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Backup job creation
17 Dell EMC SC Series: Veeam Backup & Replication Integration | 4061-SC-SG
4 Backup job creation
Backing up and restoring VM data is where operations staff spend the bulk of their time within Veeam Backup
& Replication. These areas are also where the Dell EMC SC Series plug-in integration comes into play. Within
the Veeam Backup & Replication user interface, there are many ways in which to create a backup job. The
operational process and options for creating backup jobs are well documented by Veeam and are not
included in this document. However, with storage integration there are a few underlying differences to point
out. They are important to understand because this is where the plug-in yields its benefits.
4.1 Veeam backup repository
If backing up VM data to a native Veeam backup repository, choose this repository in the backup job. Locate
the backup repository choice in the Storage section of the backup job configuration.
Veeam will create a backup chain in the repository which contains a number of file types such as .VBK, .VIB,
.VRB, and .VBM. The effective data retention is controlled by the value of Restore points to keep on disk
and is built into the backup chain.
Although Veeam leverages its own backup chain on a backup repository, SC Series snapshots add value and
are used in this process. Without storage snapshots, the vSphere snapshot remains open during the duration
of the backup which could be several hours or longer. The process is represented in the following points and
uses relative times as an example:
1. vSphere snapshot is opened for quiesce and data consistency (5 seconds)
2. VM data to be backed up is streamed to backup repository (hours)
3. vSphere snapshot is closed (depending on size of data, a lengthy time plus risk of corruption)