required permissions.

โ–ถ Add Backup Proxies
  • Navigate to Backup Infrastructure > Backup Proxies

  • Add Windows Server (VM or physical)

  • Assign transport mode:

    • Direct SAN Access
    • Hot-Add (for VMware)
    • Network (NBD)
โ–ถ Add Repositories

Supported types:

  • โœ… Linux repo (XFS + reflink for immutability)
  • โœ… Windows repo (ReFS for fast clone)
  • โœ… NAS (SMB/NFS, no immutability)
  • โœ… S3-compatible object storage

Use the appropriate wizard to configure credentials and paths.

2.3 ๐Ÿ“ฆ Create Backup Jobs

โ–ถ Job Configuration Steps
  1. Go to Home > Jobs > Backup Job (VMs)

  2. Choose source: VMs, physical agents, or NAS

  3. Select a repository (e.g., Hardened Linux, S3, iSCSI)

  4. Set backup mode:

    • Incremental
    • Forever Forward Incremental
  5. Define retention policy (e.g., 14 restore points)

  6. (Optional) Enable:

    • Synthetic Full backups
    • Health Checks
    • Backup Copy
Best Practice
Assign each job to a repository that matches its role: fast storage for daily, immutable for long-term.

2.4 โš™๏ธ Enable Optional Jobs

โ–ถ Optional Job Types
  • Backup Copy Job

    • For offsite or secondary backup
  • SureBackup Job

    • Automatically boots and verifies backups
  • Replication Job

    • Creates hot standby VMs at DR location

2.5 ๐Ÿ” Monitor and Test

โ–ถ Recommended Monitoring
  • Enable email notifications
  • Check job logs and statistics regularly
  • Integrate with external monitoring (Zabbix, Icinga)
โ–ถ Restore Testing Options
  • Full VM restore
  • File-level restore
  • Application-item restore (Exchange, SQL, etc.)
  • Instant VM Recovery

Schedule test restores at least once per month.


๐Ÿ’พ Choosing the Right Repository

Choosing the correct repository type is fundamental to achieving the right balance of performance, cost-efficiency, immutability, and remote readiness.

Repository Types Explained
Veeam supports a variety of repository types that differ in performance, immutability, remote access, and compliance readiness.

3.1 ๐Ÿ—ƒ๏ธ Common Repository Types

  • ReFS (Windows)
    โœ… Fast clone support
    โŒ No immutability
    โš ๏ธ Needs VPN for remote usage

  • XFS (Linux)
    โœ… Reflink support
    โœ… Immutability (when used in hardened mode)
    โŒ No native remote access

  • Hardened Linux Repository
    ๐Ÿ” Secure non-root access
    โœ… Immutability with XFS
    โŒ Requires SSH (not S3-compatible)

  • NAS (SMB/NFS)
    ๐ŸŸก Easy to set up
    โŒ No immutability
    โœ… Can be remote (mountable)

  • S3-Compatible (MinIO, AWS, Wasabi)
    โœ… Object Lock
    โœ… Versioning
    โœ… TLS support
    โœ… Ideal for long-term, remote, immutable storage

  • iSCSI over VPN (e.g., via WireGuard)
    โœ… Block-level performance
    โœ… Remote access
    โš ๏ธ Needs manual configuration and secure tunneling

3.2 ๐Ÿ“Š Repository Comparison Table

Repository Type Fast Clone Immutability Remote-Ready TLS
R3FS (Windows) โœ… โŒ โš ๏ธ (VPN req.) โŒ
XFS (Linux) โœ… โœ… (hardened) โŒ โŒ
S3 (MinIO/AWS/Wasabi) โŒ โœ… โœ… โœ…
NAS (SMB/NFS) โŒ โŒ โœ… โŒ

๐Ÿ›ก๏ธ Immutability Options

  • Linux Hardened Repo: โœ… (XFS + reflink)
  • S3 with Object Lock: โœ… (MinIO, AWS, Wasabi)
  • Windows ReFS: โŒ
  • SMB/NFS: โŒ
Recommendations
  • Use Hardened Linux Repo for on-prem immutable storage
  • Use S3 with Object Lock for offsite long-term protection
  • Avoid NAS or standard Windows ReFS for critical or immutable backup chains

๐Ÿš€ Backup Copy Jobs (Offsite Protection)

A Backup Copy Job is essential for offsite disaster recovery. It allows you to replicate your primary backups to a secondary location โ€” protecting against ransomware, hardware failure, or site outages.

Use Case
You’re backing up VMs to a local repository (e.g., Windows ReFS or NAS) and want to replicate them to an offsite, immutable Hardened Linux Repository.

