Blogs and Podcasts

The following post can also be found on my blog - Veeam ONE - 12.1 Upgrade Veeam ONE - 12.1 Upgrade Veeam released the 12.1 update back in November 2023, and with it comes upgrades to most components, including Veeam ONE. Today, I will walk through the upgrade process in my homelab to update my current Veeam ONE server from 12.0 to 12.1. Many enhancements came with Veeam ONE 12.1, including some of the following - Veeam Threat Center Unified Analytics-Driven Approach to Data Management Integrated Dashboards Alarm Lifecycle ServiceNow Incident Management Integration Syslog SIEM Integration Elevating Veeam Data Platform Security Backup Security and Compliance: Instant Insights for Robust Data Protection Malware Detection: Pinpoint, Protect, Prevail A full list of the enhancements in Veeam ONE 12.1 can be found here - Veeam ONE 12.1 - What's New.***NOTE - You must download the Veeam ONE 12.1 ISO file to follow the steps.***The following steps are required to up

In the realm of IT infrastructure management, establishing a resilient backup schedule is critical for safeguarding data and ensuring business continuity. A robust backup strategy not only involves regular backups but also encompasses a well-thought-out schedule tailored to diverse data types and systems. This article aims to explore key considerations and best practices for implementing an automated backup schedule aligned with business continuity objectives, while emphasizing the need to distribute backups within backup windows to avoid overloading productive and backup resources. Understanding Business ObjectivesBefore diving into crafting a backup schedule, it's imperative to comprehend the business's specific needs and priorities. This involves understanding data criticality, compliance requirements, recovery time objectives (RTO), and recovery point objectives (RPO). These insights will inform the frequency, granularity, and retention policies for your backup schedule.[For a deta

As this was a hot topic on many plattforms, I thought it was worth sharing here.Today Dell and Veeam have released the new storage plugin for PowerStore OS 3.x.In general the plugin will only work with Veeam Backup & Replication build P20220302 or later. But what’s important to note, if you’re on P20220302 you need to install a private hotfix before installing the plugin itself; the details can be found in KB4243. The plugin is available for download in the Storage Plugin Section or directly here.If you want to join the discussion in the R&D forums or give feedback, here’s the corresponding topic. 

If the Hyper-V integration services are not installed, you cannot restore any data from Veeam Backup.Please follow the steps to install Hyper-V integration services in the Ubuntu Linux VM of Hyper-V.  1.Login to Hyper-V host.2.Open PowerShell as Administrator.3.Run the command as follows.Get-VMIntegrationService -VMName "ubuntu2310"  4.Open the Hyper-V Manager tool.5.Right-click the VM and select the Settings.  6.Select Integration Services on the Settings of the VM page.  7.Select the Guest services checkbox on the Integration Services page and click OK.  8.Run the command as follows to ensure the Integration Services of the VM are enabledGet-VMIntegrationService -VMName "ubuntu2310"  9.Login to the Linux Server.10.Run the command as follows to edit modules.vim /etc/initramfs-tools/modules  11.Add hv_modules to initramfs-tools modules.hv_vmbushv_storvschv_blkvschv_netvsc  12.Run the following command to update the apt packages.sudo apt update  13.Run the following command to upgrade t

Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 has an error in one of the mailboxes. The error message is "There is an error in XML document…The specified type was not recognized: name='SharingMessage'. It happened after I upgraded the VBM365 from version 6 to version 7a. This is a known issue, and Veeam released a HOTFIX on December 15. Please download the HOTFIX from  https://www.veeam.com/kb4527 and follow the steps to fix it. 1.Login to Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 Manager server.2.Open Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 Console.3.Verify the Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 version from Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 console (Help |Abut).  4.Ensure the Version is 7.1.0.1301 or 7.0.0.4388.  5.Right-click all jobs and select Disable to stop all active tasks.  6.Close the console and stop the following services on the Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 server.Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365, Veeam Backup Proxy for Microsoft 365 and Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 RESTful API.  7.Open https://www.veeam.com/kb45

Hi Folks,I decided to talk about something a bit different today. A non Kubernetes quick video. One of the main components of Zero Trust when it comes to Backup and Replication is not put all of your components together, otherwise it can get messy like in my video. Whishing everybody a great upcoming New Year!  

