Backup Job and Repository settings

The best practice is to configure certain settings on at the job-level and at the backup repository level.
Please check KB1745 for a complete list of applicable settings and explanations.

Use as a Backup Copy repository

When using non-integrated appliances, use the option Read the entire restore point from source instead of synthesizing it from increments Backup Copy jobs, which disables all synthetic operations on the chain. Because of “de-hydration”/”re-hydration” overhead at the end of the backup copy job cycle, I/O performance will suffer when using synthetic fulls.

Use as a Virtual Tape Library

Although not recommended, some devices can be used as Virtual Tape Library (VTL). When used VTL mode, the repository used for staging should be configured with “Decompress before storing” advanced option enabled, which ensures any previously applied compression at the job level is ignored.

File- and Item-level recovery

By design, Veeam Explorers perform a large amount of random read operations on the backup repository. Following the job and repository configuration best practices from above is paramount to avoid an increased waiting time when launching file-level recovery or Veeam Explorers.

To further reduce restore time, enable Guest OS File Indexing for Backup Jobs as this will remove the waiting time for mounting a restore point from the backup repository when browsing contents via Enterprise Manager.

Windows Server deduplication

Follow the recommendations provided above, especially:

• Use the latest available Windows version and apply all patches (some roll-ups contain improvements to deduplication). Having most up to date system is critical for ensuring data safety.
• Format the disk using the command line /L option (for “large size file records”) and 64KB cluster size (use parameters /Q /L /A:64K)
• Follow [compression and deduplication guidelines] for non-integrated deduplication storage.
• (For Windows Server 2016 and later) the [Virtualized Backup Server] deduplication profile is preferred.
• Modify garbage collection schedule to run daily rather than weekly.
• Use backup jobs configured to perform Active Full Backup with incrementals instead of Synthetic Full Backup.
• Spread Active Full Backups over the entire week.
• If Windows deduplication is used on REFS with Windows Server 2016 or newer, then Veeam Backup & Replication turns off block cloning automatically for performance reasons. It is recommended to keep this default setting.
• Large files take a long time to deduplicate and will have to be fully reprocessed if the process is interrupted.
• Configure deduplication process to run once a day, and for as long as possible.

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References

• KB1745 - Deduplication Appliance Best Practices
• Veeam Alliance Partner Integrations & Qualifications - Deduplication Backup Target
• Veeam Help Center - Integrated Deduplicating storage appliances
• Veeam Help Center - Tape Server

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