4.1 ๐Ÿ›ก Why Use Hardened Linux

  • โœ… Immutable storage with XFS + reflink
  • ๐Ÿ‘ค Non-root user, no interactive shell
  • ๐Ÿ” Resilient against ransomware โ€” even if Veeam is compromised

4.2 ๐Ÿ”ง Configuration Steps

โ–ถ Step 1: Prepare the Hardened Linux Repository
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# Format the disk
sudo mkfs.xfs -m reflink=1 /dev/sdb
sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt/veeam

# Create veeamrepo user
sudo useradd -m -s /sbin/nologin veeamrepo
sudo chown veeamrepo: /mnt/veeam

โœ… Enable SSH key login โœ… Grant temporary sudo during setup ๐Ÿ”’ Disable password auth after configuration

โ–ถ Step 2: Add Repository to Veeam
  • Go to Backup Infrastructure > Backup Repositories > Add Repository
  • Choose Linux Hardened Repository
  • Enter:
    • IP address
    • SSH credentials
    • Public key path
    • Set mount path (e.g. /mnt/veeam)
    • Enable Immutability (e.g., 30 days)
โ–ถ Step 3: Create the Backup Copy Job
  • Navigate to Home > Backup Copy > Backup Copy Job (VMs)
  • Select the primary job as source
  • Choose Hardened Linux Repository as target
  • Set:
    • Immediate copy mode: โœ… (optional)
    • Copy every 12โ€ฏh, retain 7 restore points

4.3 ๐Ÿ’ก Best Practices

Best Practices
๐Ÿงช Enable Health Checks to validate copy integrity ๐Ÿ”„ Use WAN Accelerators if bandwidth is limited โณ Keep immutable retention longer than source (e.g., 30 days vs 14 days) ๐Ÿ“ฌ Enable email alerts on failure

4.4 ๐Ÿ“Œ Summary

Summary
๐Ÿ” Backup Copy Jobs + Hardened Repo = Secure Offsite Copies ๐Ÿงฑ Protects against ransomware & data loss โ˜‘๏ธ Meets the 3-2-1-1-0 backup rule ๐Ÿ” Runs automatically, no scripting required

๐Ÿ“† Scale-Out Backup Repository (SOBR)

A SOBR (Scale-Out Backup Repository) combines multiple backup repositories into a single logical unit. This allows flexible storage tiering, improved performance, and simplified management.

Use Case
Daily backups go to a local NAS (iSCSI, ReFS 64 KB), while older backups are moved to a remote MinIO S3 bucket with Object Lock enabled.

5.1 ๐Ÿงฑ Tiered Storage Strategy

Performance Tier

  • ๐Ÿ“ Local NAS with iSCSI mount
  • ๐Ÿ“ ReFS formatted with 64 KB block size
  • โšก High-speed storage for daily restore operations

Capacity Tier

  • ๐ŸŒ Remote MinIO S3 bucket
  • ๐Ÿ” Object Lock + versioning enabled
  • ๐Ÿ—„ Ideal for long-term archival and compliance with immutability

5.2 ๐Ÿ”ง SOBR Configuration Steps

โ–ถ Step 1: Create Individual Repositories
  • Format the local NAS volume with ReFS 64 KB
  • Add it to Veeam as a Direct Attached Repository
  • Deploy MinIO:
    • Enable TLS, versioning, and Object Lock
    • Create the S3 bucket for backups
  • Add the bucket to Veeam as an S3-Compatible Object Repository
  • Enable immutability (e.g., 30 days Governance mode)
โ–ถ Step 2: Create and Configure the SOBR
  • Navigate to Backup Infrastructure > Scale-Out Repositories
  • Click Add SOBR
  • Set a name (e.g., SOBR-Primary-Remote)
  • Add:
    • Local ReFS repo as the Performance Tier
    • MinIO S3 repo as the Capacity Tier
  • Enable the following options:
    • โœ… Move backups older than 14 days to capacity
    • โœ… Copy backups as soon as they are created (optional)
    • โœ… Support immutability on capacity tier

5.3 ๐Ÿ“Š SOBR Benefits

Why Use SOBR?
  • ๐Ÿš€ Automatically tier backups based on age or policy
  • ๐ŸŒ Combines high-performance local storage with remote S3 storage
  • ๐Ÿ” Enables compliance with immutability and offsite protection
  • โš™๏ธ Simplifies management without scripting

๐Ÿง  Setting Up Efficient Backup Proxies

Backup Proxies in Veeam act as data movers between the source (e.g., hypervisors) and the backup repositories. A well-configured proxy infrastructure is essential for performance, scalability, and job reliability.