Veeam Backup and Replication release 12.1 delivers new features and enhancements.Among them is the Four-Eyes Authorization.In this video, there is a brief demonstration. I hope this information is helpful! 

Continuing with my Linux theme this year, I thought I'd share how easy it is to implement Linux OS as Veeam Repositories in your environment. Instituting immutability with the Veeam Hardened Repository has certainly gained traction, and for good reason. There are several good posts out there on how to do so, including a couple of my favorites from @HannesK and Paolo Valsecchi here and here, respectively. But maybe you're not quite ready to go all in that route yet. Or maybe there's some organizational policies in place preventing you from doing so. Well, you can still use Linux OS as a Veeam Repository and not have to configure it as a VHR. In this post I'll share exacxtly how to do just that.System RequirementsThe first order of business before installing Linux is to make sure you have the supported hardware and software. Below shows a list of Veeam-supported Linux distributions: Linux OS RequirementsBesides the above, there are CPU and RAM requirements. The amount of CPU cores and Me

I’m planning on making a better writeup with my settings and some photos, but for now this is on my mind after helping someone today.  I often see Veeam setups with 1 large datastore / volume in Windows for their repository. Other times quite often it will be multiple disks spanned into a single logical Volume, lets call it D:\. You can still get good performance like this, and the simplicity is quite nice, but can it be better? If you have some spare storage kicking around I encourage you to try this in your lab. Run your benchmarks on this single volume (D:\) record your results and then then delete the logical and physical volume. Create 3 new equal sized volumes with matching logical volumes. Lets call them E:\ F:\ and G:\. Next run IOMeter or your favorite benchmarking tool.  Make sure you are pushing the queues to see the benefits of multiple physical/logical volumes.  The next thing you can do is check and modify queue depth on the adapters and Windows server. With a large backu

VeeaMover is a cool new feature available in the next Veeam Backup & Replication v12 that allows to move or copy backups to different locations.If you need to change the target repository for a Backup Job containing existing backups, a warning message is displayed and the procedure cannot be finalized until the backups have moved to the new repository.With current versions of Veeam this is a manual, time-consuming operation. Here is where VeeaMover come into play. Use casesCommon VeeaMover use cases are the following:Move backups to different repository Copy backups to different repository Migrate ReFS to XFS for Hardened Repository Migrate NTFS to ReFS Re-balance Scale-Out Repository Scale-Out Repository extent evacuation Move backups to a different locationThe target Repository can be changed also in an existing Backup Job. Move a VM to different Backup Job Copy backups to a different location Migrate backups from NTFS to ReFSAnother cool capability of VeeaMover is the option to 

In the ever-evolving landscape of information technology, the safeguarding of critical data remains paramount. Among the crucial elements ensuring data integrity and recovery, versioning and retention policies stand tall, forming the bedrock of robust data protection solutions. This article, "Versioning and Retention Policies," aims to delve deep into these foundational components, offering insights and strategies crucial for IT experts aiming to build comprehensive data protection frameworks.Understanding the Essence of Versioning in Data BackupsAt the heart of any effective backup strategy lies versioning—a mechanism that enables the preservation of multiple iterations of data over time. The importance of versioning cannot be overstated; it serves as a safeguard against data corruption, accidental deletions, and the ever-looming threat of cyberattacks.Data Recovery and Resilience Versioning within backups serves as a safety net against potential data loss scenarios. It enables organi

Hey! There are many new features in the Veeam Data Platform 23H2 release. Discover some of them in the video below and at the following links: https://www.veeam.com/whats-new-backup-replication.htmlhttps://www.veeam.com/veeam_backup_12_1_whats_new_wn.pdfhttps://www.veeam.com/veeam_console_8_0_whats_new_wn.pdf Download the trial version here:https://www.veeam.com/downloads.html  This video presents a step-by-step guide to upgrading the Veeam Data Platform to version 12.1 and the Veeam Service Provider Console to version 8.0. I hope it can be helpful!   

