We're already on version 3 of the Veeam endpoint backup. Things are going fast ! With version 3 a lot of new features are now available for your physical or cloud based Windows workloads.
I'll guide you through some interesting options which you didn't know they were there or became available as from version 3.
As from the first version, you have the ability to create a recovery media ISO. Did you know you can include the encryption key ? Put it on a safe place, but with this option you have a worry-free bare-metal recovery option. Although it's not the best solution, I dare to use full system backup and the recovery ISO as a P2V solution. Create a VM, boot the recovery ISO and start restoring. Ideal for loading physical machines in your lab for some testing...
After creating the recovery ISO, we can move on and create a backup job. If you already had the agent installed, the previous configured backup job will be maintained.
New in the layout we can now select from the left site the SETTINGS pane. These settings apply on all job(s) you create:
In this pane you can now configure:
General:
- enable/disable scheduled backups
- Throttle backup activity when system is busy
- Manage network
- Manage registered storage devices
Notifications:
- Enable Control Panel notifications
- Enable e-mail notifications
When manage network is chosen, you can limit the bandwidth consumption, but also the restrictions on metered connections are here configured. Now you can also restrict VPN connections usage and restrict Wi-Fi usage to certain networks.
A big plus is the fact that you can now have the ability to send mails regarding the status and success of your job(s).
I already talked about job(s), indeed plural, now you can configure multiple backup jobs on the agent. In the previous versions I had several machines which needed a backup on a 2h frequency. So I was juggling around with the task scheduler to fire the backup job every 2h. Now this is no longer necessary. Multiple jobs can be configured from the agent itself.
One big remark on this. On the FREE and WORKSTATION versions, you can't select the same target for a second job !You need a server license to select the same backup location.
In the server edition you can select the same target, but also (as in the previous version) a Veeam Cloud Connect repository or a Veeam backup repository.
When configuring a backup job, in version 3 you'll find now a checkbox 'include external USB drives'. When checked the data on the USB drive will be backed up with this job. I know this was a popular demand and now available. I'm not convinced that you should keep your primary copy of data on a USB drive. Today we have a lot of cloud-based offerings with or without offline synchronization possibilities, but there will be sure use-cases where backup of attached USB drives is a necessity.
Final thoughts
With version 3 Veeam further closes the gap in functionality between virtual and physical backups. With their central management, for both the agents and hypervisor environments you can manage your complete backup strategy from a single interface. Although, more work is still left.
For example: Surebackup or decent backup testing and verification of machines which were backed up using the agents would give more peace of mind to the backup admins.
Do you need assistance to setup a robust backup strategy ? Already using Veeam but lacking performance ? We can audit your environment and think together about optimzations, modernizations or architectural changes. kristof@integri.services or https://integri.services
Do you need assistance to setup a robust backup strategy ? Already using Veeam but lacking performance ? We can audit your environment and think together about optimzations, modernizations or architectural changes. kristof@integri.services or https://integri.services