What Is a Proxy?
A backup proxy retrieves data from the source (e.g., VMware, Hyper-V), processes it (compression, deduplication, encryption), and sends it to the backup repository. Proxies reduce load on the main backup server.

6.1 ๐Ÿงฉ Default vs Additional Proxies

  • By default, the Veeam Backup Server acts as a proxy
  • In larger or distributed environments, additional proxies are highly recommended
  • Multiple proxies allow parallel job processing and workload isolation

6.2 โš™๏ธ Add and Configure Proxies

โ–ถ Step 1: Add a New Proxy
  • Open Veeam Backup & Replication Console
  • Go to Backup Infrastructure > Backup Proxies
  • Click Add Proxy
  • Choose:
    • Platform: VMware vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V
    • Server: Select existing Windows Server or deploy automatically
โ–ถ Step 2: Configure Transport Mode
  • Modes:

    • ๐Ÿ”„ Automatic โ€“ Veeam chooses the best mode
    • ๐Ÿ“ฆ Direct SAN Access โ€“ best for fibre/iSCSI environments
    • ๐Ÿ”ง Virtual Appliance (Hot-Add) โ€“ efficient for virtual proxies
    • ๐ŸŒ Network (NBD/NFS) โ€“ fallback, least efficient
  • Set maximum concurrent tasks based on CPU/RAM (e.g., 4โ€“8)

6.3 ๐Ÿ” Monitoring and Scaling

Proxy Scaling Tips
  • Place proxies close to production storage for better performance
  • Use dedicated proxies instead of sharing with repositories
  • For distributed sites, deploy proxies locally
  • Monitor proxy usage in job stats and scale accordingly
  • Use DRS affinity rules in clusters to optimize job placement
Recommended Platforms
  • โœ… Windows Server 2019+ is stable and performant
  • ๐Ÿงช Linux proxies are available in experimental mode (CLI only)

๐ŸŒ Optimizing WAN Transfers with Accelerators

Veeam WAN Accelerators optimize backup data transfer across slow or unreliable WAN links. They are especially useful for Backup Copy Jobs to remote sites or disaster recovery (DR) locations.

When to Use WAN Acceleration
Use WAN Accelerators when transferring backup data between sites with limited bandwidth, high latency, or inconsistent connectivity.

7.1 ๐Ÿš€ What WAN Accelerators Do

  • ๐Ÿ” Global deduplication: Avoids re-sending already transferred blocks
  • ๐Ÿ—‚ Global cache: Stores repeated data patterns
  • ๐Ÿ“ฆ Compression & optimization: Minimizes bandwidth usage
  • ๐Ÿ“‰ Traffic reduction: Up to 50x savings on repeated transfers

7.2 โš™๏ธ How to Configure WAN Acceleration

โ–ถ Step 1: Prepare the Accelerator Server
  • Use a dedicated Windows Server (physical or VM)
  • Recommended resources:
    • 2+ vCPU
    • 4+ GB RAM
    • Fast disk (SSD/NVMe) for cache (e.g., 40โ€“100 GB)
โ–ถ Step 2: Add WAN Accelerators in Veeam
  • Go to Backup Infrastructure > WAN Accelerators
  • Click Add WAN Accelerator
  • Select your Windows server
  • Define:
    • Cache path (dedicated volume preferred)
    • Cache size (recommend 1โ€“3% of protected data)
    • Max concurrent tasks

Repeat this step for both source and target sites.

โ–ถ Step 3: Use in Backup Copy Job
  • Edit or create a Backup Copy Job
  • In the Data Transfer step:
    • Enable Use WAN Accelerators
    • Select:
      • Source WAN Accelerator (e.g., local site)
      • Target WAN Accelerator (e.g., remote site)
  • Complete job configuration

7.3 ๐Ÿ’ก Best Practices

Tips for Efficient WAN Transfers
  • ๐Ÿง  Place WAN Accelerators close to the repository
  • ๐Ÿ’ฝ Use a separate disk for cache โ€” not shared with OS or backups
  • ๐Ÿ›ก Enable TLS or VPN if WAN is untrusted
  • ๐Ÿ“Š Monitor cache health and usage via Veeam UI
  • ๐Ÿงช Test throughput before and after to confirm benefit
Edition Requirement
WAN acceleration is available only in Veeam Enterprise or Enterprise Plus editions.

๐Ÿ“ Final Recommendations

  • โœ… Plan for 3-2-1-1-0 strategy.
  • โœ… Always use immutability.
  • โœ… Test restores monthly.
  • โœ… Secure credentials and infrastructure.
  • โœ… Enable alerts, health checks, and patch regularly.

A well-designed Veeam deployment delivers security, scalability, and disaster resilience โ€” even for small environments.