Hi Everyone, As always after a move I was going through old stuff and found my lucky winner post from 2017. At the time on the Veeam Forums there was a contest to win a trip to VeeamON 2017 in New Orleans.. I was not sure whether to post or not. Fear of being laughed at or ridiculed was strong, but luckily I had managed to make a fool of myself so often during my schooling years the phobia had somewhat lessened! In short folks don’t be shy and get creative! You never know where it may get you.Here is the poem that I wrote about Veeam: A good morning starts with coffee and creamwhile viewing a backup report that is colored in green.There was a time when nothing of the sort would be seenThose were the bad old backup days before the arrival of VeeamBroken restores will break an Admin's spleenBut by using Veeam one's health remains keenNo backup operator wants to face an angry user who turns meanInstead grateful elation is what we see in our dreamsSo if you want your engine moving forward

In case anyone missed it back on December 7th I was on the Ninja Pod podcast with @DrObject talking all things Veeam related as well as discussing my book.  You can catch it below.  

In the realm of IT infrastructure and data management, the terms "replication" and "backup" are often used interchangeably, leading to misconceptions about their functionalities. While both processes involve duplicating data, they serve distinct purposes in safeguarding data integrity and availability. Understanding the fundamental disparities between data replication and backup is pivotal for designing a robust data protection strategy. The Essence of ReplicationReplication primarily focuses on mirroring data from one location or system to another in real-time or near-real-time. It ensures data consistency across different environments, enabling high availability and disaster recovery. The goal of replication is to maintain synchronized copies of data to facilitate continuous operations and minimize downtime in case of hardware failure or site disasters.The synchronicity of replication is also its biggest weak point – all errors in the data and all compromised data is propagated to th

Just a short post today - I cherry picked a couple of my favourite features of 12.1. There were so many to choose from, but the features I love best in new releases are often the big heroes that hide in the shadows.  Maintenance mode enhancements — running Cloud Connect Replication jobs and Cloud Connect CDP policies will now be stopped gracefully and prevented from starting automatically for the duration of the maintenance mode. This one has long been a thorn for us Service Providers. You put the environment into maintenance mode, but replicas continue to come through. I’m excited to see this new feature being implemented! Now maintenance on CC environments are going to be much less troublesome! PostgreSQL database support — following multiple optimizations and QA testing, starting from v12.1 we’re removing the previous recommendation not to use PostgreSQL as a configuration database for  Veeam Cloud Connect infrastructures.Huge feature here! No longer will we be chained to expensive

Hi Everyone,My most liked new features in Veeam 12.1  

Recently I added to my home lab, an Ubuntu Server with a Hardened Repository for Veeam Backup, you can find more info here (Spanish).Now, the thing is, I want to be able to get notified if some user logs into the server via ssh, as a extra control, since I disable the SSH service when I dont use it.Also the idea came, to be able to get notified from other applications via telegram, so wasn't a crazy idea at the end.You can easily find how to create a Bot, and how to get your ID, so Im not going to dive into that, from previous entries, or the internet.So first, once we have created and activated our bot and user ID, lets go a create our Telegram messaging program, in our home, lets create a file like this:nano send-over-telegram.sh#!/bin/bashGROUP_ID=BOT_TOKEN=# this 3 checks (if) are not necessary but should be convenientif [ "$1" == "-h" ]; then echo "Usage: `basename $0` \"text message\"" exit 0fiif [ -z "$1" ] then echo "Add message text as second arguments" exit 0fiif [ "

We all have seen the raft of big-ticket new features but there are a lot of ‘small’ things in this release as well. One of my favourite features is the Disk Space check when doing an upgrade. This should make performing upgrades a smoother process, especially for those managing multiple VBR deployments. The private hotfix check is another welcome addition.What’s your favourite ‘small’ feature in this release? 

