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Veeam v11 backup to Google Cloud Storage

  • November 15, 2022
  • 10 min read
Cloud and Virtualization Architect. Paolo is a System Engineer, VCP-DCV, vExpert, VMCE, Veeam Vanguard, and author of the virtualization blog nolabnoparty.com
Cloud and Virtualization Architect. Paolo is a System Engineer, VCP-DCV, vExpert, VMCE, Veeam Vanguard, and author of the virtualization blog nolabnoparty.com


Veeam-backup-to-google- cloud-storage-01

One of the new features introduced in Veeam Backup & Replication v11 is the option to store the backup to Google Cloud Storage to comply the 3-2-1 backup rule.

With the support of Google Cloud object storage, backup administrators have now the chance to make their backup infrastructure more flexible with a quite large set of supported object storage solutions.

Before proceeding with the configuration, make sure you have a configured Bucket in Google Cloud Storage with the correct credentials to access the resource.

Google Cloud

 

Configure the backup to Google Cloud Storage in Veeam

To configure the backup to Google platform is required the creation of a Scale-out repository the Backup Job will use to transfer the backed up data since direct backup to object storage is not supported in v11. Veeam v12 will provide this capability.

 

Create the Google Object Storage as Capacity tier

From Veeam’s Backup Infrastructure area, right click Backup Repositories and select Add backup repository.

Backup Repository

Select Object storage option to create the Capacity Tier for the Scale-out repository to configure.

Add Backup Repository

Select Google Cloud Storage option.

Select Google Cloud Storage option

Enter a Name for the new repository and optionally a Description then click Next.

Enter a Name for the new repository and optionally a Description

Select the Credentials to connect the desired Google Bucket.

Select the Credentials

Select the Data center region where the Bucket has been created.

Select the Data center region

Click Browse and select the Bucket to use then click OK.

Click Browse and select the Bucket

Click Browse and select the Folder to use then click OK.

Click Browse and select the Folder

Enable the Limit object storage consumption to xx TB to keep consumed space under control. Click Apply.

Limit object storage consumption to xx TB

Click Finish to create the new repository.

Click Finish to create the new repository

The new object storage has been created successfully.

The new object storage has been created successfully

 

Create the local Performance tier repository

Right click Backup repositories and select Add backup repository to create a new local repository used as Performance tier for the Scale-out repository.

Right click Backup repositories and select Add backup repository

In this example an NFS share will be used as Performance tier. Select Network attached storage option.

Select Network attached storage option

Select NFS share.

Select NFS share

Enter a Name for the new repository and optionally a Description. Click Next.

Enter a Name for the new repository

Enter the correct path for the Shared folder and the Gateway server. Click Next.

Enter the correct path for the Shared folder and the Gateway server

If you have the appropriate license, click Advanced and enable the Use per-machine backup files, click OK.

Click Advanced and enable the Use per-machine backup files

Click Next.

New backup repository

Specify the Mount server to use and click Next.

Specify the Mount server to use

Missing Veeam components will be installed to the Proxy Server selected as Mount Server. Click Apply.

Proxy Server selected as Mount Server

Required packages have been installed. Click Next to continue.

Required packages have been installed

Click Finish to close the wizard.

Click Finish to close the wizard

The just created repository.

The just created repository

 

Create the Scale-out repository

Since direct backup to object storage is not supported in Veeam v11, to backup to Google Cloud Storage you need to create a Scale-out repository. Once Capacity (Google object storage) and Performance (local repository) tiers have been created, right click Scale-out Repositories and select Add scale-out backup repository.

Scale-out Repositories

Enter a Name for the repository and optionally a Description. Click Next.

Enter a Name for the repository and optionally a Description

Click Add and select the local repository (extent) previously created as Performance Tier then click OK.

Select the local repository (extent) previously created as Performance Tier

Click Next.

Performance Tier

Select Data locality option and click Next.

Select Data locality option

Enable the Extend scale-out backup repository capacity with object storage option and from the drop-down menu select the Google Object Storage repository previously created as Capacity tier. Enable the Copy backup to object storage as soon as they are created to run the backup data copy transfer as soon as they are available. It is also recommended to enable encryption for backups sent to object storage for security reasons. Click Apply.

Extend scale-out backup repository capacity with object storage

Click Finish to create the configured Scale-out repository.

Click Finish to create the configured Scale-out repository

The created Scale-out repository.

The created Scale-out repository

 

Create the Backup Job

To perform the backup to Google Cloud Storage you need to create the appropriated Backup Job. Right click Backup and select Backup > Virtual machine.

Right click Backup and select Backup > Virtual machine

Enter a Name for the new Backup Job and optionally a Description then click Next.

Enter a Name for the new Backup Job

Click Add to select the VMs to backup. In this example vSphere TAGs are used. Select the desired TAG and click Add.

Click Add to select the VMs to backup

When the VMs to backup have been selected, click Next.

When the VMs to backup have been selected, click Next

Select the previously created Scale-out repository as Backup repository and click Next.

Select the previously created Scale-out repository as Backup repository

If you don’t have any DB or supported VSS applications to protect, click Next.

If you don't have any DB or supported VSS applications to protect, click Next

Configure the desired Schedule and click Apply.

Configure the desired Schedule and click Apply

Enable the Run the job when I click Finish option to run the backup immediately then click Finish.

Run the job when I click Finish

 

Test the backup

When you run the Backup Job, the first backup will perform a Full backup to Google Cloud Storage and the available bandwidth will determine the backup speed.

Full backup to Google Cloud Storage

As soon as the local backup is complete, the offload process fires up by sending the copy of the processed data to the selected Bucket in Google Cloud.

 The offload process fires up

Depending on the amount of data to transfer, after a few minutes the backup to Google Cloud Storage is complete.

The backup to Google Cloud Storage is complete

From the Veeam Console, you can verify the availability of the processed backup in the Object Storage section under Backups.

Object Storage

Checking the Google Bucket content you can find the just processed backup.

Google Bucket content

Complying the 3-2-1 backup rule provides the maximum protection to your business data and taking benefit of backup to Google Cloud Storage feature you can easily offload your data to the cloud.

Veeam Backup & Replication v11 is available to download as 30-day trial.

 

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Dmytro Malynka StarWind Virtual SAN Product Manager
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