Blogs and Podcasts

Hey all, I just finished posting the third of a three-part series on deploying the Veeam Hardened Repository ISO.  I’ve been waiting a long time for the ISO to be released and have been occasionally bugged Rick about it, but this thing has been solid for me for over a week.  I’ve had a server waiting for it for over a year and it was worth the wait as it was super easy to deploy aside from working around the slightly buggy GUI for Rocky Linux.  I will note that Hannes specified 64GB of RAM for the VHR ISO, but my PowerEdge R550 that we ordered for the task previously has 32GB and seems to be keeping up just fine, though time will tell. Since it’s broken up into multiple parts, I’ll just share links to my blog rather than copying it into this post, though I will share a few screenshots as a teaser.Part 1Part 2Part 3Also thank you to everyone that had previously posted or had input on network bonding in Linux.  It was helpful as I setup my first 802.3ad bond on a server.  Let me know you

On September 26, 2024, Pure Storage and Rubrik announced a partnership “to arm global customers with a proven reference architecture to ensure uptime and a path forward in the face of growing cyber threats”.  And while the press releases, blogs, data sheets and even the white paper (see Resources) have all the right Cyber Resilience key buzz words, there is nothing new, or that interesting, from a product integration and solution perspective.What was announced?“a three-layered defense strategy” which includes:Layer 1 - Rapid Recovery – recovery from Pure Storage FlashArray storage snapshots, using Pure’s recovery tools Layer 2 - Data Security – separately, from Rubrik with their Secure Vault appliance and from Pure with FlashArray SafeMode-enabled immutable storage snapshots Layer 3 - Archival Location – long-term retention on Pure Storage FlashBlade object storage How does that compare?Pure Storage and Veeam have more valuable and deeper storage snapshot integration and solutions that

Survive and Thrive Data Protection is facing increasing pressures. Going forward I predict an unprecedented amount of attacks and breakdowns of the security perimeters around us. There will be no safe cozy home for your infrastructure and backed up data. Survivability will depend on an organization’s and people’s ability to adapt. In such an incredible hostile climate and environment one might ask, how can I function? How can I protect my backups and infrastructure when surrounded by adversaries on all sides?Being in Berlin last week for the Veeam 100 Summit reminded me of a different era. While this was a different time and the challenges perhaps were simpler and easier to define, nevertheless there were during that time, environments similar to what we are facing and will be facing in the near future.  THE RANSOMWARE IRON CURTAINEveryone having to work or operate on the other side of the Iron Curtain knew what Zero Trust meant without ever having heard the term spoken. In fact Veeam’

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An advantage of software-defined Veeam products is that they can be installed in many different ways and on any hardware your company owns and uses.  They can be installed on-premises, or in any hyper-scale public cloud, you choose.  To help customers architect, size, and secure the various Veeam products and features, the Veeam Solutions Architect team has created Veeam Security Blueprints (SBP) and they are publicly accessible. Veeam Security Blueprints can be found at https://www.veeam.com/security-blueprints.html Veeam Security Blueprints (SBP) are short (3 – 4 pages) scenario-based reference architectures covering common scenarios seen in the field. Types of scenarios include:On-premises environment using multiple different vendor storage targets (HPE, Cisco, Pure, Exagrid, Cloudian, Lenovo, Zadara, Hitachi Vantara). Veeam cloud backup products (Veeam Backup for Azure, GCP, AWS) VMC on AWS and hybrid environments Veeam Plugins for Enterprise Applications (Oracle and Microsoft SQL)

Hi all. The EMEA SAs have recently just added a new tool to https://www.veeambp.com called the ‘Ports Finder’ (aka Ports Directory).  The idea behind the tool was to make it easier to find all the ports you need for a Veeam solution. It doesn’t provide mapping for specific hosts or any of the advanced feature that the Veeam Ports Tool provides.Currently it only has VMware and Hyper-V ports; however, that will be changing soon and will have:VMware Hyper-V AHV Enterprise Manager All Explorers Windows, Linux and Solaris Agents VBR Integration with AWS and Azure Veeam ONE O365 VDROAll the port mappings were pulled directly from their respective webpages so they are 100% accurate. We will aim to keep the database updated as things change or are added over time. Ed

For those looking to set up a straightforward and easily configurable VPN solution for remote access to your NAS or PCs, here's a comprehensive guide on deploying Tailscale, which leverages WireGuard for secure and efficient networking with minimal configuration. Below are some interesting articles on this topic by Luis. Below is an image showing the various prices available on their website. The personal offer is more than suitable as it offers up to 100 device connections without any associated cost.Run Tailscale on DS923+ Synology NASTo do this, navigate to the Synology Package Center and search for the Tailscale App as shown below.Click on install Tailscale is installed and running.Note: When connected via QuickConnect, the Tailscale package is not accessible. To resolve this, connect to your Synology NAS using its IP address. If you’ve forgotten the IP address and port number, you can retrieve them while connected via QuickConnect or by visiting “find.synology.com.” After the

