Blogs and Podcasts

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 “

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

 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 attac

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 Ve

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 Group

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.

Comparison in one image 🔎 🤓 Speaking of Virtualization Terms, It's very important to understand the backup strategy that we will be using, then is worth identifying Kasten's key differentiators relative to other offerings, such as Red Hat OpenShift Advanced Data Protection (OADP) that comes built into the various bundles. Generally speaking, OADP may be suitable for smaller environments that don't require advanced data protection features (e.g., application awareness), ransomware protection, or a user interface. 

Hi all,I recently published another blog posted based on my recent attendance at Edge Field Day 3. In this one I looked at VMware’s Edge Cloud Orchestrator, what they are doing and a potential use case that many of us who care about managed services and small business may be interested in. The post can be found at https://www.koolaid.info/vmware-edge-cloud-orchestrator-vmware-for-the-very-small-masses/ if you are interested.

I recently had to cover off a very unique use case, making capacity tier data available for restore after being disconnected. After doing I thought I’d share so here’s a little post I wrote:https://www.koolaid.info/maintaining-recoverability-in-veeam-capacity-tier-migrations/

 10. There is a scenario builder9. Tape is now included8. Select from Data Center, SaaS, Public Cloud and Monitoring7. Immutability is included6. Capacity Tier calculations5. Direct to Object storage option4. The UI is fantastic3. Average write rate when doing CDP calculation can be factored in2. This is an official Veeam Calculator1. The restore simulator is back!Anyone who works in the backup space knows the importance of a good backup calculator. Not only will it save you time it could also save money. To take it a step further a Veeam sizing calculator can also help you understand how to size the Veeam environment, that’s way I am excited when I got the news from @Chas letting everyone know that the new Veeam hosted calculators are available.Before I provide an o

Hi all, just wanted to get this out there in case you hadn’t seen it, my friend, fellow Vanguard and all around good dude Brad Jervis will be presenting with @Rin and @safiya this Thursday at 10 AM EST on archiving M365 data with Veeam Backup for Microsoft365. If you are concerned about compliance and cost management you should definitely tune in!https://www.linkedin.com/events/7243244346731290624

If you wish to explore the capabilities of Veeam Backup and Replication v11A, then you probably upgrade to this version. Kindly visit the following URL for more of these capabilities/features.Here is a link to the complete guide highlighting on all the needed steps.You may be notified if there is an update of the Veeam Backup and Replication. Upon clicking on this notification, you will be redirected to the following KB (download) link.

Every once in a while, someone asks me to protect an Azure workload that does have the most direct approach available for it in a Veeam product. Today I’ll focus on Azure Key Vault, but I’ll see if I can broaden the scope a bit over time with future posts. Why backup Azure Key VaultAzure Key Vault is used as a source to manage anything from encryption scopes on Azure Storage to allowing customer managed keys for services, storing public/private key pairs, custom secrets, and certificates. Losing Azure Key Vault contents could pose a serious problem, but exporting data out for backup purposes could also create quite some risk – thankfully backup jobs allow data encryption. Soft deleteAzure Key Vault comes with soft delete, allowing recovery of deleted vaults an

With the recent announcement that Hyper-V is strategic to Microsoft, as the main focus of Server 2025 you can imagine I've spent more time on the topic than usual lately. I normally don’t post on here, but I figured I'd share. To get the basic stuff out of the way, yes you can Instantly Recovery ‘any’ workload to Hyper-V, and it can be automated with PowerShell - it will probably make it

Hi all,In the first part of our deep-dive evaluation of OOTBI we go deeper into Object Storage and the technology.What is it, what are the benefits, pitfalls,…We also look what’s inside the OOTBI’s box, dismantle it, analyse the components and show you step by step how to configure this optimized device for Veeam under 15 minutes.Read it all here (prepare for a long-read….) Let me know if you like it. We’ll prepare a second article where we look at performance and maintenance.

I was honored to be selected as a delegate last week to Edge Field Day 3 in Santa Clara, CA. While there I presented an Ignite Talk on utilizing Object Storage in your Disaster Recovery strategy. This is the shorter version of this talk that I’ve been giving this year but the only one that’s made its way to YouTube so I thought I’d share. Are you leverage Object today?  

