I’d like to first thank Rick Vanover, Madalina Cristil, Nikola Pejková, Aubrey Galen, and everyone at Veeam for their efforts and support leading into the Veeam 100 Summit. It’s a HUGE undertaking that requires many levels of coordination. This was my first time attending the event in person. It was an honour to attend such a prestigious event and meet many fellow Vanguards, Legends and MVPs in person.  It is amazing how being at an event and being able to speak to others of the same mindset makes you feel great.  As for the host city of Prague, it never fails.

Day 1 included a Welcome Reception.

A big thanks to Jim Jones and 11:11 Systems for sponsoring our Go Kart event earlier in the day! It’s safe to assume everyone thoroughly enjoyed this experience!

Day 2 was the official kickoff for the Veeam 100 Summit. Rick, Madalina, and Hannes Kasparick started the day with a presentation in which we learned more about the various Community groups managed by each.  If you’re not familiar with each community, I have provided a link and\or description for each below:

• Veeam Vanguard – The Veeam Vanguard Program is Veeam’s top-level influencer community. This group shares points of view, provides feedback and is committed to mutual success. Experts in the Vanguard program are a combination of many different disciplines, contribution types, and advocacy mechanisms. Yet, they are each the best regarding technical thought leadership for the technical communities in which Veeam exists. These individuals have been nominated as Veeam Vanguards. A Veeam Vanguard represents our brand to the highest level in many technology communities we engage. These individuals are chosen for their acumen, engagement and style in their activities on and offline.
• Veeam Legend – Veeam Legends are Veeam users and data protection industry experts passionate about technology and innovation and eager to further develop their careers while sharing their experiences with the community. As avid Veeam users, they participate in various community projects, drive local Veeam User Groups and can also influence the development of Veeam products and solutions — they have a tangible impact within the community! Apart from that, Veeam Legends are always eager to help their peers and get connected with other community members.
• Veeam MVP – this group includes top Veeam employees with a customer-facing technical role who share and engage when it is not part of their job. This program is ONLY available to Veeam employees.

Next was Rick Vanover and Edwin Weijdema from Veeam, and their presentation was about Ransomware. As we know, this subject matter is relevant and is always in the news. Below are a few slides from the presentation:

What risks to consider when trying to protect your data, and are you prepared for a disaster?

Recovery considerations should include How (the method),  Where (the location), and Time (how long it should take to recover from a disaster).

The next session evolved around Veeam Backup & Replication v12, and it was presented by Hannes Kasparick, and Anton Gostev; below is a list of a few of the updates\highlights:

• Simplified Hardened Repository

• SSH credentials are no longer needed\required

• Improved compatibility with security standards (DISA STIG, NIST, etc.)

• Perl is no longer required for a hardened repository

• “Permissions Only” restore for Windows

• Manage Linux without SSH and SUDO

• Single-Use credentials

• Credentials of backup servers are not stored anymore

• VeeaMover

Networking\Enhanced Traffic Management:

• Multiple locations w\ different internet bandwidth, use the “Internet” rule

• Always restore w\ full speed

• The ability to “unthrottle” without disabling

Jorge de la Cruz, Roman Kuksov, and Kirsten Stoner discussed What’s New in Veeam ONE v12, but due to this product not being GA, and the content from this session can not be shared at this time.

Matt Crape provided the final session for Day 1, but unfortunately, it was labelled as Red and cannot be discussed outside the Summit.

Another thing that came up is CFPs for VeeamON 2023 are currently being accepted. Click on the QR code found in the image below to learn more!

Interested in learning more about the Veeam Hardened Repository (VHR)?  Scan the QR code below for a walk-through video:

Please check out additional Veeam 100 Summit posts from fellow attendees, which include:

• Luciano Patrao (Veeam 100 Summit 2022 Prague Recap – First Day)

• Luciano Patrao (Veeam 100 Summit 2022 Prague Recap – Second Day)

• Vladan Seget (Veeam 100 Summit Prague – My Czech Roots!!!)

• Jorge da la Cruz (Veeam 100 Summit, to Community and beyond)

• Ben Young (Vanny’s Historic Run Around Prague)

• Matt Crape (Knowing, understanding, and valuing your audience)

• Veeam Community Recap #94 (at the Veeam 100 Summit) w\ Rick, Madalina, Geoff, and Maurice Kevenaar.

• Al Rasheed (Veeam 100 Summit Recap)

• Additional video content can be found on Twitter using the hashtag #Veeam100Summit

It was a great time catching up with everyone I had already met in person at VeeamON or other events and those I had not, other than on weekly calls for Vanguards or Legends.  Video chat is not the same as in-person I think we can all agree!

SPECIAL SHOUT-OUT:

A special thank you goes out to Craig Dalrymple, who helped me tremendously.  I typically have everything ready to go the night before leaving for travel, but in this case, I did not.  I used the safe in the hotel room to store my passport and guess what - yes, I left the hotel, got to the airport, then got an email from the hotel that I left a document behind.  My heart sank as I realized the safe and my passport.  I contacted the hotel, and they had it at the desk, so I told them someone would get it and bring it to the airport for me.  Craig to the rescue!  He grabbed my passport and dropped it to me at the airport.

I cannot say enough about this great group of people and how they are willing to help out another fellow #Veeam100 member.

Interested in learning more about the Veeam Vanguard and Veeam Legends programs? Click on the links provided, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Interested in pursuing a Veeam Certification? More information about the training can be found here.

By the way, a little birdie shared a secret with me (This bird has all the privileges). Ready?? VeeamON 2023 is back in Miami, and I hope to see you there!

Thank you to everyone at Veeam, the Veaam Vanguard Program and the #vCommunity for your support! This is the best influencer program and the other Legends/MVPs that make up the #Veeam100.

That concludes days 1 & 2 for this recap.  I plan to update this post as soon as possible to include my experiences for days 3 and 4.

Please click on this link on my blog if you’re interested in anything related to Veeam.

And to finish it all off, here are a few wonderful pictures of Prague that I could take during the trip.  Such a beautiful city and architecture.  Walking is the best way to see the sites and visit places for a drink or food.