There has been an increase in interest from our customers and partners in alternative platforms and there’s no shortage of options in the hypervisor and cloud market. While many of the underlying virtualization components like KVM/Qemu/etc might be common to most of the platforms, the storage and management layers can vary quite a bit. Storage choices can affect the ability to take snapshots and capture changed block data between backup points via a host API and each management plane that sits above the compute/storage/networking can expose features and capabilities via the their APIs differently. KVM and Xen are Linux based hypervisor technologies that allow VM processes to access hardware through the host. The virtual disk data can be stored on a large variety of options such as local filesystems and disks, NFS, iSCSI/FC, LVMs, and distributed storage options like CEPH and Gluster or even proprietary options. Platforms can choose which software/hardware components to pair with their

IntroductionIn the first of 4 blog posts of this [Migrate Veeam Infrastructure Off Production Domain series], we described the fundamental security reasons behind moving the Veeam infrastructure components OFF Production domain. In this blog post, we will provide step by step guidance for moving a Veeam Backup and Replication™ (VBR) infrastructure off the Production Domain onto a Backup Workgroup. Disclaimer: This is not intended to be a complete Security Best practice reference, nor does it address every possible scenario. A Veeam Solutions Architect can be engaged as needed to assist with VBR Security Best Practices, especially with complex deployments.Setup  The scenario is comprised of the following servers:A Production Domain Controller / DNS server 2 ESX hosts and 1 vCenter Veeam Backup and Replication server (VBR) with local PostgreSQL database Veeam Enterprise Manager server (VBEM) with local PostgreSQL database Veeam Gateway server Veeam Mount server Veeam ONE server Veeam Pro

 Recently, Veeam announced the release of Veeam Data Cloud, previously known as Cirrus by Veeam. Veeam Data Cloud will provide resilient data protection and recovery for multi-cloud data, all delivered through cloud-native backup and storage services.Veeam Data Cloud is available for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure, and Veeam Data Cloud Vault is offered.Specifically, the Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft 365 is a game-changing BaaS (Backup as a Service) offer. It arrives to meet a latent demand and brings it with many differentiators for customers, such as:Access the Veeam Data Cloud services in a Web browser. The cost of storing backups is included in the subscription, and storage is unlimited! *** WOW *** Customers can choose their preferred Azure region to store their backups. You still manage your data and perform backup and recovery operations using a simple and intuitive interface. Veeam scales cloud resources at no extra cost to customers. Keep costs low and predictable! There is

 Hi! I was studying more details about Veeam's Backup as a Service (Baas) service, the Data Cloud for Microsoft 365, and I noticed that Veeam provides, free of charge, a tool that performs a quick assessment in the Microsoft 365 environment and presents information and insights. The tool's name is Veeam Insights for Microsoft 365.The tool can consolidate the number of active and inactive licenses, which allows you to save money by directing inactive licenses to other employees or simply reducing the contracted quantity. Additionally, it provides visibility into overall storage levels, including the number of files in use on OneDrive and Sharepoint, and shows which users are consuming the most storage.It also presents an Outlook activity graph showing the number of messages sent and received. The period for this information can be customized.The best part? If you're not performing the backup, you can easily onboard Microsoft 365 with a click on the Veeam Data Cloud. The process is desig

If your company is a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) and/or a Managed Service Provider (MSP), I recommend reading the just released “Third Annual Direction of Technology Ecosystem Report” from TD Synnex.This survey was conducted with +1000 Channel Partners from April to June 2024. Five main channel partners´ trends were revealed, and I want to highlight some interesting insights:✅  Channels are prioritizing specific professional skills in their hiring processes: consulting (43%) and managed services (37%).✅ They say the top four solutions they plan to offer include: security (49%), AI/GenAI (44%), hybrid cloud (39%), and networking (38%).✅ AI is reshaping the channel´s offerings; in the next 12 months, more than half expect to offer GenAI (52%) and AI Services (48%). They plan to provide AI/GenAI from 14% in 2022 to 44% in 2024, a 214% increase.IMO, it´s clear that providing AI and GenAI solutions and services is essential for VARs and MSPs as these technologies enhance their value proposit