The sequel of part 2 😉And it seems that a part 4 is also needed 🙄 Backup copy job : VBR creates the first time of course a full backup file on the currently attached disk When you swap the disk and if it is empty, it will create a full backup on itIf there is a backup chain on it for this job, it will create a new incremental in the current chain. The latest incremental is the start point of the new incrementalThe retention policy will be applied, so all backup-files that are outdated will be removed from the backup chainBecause I always use a backup copy job in combination with rotated drives as a offline/airgapped solution I always recommend the customer to swap the disks on a weekly basis. Therefore I mostly configure the job with 7 to 10 restore points meaning 1 full and 6 to 9 incrementals.I don’t care about the total wanted restore points, I see the number of restore points

As a backup professional, I often present alongside partners, addressing key concerns in data protection. One of the most frequent questions I encounter is: How can we determine if there’s an issue with a backup or if it’s infected? This is where I highlight a standout feature of Veeam—Secure Restore—demonstrating its critical role in maintaining data integrity.What is Veeam Secure Restore?Veeam Secure Restore allows organizations to scan restore points using antivirus software and YARA rules before restoring them to the production environment. This proactive approach ensures that data is not only recoverable but also safe from potential threats.Supported OperationsSecure Restore is available for a range of operations, including:Instant Recovery Instant Disk Recovery Virtual Disks Restore Entire VM Restore Restores to Microsoft Azure Restores to Amazon EC2

For ease of administration, I will use Portainer a lightweight Docker Container management solution to administer my Docker environment instead of using the Container Manager on Synology.To proceed with this task, we have to first install the Container Manager on Synology. Launch the Package Center on your Synology NAS, and search for Container Manager. You will have to install it as shown below.Note: When Installed, you can also open it and navigate to the Image tab, select the Prometheus image and click Launch. You will also have to do the same for Grafana. But as I said above, we will be using Portainer as it simplifies Docker management

I am often tasked with creating storage heavy systems in terms of throughput and I/O.Some of the proprietary video systems create lots of IO and the users require a lot of space.  We all know M.2 NVMe drives are perfect for the task, but what happens when you need larger volumes? Software raid or using Storage Spaces is easy, but the performance penalties are not small. Hardware raid performs much better, but what about when you want to take it to the next level?  I purchased a GRAID SupremeRAID SR-1001 and a LQD4500 (Honey Badger) to do some testing. The SR-1001 is a GPU accelerated raid card, and the LQD4500 is 8 M.2 drives on a PCIe card. You can see after installing the LQD4500, device manager shows it has added 8 Samsung disks to the 3 I already had in the system.  

 Data Quality C.A.R.E. is a framework that emphasizes essential aspects of data quality, particularly in the context of Machine learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL).Before we describe the framework, it is important to remember essential concepts.Machine Learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that enables systems to learn from data and improve their performance over time without being explicitly programmed.It is generally effective with smaller datasets and can perform well with a few hundred or thousand samples. It is commonly used for structured data tasks like fraud detection, customer segmentation, and predictive analytics.Deep Learning is a specialized s

Rickatron tells us the story of how to run IT communities: Rickatron’s work of Art  https://objectfirst.com/blog/out-of-the-box-interview-rick-vanover-part-2/

Our Migration Toolkit for Virtualization 🕺 Many have asked me what a migration flow is with our toolkit from the VMware Hypervisor to Openshift Virtualization, in this flowchart I will list each of the steps, how with this Tool we can leave our Virtual Machine ready to be take backup by Kasten🤓 When you run a migration plan, the Migration Controller creates a VirtualMachineImport custom resource (CR) for each source VM. The Virtual Machine Import Controller validates the VirtualMachineImport CR and generates a VirtualMachine CR. The Virtual Machine Import Controller retrieves the VM configuration, including network, storage, and metadata, linked in the VirtualMachineImport CR.

 For each VM disk:

Greetings everyone, for years I have been building scripts, tools, and dashboards regarding Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 restore operations, just to quickly recap all the work over the years: Don’t get me wrong, the experience was am

 Again, Veeam has exceeded expectations and delivered a new release for the Veeam Data Platform with many new features and integrations.This release expands Veeam Backup and Replication platform capabilities significantly. This post will focus on Proxmox VE compatibility, MongoDB support, Nutanix Prism Central integration, and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB support.The VDP 12.2 for VBR release also delivers other new workload integrations, enabling customers to transition to new platforms with confidence and security, like:IBM Db2: Linux on Power support and SLES 15 SP5 support. SAP HANA plugin: now operates on RHEL 9.4 for SAP HANA. Veeam Agent for Linux: support for the