Backup repositories are locations for storing backup data and auxiliary files on the target side. You can assign the role of a backup repository to any Windows or Linux server added to the list of managed servers in Veeam Backup & Replication, or to any shared CIFS folder, to which the backup server has access. Windows-based backup repositories can also perform the role of the Veeam vPower NFS server enabling advantages of the vPower technology for multi-OS file-level restore, instant VM recovery, SureBackup and U-AIR capabilities.
To add a backup repository, follow the next steps.
Step 1. Launch the New Backup Repository Wizard
To launch the New Backup Repository wizard, do either of the following:
• Open the Backup Infrastructure view, select the Backup Repositories node in the inventory pane and click Add Repository on the toolbar.
• Open the Backup Infrastructure view, right-click the Backup Repositories node in the inventory pane and select Add Backup Repository.
Step 2. Specify Name and Description
Specify the desired name for the repository and a description for future reference. A default description contains the time at which the backup repository was created and the user who created it.
Step 3. Choose Type of Repository
Select the type of repository you would like to add:
• Microsoft Windows Server with local or directly attached storage. In this case,
Veeam Backup & Replication will deploy a Veeam agent on the Windows server connected to the storage system. The agent is responsible for data processing tasks, enabling
efficient backups over slow connections. This type of a backup repository can also act as the vPower NFS server (to that end, you will need to select corresponding settings at the next steps of the wizard).
• Linux Server with local, directly attached or mounted NFS storage.
Veeam Backup & Replication will start a Veeam agent on the Linux server connected to the storage system every time when the repository is addressed by a job. The agent is responsible for data processing tasks, enabling efficient backups over slow connections.
• Shared folder using CIFS (SMB) protocol. This type of storage cannot run a Veeam agent.
If you select a shared folder as a backup repository in the offsite backup scenario (that is, the shared folder is located offsite) and your connections for sending VM data are slow, it is recommended to deploy a backup proxy closer to the backup repository.
Step 4. Specify Server or Share
This step depends on the type of backup repository you selected at the previous step.
Microsoft Windows Server or Linux Server
From the Repository server list, select the necessary Windows or Linux server to be used as a backup repository. The Repository servers list contains only those servers that have been added to Veeam Backup & Replication beforehand. You can also click Add New on the right to add a new server to be used as the repository.
Click the Populate button to see a list of datastores or volumes connected to the selected server, their capacity and free space.
Windows Share (CIFS)
In the Shared folder field, specify the UNC path to the shared folder you want to use as a backup repository. Enter credentials of an account with administrative privileges on the share.
Specify the way in which VM data should be written to the shared folder:
• If you are using fast connections, select the Directly from backup proxy server option to write VM data directly from the source-side backup proxy to the repository.
• If you are planning to perform offsite backup over WAN connections, select the Through the following proxying server option and specify an additional proxy server on the target side you are planning to use for moving data to the backup repository.
Step 5. Configure Path and Load Control Settings
In the Location section, specify the path to the folder to which backup files should be stored. Click Populate to see the capacity and available free space on the selected volume.
In the Load control section, set the necessary values to limit the number of concurrent tasks for the repository. If the specified threshold has been reached, a new task using this repository will not start. To learn more about limiting the number of concurrent tasks, refer to the Limiting the
You can also limit data ingestion rate to restrict the total speed of writing data to the repository disk. Limiting the number of concurrent tasks and data ingestion rate will help you control the load on the repository and prevent possible timeout of storage I/O operations.
If you plan to use a deduplicating storage appliance, click Advanced to configure additional repository settings:
• For storage systems using fixed block size, select the Align backup file data blocks check box. Veeam Backup & Replication will align VM data saved to a backup file to a 4Kb block boundary. This option provides better deduplication across backup files, but can result in greater amount of unused space on the storage device and a higher level of
fragmentation.
• When you enable compression for a backup job, VM data is compressed at the source side before it is transmitted to the target. However, compressing data prior to writing it to deduplicating storage appliance results in poor deduplication ratios as the number of matching blocks decreases. To overcome this situation, you can select the Decompress backup data blocks before storing check box. If data compression is enabled for a job, Veeam Backup & Replication will compress VM data, transmit it over LAN, uncompress data on the target side and write raw VM data to the storage device to achieve a higher deduplication ratio.
Step 6. Specify vPower NFS Settings
Select the Enable vPower NFS server check box to make the repository accessible by the vPower NFS Service. From the list below, choose a Windows server that will be used as the vPower NFS server. You can select any Windows server from the list of those added to
Veeam Backup & Replication, or choose the Add Server option to assign this role to a Windows server not added to the application console. Veeam Backup & Replication will install the Veeam vPower NFS service on the selected server, which will enable running VMs directly from backup files for advanced backup verification and recovery functionality.
In the Folder field, specify the folder where instant VM recovery write cache will be stored. Please note that the selected volume should have at least 10 GB of free disk space.
Click Manage to open the Network Settings window and customize network ports for individual components:
• Veeam Installer Service is responsible for deploying the vPower NFS Service on the Windows server. By default, the Veeam Installer Service uses port number 6160.
• vPower NFS Service is responsible for providing ESX(i) hosts with transparent access to backed up VM images. By default, the vPower NFS Service uses port number 6162.
Click Ports to open the Ports Settings window and customize the following ports for vPower NFS Service:
• RPC port (by default, port number 6161 is used)
• Mount port (by default, port number 1058 is used)
• vPower NFS port (by default, port number 2049 is used)
Step 7. Review Properties and Components
After the wizard checks for existing components, you can review the repository properties and installed components.
Select the Import existing backups automatically check box. Veeam Backup & Replication will scan the repository folder for existing backup files and automatically add them to the
Veeam Backup & Replication console under the Backups node. If the repository folder contains guest file system index files that were previously created by Veeam Backup & Replication, select the Import guest file system index check box. The index files will be imported along with backups, so you will be able to search for guest OS files inside the imported backups.
Step 8. Finish Working with the Wizard
You will see real-time processing results in the log. Wait for the required operations to be performed. When the wizard completes adding the backup repository, you can review the log information. Click Finish to exit the wizard.