If you are a certified IT pro, trainer or blogger, Veeam is happy to provide you with a FREE NFR license (Not-For-Resale keys).This license allows for non production use of Veeam Availability Suite in your home lab, without any feature limitations for one year and 20 workloads (VMs/Servers/Workstations) or of Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 in your home lab without any feature limitations for up to 10 users.Here is a list of IT members eligible for a free Veeam NFR license key:Veeam Certified Engineers (VMCEs) AWS Heroes AWS Community Builders AWS Heroes AWS Certified Pros Google Cloud Developer Advocates VMware vExperts VMware Certified Professionals (VCPs) VMware Certified Advanced Professionals (VCAPs) Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals - Office 365 (MVPs) Microsoft Certified Solutions Experts (MCSEs) VMware, Microsoft, AWS trainers And more!Free NFR for Veeam Availability Suite https://go.veeam.com/free-nfr-veeam-availability-su

In my continuation from my first blog post which can be found here - Cybersecurity Month - Blog #1 I now present blog #2 which deals with the same Synology C2 Object Storage but this time using it with Veeam B&R for offiste.Synology C2 Object Storage with Veeam Backup Synology C2 Object Storage with Veeam Backup This will be my second article in the continuation of Cyber Security Month. This one uses Synology C2 Object Storage with Veeam Backup & Replication as a target repository. I have tested many providers over the years with Veeam, and this one is just as easy to set up as most of the other S3-compatible storage vendors.You first launch your Veeam Console, go under Backup Infrastructure, and click on Backup Repositories. From here, you will add a new repository, which must be S3 Compatible. The screenshots below show the process of adding the Synology C2 Object Storage to my Veeam Console.S3 Compatibility – adding using Veeam Console wizard –Configuration of the S3 Object

Hello, everyone,Taking up the excellent guide on Veeam Plugi-SQL by @leduardoserrano    I share with you the anatomy of installing and configuring and restoring an MSSQL Database in Always On mode. Installing and using the Veeam Plug-in for SQL Server | Veeam Community Resource Hub​Veeam Plug-in for Microsoft SQL ServerVeeam Plug-in for Microsoft SQL Server - Veeam Plug-ins for Enterprise ApplicationsHow Veeam Plug-in for Microsoft SQL Server WorksHow Veeam Plug-in for Microsoft SQL Server Works - Veeam Plug-ins for Enterprise ApplicationsParallel Database ProcessingSupported Backup Repositorieshttps://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/plugins/repos_mssql.html?ver=120#supported-backup-repositories Windows Server Linux Server CIFS (SMB) ShareNFS File ShareDell Data Domain with Data Domain Boost (DDBoost) HPE StoreOnceQuantum DXiExaGridMake sure the repository is configured as described in the ExaGrid section in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.Hardened RepositoryInstalling V

The Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV backup products now has support for Nutanix AOS 6.10. Please read the KB article below for more details. The VBN AHV user guide has also been update. The link is also listed below. One known is is also highlighted below.😀Release Information for Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV 6.1https://www.veeam.com/kb4668Known IssuesWhen using Instant Recovery to restore a VM to Nutanix AOS 6.10, it may fail to boot if the VM's Guest OS utilized UEFI. To resolve this, modify the Instant Recovered VM to enable UEFI boot at the VM level, as documented in the "Acropolis CLI" section of Nutanix KB9400.System Requirementshttps://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbahv/userguide/system_requirements.html?ver=6 Note: See note about UEFI boot support. Nutanix also plans to release a fix for AOS 6.8 when available.  

I have decided to share this link to my article on how to “Install Splunk and Veeam App on Windows Server to monitor VBR”. This guide is comprehensive and it outlines the detailed steps to create a VM on Hyper-V, install the Windows Server OS, steps to specify syslog parameters on the Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) server, install Splunk and the Veeam App.Because this article is lengthy, Here is the link: https://techdirectarchive.com/2024/05/06/install-splunk-and-veeam-app-on-windows-server-to-monitor-vbr/It thoroughly describes every step and addresses potential issues you may encounter while setting up Splunk Enterprise in your environment. Here are some advanced guides by my peers on this topic as well.   You would also learn how to get and apply your DEV NFR License for Splunk. 

The Knowledge Base article for using Backup for Microsoft 365 v8 has been updated for creating a backup to Wasabi. The new/updated article is available here - https://docs.wasabi.com/docs/create-a-backup-to-wasabi-on-veeam-backup-for-microsoft-365-v8

When I try to upgrade Veeam, or when I try to apply a new license, I get a prompt about my server being managed by a Veeam Enterprise Manager server like the prompt below. But I don't have one? How can I fix this? This is a question that comes up from time-to-time here in the Community Hub as well as the Veeam Subreddit. Generally, the subject, me in today's example, has a VBR server in place, and previously had a Veeam Enterprise Manager server as well, but VEM server since been removed and VBR doesn't know it because there's still an entry referencing VEM in the VBR configuration database. Enterprise Manager is a great tool if you have multiple VBR servers to manage, or need any of it's various features such as the reporting or capability to recover lost encryption passwords, but in my case, I don't need it and the server was actually removed several years ago and I had been putting off opening a case and cleaning this up for at least a couple years, so let's get down to it. A quick

