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This has got to be one of my most longstanding favorite features from VEEAM!! I’ve had so many customers over the years that have small to mid-sized environments and no dev lab! They have complicated applications or scenarios that need testing and before this they were literally testing in production. VEEAM FTW with making this possible with vPower technology to mount the image to an ESXi host directly from a backup file!! 😁

 

If you’ve not done this, go check it out! It’s the same as configuring the SureBackup job, but keeping the VMs running by selecting the checkbox in the screenshot below allows you to remote into them once they’re all up and running. 

Make sure that checkbox is checked to keep the SureBackup job running

From there, do your testing and see the results!

My earliest time using this was in 2013 a customer had needed to update a SharePoint 2010 farm with a data connection to a separate SQL server and email routing of files. The customer hadn’t updated the solution since it’d been implemented and they were uneasy about patching it. I had read about this feature and told the customer this should be the move! I configured the SureBackup job to run the necessary 5 VMs (DC,Exch,SP SQL, ERP SQL, SP WFE) in the segregated virtual lab. From there, we remoted in, ran the service pack and the additional updates. The customer verified all of the SharePoint functions worked still as expected so we shut it down. We performed the live updates that night and success!

I’ve had this scenario run through so many customers with such a positive outcome, I just thought it was worth giving a shout out here!

 

If you have any scenarios that have saved your tail, comment below!

As long as I’ve been using Veeam, I’ve yet to institute this feature. To this point, I’ve just created a snap on the server I need to update, perform said update, then either keep it all or revert to the snap. 

That being said, I would like to dig into this at some point...at the very least in a lab. Good share Terence.😊

Really love this feature for sure.  Need to use it more 

Best Veeam feature. 

This is an elusive beauty for us. First of all, I would like to thank Veeam and I would like to encourage you to test in these virtual environments that Veeam offers before doing POC in our local environments.

This is an elusive beauty for us. First of all, I would like to thank Veeam and I would like to encourage you to test in these virtual environments that Veeam offers before doing POC in our local environments.

Yes. TY VEEAM!!

One of the best features! Thanks for this little overview @tkolstad.
We’ve been using SureBackup and in some environments SureReplica for different scenarios since many years. Our customers are very happy with this abbility. First customers are adding now Veeam Orchestrator on top, which also uses some techniques from here (but thats another topic).

 

As the VBR uses for the communication in those Virtual Labs a helper appliance and masquerade networks, theres also a hint from my expierence when using SureReplica between multiple sites:

If those sites are not in a L2 Network, firewall in betweens and the DR/Replica site has different IP networks, then mostly your Virtual Lab Appliance in this site (for the Replicas) will also have an IP adress from the DR-site.

You must consider also to make sure, that your firewall in between is aware of the masquerade IP network(s). Otherwise VBR and you, won’t be able to communicate from the production VBR site, to the “isolated replica-world”.

Best regards Markus

One of the best features! Thanks for this little overview @tkolstad.
We’ve been using SureBackup and in some environments SureReplica for different scenarios since many years. Our customers are very happy with this abbility. First customers are adding now Veeam Orchestrator on top, which also uses some techniques from here (but thats another topic).

 

As the VBR uses for the communication in those Virtual Labs a helper appliance and masquerade networks, theres also a hint from my expierence when using SureReplica between multiple sites:

If those sites are not in a L2 Network, firewall in betweens and the DR/Replica site has different IP networks, then mostly your Virtual Lab Appliance in this site (for the Replicas) will also have an IP adress from the DR-site.

You must consider also to make sure, that your firewall in between is aware of the masquerade IP network(s). Otherwise VBR and you, won’t be able to communicate from the production VBR site, to the “isolated replica-world”.

Best regards Markus

Good callout! Orchestrator is another one of those hidden gems I’m bring to my customer’s attention.

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