Author's note:Today's article lays the foundation for best practices for a general backup strategy. The description mentions many terms and procedures that will be discussed in more detail in later articles. In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the importance of a comprehensive data backup strategy cannot be overstated. IT experts tasked with safeguarding valuable data understand the critical role that backups play in ensuring business continuity and mitigating potential risks associated with data loss or corruption. To establish a reliable data protection solution, it's essential to embrace key best practices that encompass robust strategies, security measures, automation, and seamless integration into disaster recovery plans. Align Backup Strategies with Business NeedsA fundamental step in crafting an effective backup strategy is aligning it with the specific needs and objectives of the business. Understanding the criticality of various data sets, applications, and systems

Hi Everyone,Recently I took an old powerful desktop and leveraged Proxmox in order to turn it into a cheap and non intrusive (furniture wise) virtual lab. My previous lab was an old but pretty powerful IBM Thinkpad. I was not using virtualisation just various flavours of Kubernetes on an Ubuntu 20.04 server OS. Old Thinkpad​​​​​​I had done quite a bit of work on my old lab despite its humble characteristics and I was also thinking about re-inventing this laptop with some mini Linux distribution or even FreeBSD. I had already setup a VBR server in my Proxmox setup with a Linux repository so I added my Thinkpad to a protection group, installed the agent and ran a full backup. This was easy enough and I believe has been covered here many times so I will jump to the BMR restore.I downloaded the Linux recovery media from Veeam and created a new empty VM in Proxmox and set it to boot from the ISONew VM  After booting the VM I connected the console where I saw a message stating that if I was

I thought I’d put my thoughts on Veeam Service Provider Console out there. Hopefully, it will be of use to MSP’s out there.Working in the MSP space for the last 10+ years managing multiple deployments has always been time-consuming, especially as most MSPs usually distribute this workload to operational teams rather than having a dedicated team managing the platform. Enter Veeam Service Provider Console. I believe that Veeam Service Provider Console is one of the products least used to its full potential by MSPs. Deployed correctly it can be a very useful and time-saving addition to your toolset.What is Veeam Service Provider Console?Veeam Service Provider Console provides centralized management and monitoring of your various Veeam deployments such as VBR servers, M365 & Agents.Why should I use it?Version 8 of the console brings a raft of new features and behind-the-scenes improvements, many of which are driven by community feedback. I have been using VSPC since its days as VAC and

 WhyA Key Management Service (KMS) is a system or platform that securely stores, manages, and backs up cryptographic keys. These keys are used for encrypting and decrypting data, as well as for digital signatures. Key Management Services are crucial for organizations that deal with a large number of digital keys and certificates. They help ensure the security and integrity of sensitive information by providing a centralized and secure way to manage cryptographic keys. Without a proper key management service, organizations may face challenges in locating and managing their keys, which can lead to security vulnerabilities. A Key Management Service is an essential component of a robust security strategy, ensuring the secure and efficient management of cryptographic keys and sensitive data.FortanixThe Key Management Service by Fortanix Data Security Manager facilitates unified management of keys, encryption, tokenization, and secrets management across multi-cloud and hybrid infrastructures

Another possible topic for a future VMCE study group 😃.We are not robots, although sometimes on a Monday morning I sure do to feel like one. I think that there are very few of us out there you can claim that our performance is always consistent. There are some people who I would term are forever 1 + 1 = 2. However, I know for a fact that I can be 1 + 1 =20 on a certain days, and before I quit drinking beer you could have stuck a random number generator in that equation for all my consistency was worth.We often hear about great athletes, artists and others talking about being in the “zone”. As I understand it this is a state where things are just flowing, complications become easy and performance is optimal. Whatever you want to call such a state we can probably all agree that there are times when we feel that we are getting the best out of ourselves and times when we are not. In other words there are situations when we are not performing to or even near our maximum capabilities. This