New features of Veeam Agent 2.0 for Microsoft Windows (in free and paid versions)
The product for backing up physical machines Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows (earlier Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE) is quite popular among IT administrators of companies and among home users. In the second quarter of this year, version 2.0 was released, already with the name Veeam Agent and with three different editions, including one free. Today I will talk about several new features related to the work of this solution with storage, as well as support for Veeam Cloud Connect. I hope some of these new products will be useful for you.
UPD: As always, we provide honored IT figures with free NFR keys - now also for Veeam Agent 2.0. for Microsoft Windows. The license is designed for 2 servers or 5 workstations and will be valid for 1 year. To get the key, you need, as usual, to enter your data here .
For details about the features welcome under cat.
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All editions support encryption backup on the source side, as described in our post . In addition, you can adjust the level of data compression ( Compression level ) and block size ( Storage optimization ), as in Veeam Backup & Replication.
All of these options are available on the Storage tab of the Advanced Settings dialog - and it opens when you click the Advanced button in the task wizard step that follows the Destination .
With these settings, you can achieve the desired balance of performance and resource consumption.
In a nutshell, how it works: Veeam reads the blocks from the source and applies a compression algorithm to them according to the selected level. The block size is specified by the Storage Optimization settings. Already compressed blocks are written to the repository.
Possible options:
More information about the compression ratio can be found in this article on Habré .
Recommendations on the choice of values ​​of these parameters can be found here (in English. Language).
Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows allows you to customize the size of the data blocks to be processed, depending on the storage system on which you organize the repository. Here are the options:
Note: Data compression settings can be edited at any time - they will be applied the next time you start a backup task.
In one of our blog articles, we talked about ReFS support in Veeam Backup & Replication. Now it is also implemented for Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 2.0, so now our agent is able to back up to the repository on a machine with Windows Server 2016 or Windows 10 Creators Update. Here, for example, is one of the innovations: when creating a synthetic backup, our agent will use fast cloning technology - this significantly speeds up the process, without requiring additional disk space or a computing resource.
So you can configure the regular creation of a synthetic full backup (in the Server or Workstation edition):
In the job log of the backup job in this case, a line appears with the label [fast clone].
In addition, if you have configured to share Veeam Agent with Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5, then keep in mind that the new version of the agent supports a scalable repository (scale-out repository), the ability to instantly restore to a virtual machine on the Microsoft Hyper-V platform , and also recovery in Microsoft Azure.
For users of the free Veeam Backup Free Edition, I inform you that if you decide to purchase the commercial edition of Veeam Agent 2.0, then after installing its backup license, you can use the following features for physical backups, in particular:
Useful: Users of Veeam solutions (commercial editions) can download the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 2.0 Server Edition or Workstation Edition with a 6-month free trial license.
Veeam Cloud Connect is an opportunity to create a repository for storing backup copies in the cloud on the Veeam Cloud & Service Provider (VCSP) provider side. Such a repository helps to implement the rule “3-2-1” for backup, allowing you to store replicas and backups on the offsite site. You can manage this repository, as usual - via the Veeam Backup & Replication console. Initially, Veeam Cloud Connect technology worked for virtual machines, and then it was implemented for individuals. So, starting with Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 2.0, we are able to back up to such a cloud repository and servers from a remote branch office, and custom laptops.
Note: Backup to the cloud repository is available in the Workstation and Server editions. See the comparison table of the editorial board here .
To do this, of course, you need to configure the Veeam Cloud Connect repository as the target backup storage for the backup task. Go to the Destination wizard's quest step and select the Veeam Cloud Connect repository .
Next, you will be taken to the step of specifying the settings of the Service Provider . A detailed description of all that then needs to be done, we read here (while in English).
In short, you need to specify the name or address of the cloud gateway and port for connection received from the provider, check the validity of the TLS certificate and specify the account to access the cloud, and then select the required repository at the Backup Resources step.
Important! In the repository Veeam Cloud Connect will not be able to do a full backup on demand (standalone full backup). In addition, backup transaction logs of databases in such a repository are not supported - the corresponding option in the backup job settings for the database server will not be available.
For Server and Workstation editions, recovery capabilities from the Veeam Cloud Connect cloud repository are also supported:
UPD: As always, we provide honored IT figures with free NFR keys - now also for Veeam Agent 2.0. for Microsoft Windows. The license is designed for 2 servers or 5 workstations and will be valid for 1 year. To get the key, you need, as usual, to enter your data here .
For details about the features welcome under cat.
')
Encryption and data compression
All editions support encryption backup on the source side, as described in our post . In addition, you can adjust the level of data compression ( Compression level ) and block size ( Storage optimization ), as in Veeam Backup & Replication.
All of these options are available on the Storage tab of the Advanced Settings dialog - and it opens when you click the Advanced button in the task wizard step that follows the Destination .
With these settings, you can achieve the desired balance of performance and resource consumption.
Compression level
In a nutshell, how it works: Veeam reads the blocks from the source and applies a compression algorithm to them according to the selected level. The block size is specified by the Storage Optimization settings. Already compressed blocks are written to the repository.
Possible options:
- None (no compression) - you can use, for example, if you plan to save backups on a storage system with built-in compression and deduplication.
- Dedupe-friendly (optimized for deduplicating storage) - to reduce the load on the processor. Enables a simple RLE algorithm that does not require large computational power. Optimal for working with storage systems with built-in deduplication as a repository.
