Editor’s Note: As of January 2022, iland is now 11:11 Systems, a managed infrastructure solutions provider at the forefront of cloud, connectivity, and security. As a legacy iland.com blog post, this article likely contains information that is no longer relevant. For the most up-to-date product information and resources, or if you have further questions, please refer to the 11:11 Systems Success Center or contact us directly.If you currently use Veeam backup and replication on-premises or have explored the Veeam website, then you most likely have heard of their 3-2-1 rule of availability. This rule states that you should keep 3 copies of your data and applications stored on at least 2 different types of media and keep 1 of those copies off-site.
The 11:11 Cloud Backup solution using Veeam Cloud Connect helps you to fulfill Veeam’s 3-2-1 rule by enabling backup to an off-site cloud repository and/or copying your local backups to the cloud. Let’s take a look at how easy it is to get started with Veeam Cloud Connect. By the way, if you’re considering a disaster recovery solution as well as, or instead of, a cloud backup solution, take a look at my blogs on Veeam DRaaS starting here.
Setting Up for Success
Setting up Veeam Cloud Connect is a relatively simple process with minimal work needed. Essentially, all you will need is Veeam installed on a server and an outbound internet connection from your local repository. If you already have Veeam installed, you can add 11:11 Systems as a service provider and backup to your cloud repository. The connection to your service provider works with a TLS (Transport Layer Security) certificate for added security while transferring data. You can also configure encryption on the backups themselves for increased data security. Once you connect to the service provider, you will have a new off-site cloud backup repository in your Veeam backup infrastructure. You will be able to set the repository as the target for any new Veeam backup or backup copy jobs.
Maintaining Backup Visibility
Even though these backups would be physically located off-site, you will still be able to view and manage your backup files. For instance, if you need to delete or restore data from your backups, you could do this from your local Veeam console. With Veeam Cloud Connect, you will have full visibility and control of your backup files even though they are located in a cloud environment.
When using Veeam Cloud Connect backups with 11:11, you will also have access to the 11:11 Cloud Console which provides many useful backup management features. Within this console, you are able to view your job history, repository storage usage and billing information. You can also set custom alerts for your cloud repository and request additional storage. The console also works as a single pane of glass if you have multiple tenants backing up to the 11:11 Cloud. If you are managing multiple sub-customers’ backups or backup to multiple 11:11 locations, you can view all of your repositories in the 11:11 console from the same single account.
Three Key Things to Consider with Veeam Cloud Connect Backup
1. Backup Types
The first aspect to consider when backing up your data with Veeam Cloud Connect is the type of backups you would like to run. You can do a direct backup of your production servers to your cloud repository or perform a backup copy job of your local backup files. Typically, 11:11 recommends using the backup copy feature when backing up to a cloud repository. This allows you to copy your files off-site, without having to run a snapshot on the production servers themselves but it does require that you are backing up those servers locally.
The first aspect to consider when backing up your data with Veeam Cloud Connect is the type of backups you would like to run. You can do a direct backup of your production servers to your cloud repository or perform a backup copy job of your local backup files. Typically, 11:11 recommends using the backup copy feature when backing up to a cloud repository. This allows you to copy your files off-site, without having to run a snapshot on the production servers themselves but it does require that you are backing up those servers locally.
2. Bandwidth Availability
Another consideration is your bandwidth and network congestion. Obviously, the more bandwidth you have, the quicker you can complete a backup. A good rule of thumb is to assume that one terabyte of data will take about 24 hours to transfer with a 100Mb connection. If you have a large amount of data to backup but a low bandwidth connection, you may want to plan for the first job to take a few days. During deployment with 11:11, we can help you plan and account for your initial backups with your available bandwidth. Keep in mind that your end users will also be using this bandwidth during production hours. If your users work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., it may be best to plan your backups to begin after 5:00 p.m. This allows more bandwidth to be allocated to the backups.
Another consideration is your bandwidth and network congestion. Obviously, the more bandwidth you have, the quicker you can complete a backup. A good rule of thumb is to assume that one terabyte of data will take about 24 hours to transfer with a 100Mb connection. If you have a large amount of data to backup but a low bandwidth connection, you may want to plan for the first job to take a few days. During deployment with 11:11, we can help you plan and account for your initial backups with your available bandwidth. Keep in mind that your end users will also be using this bandwidth during production hours. If your users work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., it may be best to plan your backups to begin after 5:00 p.m. This allows more bandwidth to be allocated to the backups.
3. Backup Retention Policy
You will also want to account for your backup retention policy and the storage needed to fulfill that policy. With Veeam Cloud Connect, you are able to configure how many backups you want to keep off-site. You can keep a backup chain of two or more restore points that run daily or periodically throughout the day. You can also configure the job to save archival backups at a weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly interval. For instance, you could backup every night for seven days – giving you the ability to restore from any of the last seven days. On top of this seven-day retention, you can also save a backup every week or year to retain data for a longer period of time in just one backup. These archival backups do consume a significant amount of data. So, the retention strategy and storage requirements needed for your retention policy should be considered. The 11:11 Cloud Services team can help provide you with storage estimates based on your data retention needs.
You will also want to account for your backup retention policy and the storage needed to fulfill that policy. With Veeam Cloud Connect, you are able to configure how many backups you want to keep off-site. You can keep a backup chain of two or more restore points that run daily or periodically throughout the day. You can also configure the job to save archival backups at a weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly interval. For instance, you could backup every night for seven days – giving you the ability to restore from any of the last seven days. On top of this seven-day retention, you can also save a backup every week or year to retain data for a longer period of time in just one backup. These archival backups do consume a significant amount of data. So, the retention strategy and storage requirements needed for your retention policy should be considered. The 11:11 Cloud Services team can help provide you with storage estimates based on your data retention needs.
I hope this blog was useful in outlining how easy it is to get started with Veeam Cloud Connect and the key things to consider for setup to help you quickly achieve the 3-2-1 availability rule to protect your business. Stay tuned for my next blog which will cover storage and job considerations for Veeam Cloud Connect.
