Immutable Repository with DataDomain

Copy from the immutable repository is no problem.

But you can move or delete from the immutable repository after the immutability retention is over.

OK, but how to do it automatically? I first thought to do a backup job to immrepo and then copy job to DataDomain with GFS on this job, but the retention will not delete the backups on immrepo and the immrepo will get full. What do you recommend?

The backups on the immutable repository will be deleted automatically after the retention period is over…

You can build a SOBR with the immutable repo as performance tier and the data domain as capacity tier. Then don’t move but copy immediately your data to the capacity tier.

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/immutability_performance_tier.html?ver=120

You can configure the SOBR in Copy+Move mode. That way closed chains which fall out of the configured window will be deleted on the immutable repository. As an alternative you can configure a backup copy job and lower the retention of your backup job.

By the way. How will you add the Datadomain as a capacity tier?

Hi regnor,

you are right, I cant add DataDomain as capacity tier as its not a S3 object storage appliance. I am new in Veeam, so I was thinking that if you could create a backup repository for performance tier in SOBR you could do the same for cap. tier as well. On the SOBR copy+move I read the same and I thought i found the solution (https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/capacity_tier_copy.html?ver=120), but you pointed me wrong. Thanks. I was thinking to do a backup job with 7 days ret on immrepo and then GFS copy job to the DD instead.  But i am afraid that the full backup jobs will not get deleted in the immrepo after 7 days immutability.

That's what I thought, as I didn't find any object storage capability for the Data Domain.

On the immutable/hardened repository you'll at least have 2 full backups. Veeam will have to create a new full backup to close the backup chain, and afterwards it can delete the first full backup; if it's no longer immutable. But normally you'll use XFS on the Linux server and let your job create synthetic full backups. With that combination Veeam will use fast clone: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/backup_repository_block_cloning.html?ver=120

Summarized the second synthetic full backup will only require as much space as an incremental backup.

As DD is a dedup appliance, from what i read from Veeam, its not recommended - for performance reasons, to use synthetic backups, but forward incremental with active full. But what about the weekly and monthly full? Do you think the immutability on the immrepo will affect the long term full backups and because of that the full backups on the repo will not be deleted?

Or maybe  its better to do first backup to DD dedup via DDBoost, and then via copy job to immuable but with retention of 7 days. The thing is i want GFS on DD, and only short term of 7 days on immorep as protection from ransomware were only the most recent backups are also on immorep, but i am afraid that retention will be inherited and immorep will get full.

Dedup storage is not recommended for primary repositories….

Dedup appliances are not recommended for performance tier, also, M365 backup doesn’t support Dedup appliances.

Immutability is about not modify or deletion, so Copy backups will work no problem.

NAS backup doesn’t support immutability on primary backups, however it supports immutability in backup copy.

My worries are, as i am new, that there is a linkage of the retention between the backup and the backup copy jobs, and that on the primary backup job when the immutability ends will not delete the older backup, just remove the immutability flag, and leave the files and fill up the immorep. I am missing the understanding the concept what happens if i have immorep with 7 days, backup job of 7 days retention where it backups to the immorep and GFS that has 14 days/6month of backups. Will the backups on immorep rotate on the 7 days cycle or because of the GFS will stay on the immorep, but after the 7 days only have immutable flag off and wait for the backups in GFS to get recycled. Do you get my point? 

Immutability retention is different than backup retention. Immutability retention is how much the data will be undeletable and unmodified, after that the data will be as it but can be deleted or overwrite. 

On other hand, backup data retention is how long the data will be stored in the storage then be deleted or overwrite.

When a data copied or moved to another immutable storage it will be has new immutability retention.