- Optimal (recommended) is the default. Enables LZ4 compression algorithm. The output is approximately half the compressed blocks, while the CPU load increases very slightly. An optimal balance is achieved between the size of the backup file at the output and the time spent on processing during compression and decompression (data processing speed is from 150 MB / s for 1 core).
- High (high) - adds 10% to the compression ratio (as compared to the Optimal level) at the cost of increasing the CPU load. The zlib compression algorithm, “twisted”, is used, taking into account the processor load is still not the maximum. Data processing speed - up to 100 MB / s for 1 core.
- Extreme (extremely high) - the output is a backup of the smallest possible size (adds another 3-5% to the compression ratio), but the performance decreases quite significantly (processing speed is about 50 MB / s for 1 core). The zlib algorithm is used, “twisted”, taking into account the very high processor load. If you plan to use this option, it is highly recommended to have a powerful processor (6 cores). In general, extreme compression is rarely used - as a rule, if there is a channel with a very low bandwidth before the remote repository.
More information about the compression ratio can be found in this article on Habré .
Recommendations on the choice of values ​​of these parameters can be found here (in English. Language).
Optimization of block size based on storage
Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows allows you to customize the size of the data blocks to be processed, depending on the storage system on which you organize the repository. Here are the options:
- Local target (16 TB + backup files) - recommended in case of local storage and large backup files (from 16TB). The block size is set to 4096 KB. The larger the blocks, the smaller their number and, accordingly, the metadata table, which needs less storage space and computational resources for processing. However, it should be remembered that this will increase the size of the incremental backup files.
- Local target - recommended when backing up to SAN, DAS or local storage. The block size is set to 1024 KB. Provides the best backup speed.
- LAN target - recommended when backing up to NAS, as well as to the repository on the local site (onsite backup). The block size is set to 512 KB. Allows you to reduce the size of incremental backup files.
- WAN target - recommended when using WAN for backups to a remote site. The block size is set to 256 KB. Traffic over WAN is minimized.
Note: Data compression settings can be edited at any time - they will be applied the next time you start a backup task.
Backup to the repository on ReFS 3.1
In one of our blog articles, we talked about ReFS support in Veeam Backup & Replication. Now it is also implemented for Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 2.0, so now our agent is able to back up to the repository on a machine with Windows Server 2016 or Windows 10 Creators Update. Here, for example, is one of the innovations: when creating a synthetic backup, our agent will use fast cloning technology - this significantly speeds up the process, without requiring additional disk space or a computing resource.
So you can configure the regular creation of a synthetic full backup (in the Server or Workstation edition):
In the job log of the backup job in this case, a line appears with the label [fast clone].
In addition, if you have configured to share Veeam Agent with Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5, then keep in mind that the new version of the agent supports a scalable repository (scale-out repository), the ability to instantly restore to a virtual machine on the Microsoft Hyper-V platform , and also recovery in Microsoft Azure.
For users of the free Veeam Backup Free Edition, I inform you that if you decide to purchase the commercial edition of Veeam Agent 2.0, then after installing its backup license, you can use the following features for physical backups, in particular:
- work with repositories
- setting backup backup transfer jobs Jobs
- setting up file archiving jobs to tape File to Tape Jobs
- all kinds of application object restorations (AD, Exchange, SharePoint, SQL, Oracle) - supported for the agent in the server edition
Useful: Users of Veeam solutions (commercial editions) can download the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 2.0 Server Edition or Workstation Edition with a 6-month free trial license.
Backup to the Veeam Cloud Connect repository
Veeam Cloud Connect is an opportunity to create a repository for storing backup copies in the cloud on the Veeam Cloud & Service Provider (VCSP) provider side. Such a repository helps to implement the rule “3-2-1” for backup, allowing you to store replicas and backups on the offsite site. You can manage this repository, as usual - via the Veeam Backup & Replication console. Initially, Veeam Cloud Connect technology worked for virtual machines, and then it was implemented for individuals. So, starting with Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 2.0, we are able to back up to such a cloud repository and servers from a remote branch office, and custom laptops.
Note: Backup to the cloud repository is available in the Workstation and Server editions. See the comparison table of the editorial board here .
To do this, of course, you need to configure the Veeam Cloud Connect repository as the target backup storage for the backup task. Go to the Destination wizard's quest step and select the Veeam Cloud Connect repository .
Next, you will be taken to the step of specifying the settings of the Service Provider . A detailed description of all that then needs to be done, we read here (while in English).
In short, you need to specify the name or address of the cloud gateway and port for connection received from the provider, check the validity of the TLS certificate and specify the account to access the cloud, and then select the required repository at the Backup Resources step.
Important! In the repository Veeam Cloud Connect will not be able to do a full backup on demand (standalone full backup). In addition, backup transaction logs of databases in such a repository are not supported - the corresponding option in the backup job settings for the database server will not be available.
Restore from Veeam Cloud Connect Repository
For Server and Workstation editions, recovery capabilities from the Veeam Cloud Connect cloud repository are also supported:
- Restore at the volume and file level directly from the repository, without having to copy the entire backup from the cloud to a local resource
- Restore “on bare hardware” using advanced media Veeam Recovery Media - this operation can also be performed directly by connecting to a cloud resource and selecting the desired recovery point from the repository.
useful links
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/335628/
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