As a Domain Administrator, it's likely you've never performed a KRBTGT password reset. Especially since the account appears disabled when viewed in Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC). However, the KRBTGT account is not disabled. This is misleading due to the special nature of the KRBTGT account. This is because it operates under special security permissions and restrictions that prevent its normal use. Such as interactive logon or enabling or disabling the account actions. The disabled icon or status is simply an indication that it cannot be used for normal operations This critical account is automatically created when a Domain Controller (DC) is provisioned and is used by the Key Distribution Center (KDC) to issue and sign Kerberos tickets, which are essential for Kerberos authentication.In this article “Perform Key Distribution Center Service [krbtgt] Password reset”. We will cover best practices for resetting the KRBTGT account password and explain why regularly resetting i

Veeam Plug-in restore a SQL Server database to an alternate server Frequently, the DBA must restore a database backed up from one server to a different server. To restore a SQL Server database backed up with the Veeam plug-in, there are a couple of key steps to follow. This example uses simple configuration. There are 2 SQL Server hosts with several databases on each. Backup has been performed on both SQL1 and its related server, SQL2. The goal is to restore a single database backed up on SQL2 to the server SQL1. Pre-requisite configuration The correct repository must be in place for restore to occur. The two servers being used may have been storing data to different repositories. The first step is to verify the appropriate repository where the backup data exists to the server where the restore is to occur. Change the configuration if necessary. Restore This operation must occur on the destination server. To restore a backup from server SQL2 to the SQL1 server, begin the restore by sel

 What is Scan Backup?Scan Backup is a feature introduced in Veeam Backup & Replication v12.1 that focuses on early threat detection by scanning restore points for potential malware or other cyber threats. This functionality enhances data security by allowing administrators to identify clean restore points after a malware attack.How Does It Work?The Scan Backup process utilizes a rule-based detection approach like antivirus software. Here's how it operates:Restore Point Scanning: You can initiate a Scan Backup session to examine restore points for signs of malware or other threats. Detecting Clean Restore Points: Post-Attack Recovery: If a malware attack is suspected, the scan can identify the last clean restore point, helping you revert to a safe state. Unknown Attack Dates: If the exact date of the malware attack is unclear, the scan can help find the most recent unaffected backup. Sensitive Data Search: The scan can also be used to search for specific information within backups

This is a follow on from the NoSQL - MongoDB blog I posted a few weeks back now - The premise of the above was how to automate the standing up of a 3 node MongoDB replicaset within my vSphere environment to show off the new MongoDB functionality in Veeam Data Platform 12.3. This got me interested in looking back at some previous database functionality we have had in the Veeam Data Platform for a while but also how I could automate the deployment to make this a fast, repeatable process as well as the ability to share with the community. The process for the deployments will be using terraform to stand up the Windows or Linux boxes for the databases we cover and then using Ansible playbooks to install the database software and get things to our desired state. PostgreSQL A lot has been happening with PostgreSQL and Veeam over the last few releases, the configuration database can now be stored in a PostgreSQL instance and also we have some integrations that give us some cool ways to help wh

Veeam includes many great options for protecting databases. Here, I will outline the configuration for using Veeam plug-in for Oracle through the managed interface to create a database backup. We will use the Veeam Backup and Replication console to create a backup job that will manage your Oracle database as any DBA would prefer.Create a protection groupThe managed backup feature utilizes protection groups to identify the servers to be protected and create a deployment job which will manage the deployment of the Veeam Oracle Plug-in. Select the ‘Inventory’ tab on the left, then right click the ‘Physical Infrastructure’ option in the inventory list in the upper left area of the VBR console and ‘Add protection group’. The ‘New Protection Group’ dialog will open. New Protection GroupProvide a name for the group, click next and you will select the option ‘individual computers’ within the ‘Type’ section, hit next and then ‘Add’.This will open the dialog where you can select the Oracle serve

First, we download and install Veeam Agent for Windows on the Windows server where we will install the Agent. After the relevant installation is completed, we create the Job in the following steps. Step 1 - First of all, we enter a name for the Job.Step 2 - In this step, we can take a file backup at the Image level with Entire Computer, or a volume on the server with Volume level backup, or at the File level backup level.Step 3 - Since I chose file backup, I chose an empty file since it was a test.Step 4 - Since we will be backing up to Azure Blob Storage, we select Object storage and continue.Step 5 - Here you can find the Account and Shared key information on the Access Key on the Storage Account you created in the Azure Portal, as shown in the image below. Step 6 - In this step, you need to select the Container you created in the blob storage you created on Azure and create a Folder inside it. If you activate Immutuble on Blob storage, you can also activate it on Veeam.Step 7 - Afte