database backup with AAP or plug-in

Hi @dika !

The Application-aware processing must be enabled in the VBR backup job. It is necessary for VM and Agent-based backup and relies on VSS snapshots.

In the case of the backup agent option, it is necessary to deploy it in an SQL server.

Another alternative is to deploy the Veeam Agent for SQL in the SQL Server. I like this option as it provides some interesting capabilities:

• SQL admin has complete control over backup and recovery

• User interface (UI) integrated directly into Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

• Up to 2,000 databases per SQL server

• Up to 10,000 databases per backup server

• Backup new databases without waiting for image-based backup

• Support for SQL Always On

• Backup Copy jobs support copying native SQL backups to secondary repositories

Resources:

Application-Aware Processing - User Guide for VMware vSphere (veeam.com)

Application-Aware Processing - Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Guide

How Veeam Plug-in for Microsoft SQL Server Works - Veeam Plug-ins for Enterprise Applications

I hope I have helped you in some way. :-)

Hi @dika - to answer your question specifically, you can use either option to back up your DB. When would you use AAIP vs Agent? AAIP is used when you have a VM and back it up with a regular image-level backup job, & you use Agent generally for physical servers where you can't back it up with a regular Veeam job, although AAIP can be used there as well.

Let us know if you have any further questions. 

The main difference between using “plain” Veeam B&R / Veeam Agents with AAIP vs Veeam Plugins is the type of backup you’re taking.

• B&R with AAIP / Veeam Agents: these are image-level backups, designed to protect entire machines (virtual and physical). Of course, if such machines contain applications, the built-in engine handles consistency and ensures proper backups. Typically, B&R / Agents manage the backup process, interacting with application APIs (e.g. VSS for Microsoft apps, Oracle OCI). You can manage some settings (e.g. log truncation, etc.) but in general AAIP applies to *all* supported applications, you cannot go granular and choose - for example - to protect just a single SQL Instance or Database.
   
• Veeam Plugins (SQL, Oracle, SAP...): these are application-level backups. Designed to protect only applications, not the machines hosting them. They are also designed to be used by DBAs / application owners, using native application tools (SQL Server Management Studio, Oracle RMAN, SAP BRtools/BackInt...). In this case, Veeam B&R acts more or less as a “receiver” for those backups - the management is mostly done on the application’s part.

So, some good questions to ask when deciding whether to go with AAIP/Image level backups or Veeam Plugins:

• Do you also need to protect the actual OS and/or file systems of your application server?
• Do you need to protect just one, or a few databases / application units out of many?
• Do you need the application owners / DBAs to manage backups and restores, with native tools?

Of course, you can also combine different Veeam components / backup modes - for example, on a Linux machine hosting one or more Oracle datbases, you could install both Veeam Agent for Linux (for OS protection) and Veeam Plugin for Oracle RMAN (for database protection).

Hope this helps 😊

Hi @dika -

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Thank you.