Enhancing Data Resiliency and Protection
In today’s data-driven world, organizations rely heavily on data for their day-to-day operations. Ensuring data resiliency and protection has become a top priority, especially with the increasing threat landscape and evolving data management requirements. While the exact official release date for Veeam v12 remains undisclosed, Veeam is consistently unveiling forthcoming features for the upcoming version. In this blog, we will dive into the key enhancements of Veeam Data Platform v12, focusing on data resiliency, data replication & protection, Veeam Backup and Replication 12, and the innovative VeeaMover technology.
What Is Veeam v12?
Veeam is a top-tier data protection platform renowned for its array of regularly updated solutions designed to safeguard organizations against contemporary cybersecurity threats and data loss. The Veeam Data Platform v12 iteration of their Backup and Replication solution brings with it an assortment of improved features geared towards thwarting attacks and aiding in the recovery of data breaches.
What’s new in Veeam v12 – latest updates
Numerous new features are set to be included in the upcoming version, and here is a brief summary of what you can expect to find in version 12.
Direct-to-Object Storage
Veeam v12 introduces a significant innovation in its data backup system architecture known as “Direct-to-Object Storage.” This groundbreaking feature empowers customers and their partners to enhance their backup capabilities and cloud-based backup solutions by enabling them to directly store backup data on their object storage systems, eliminating the need for redundant copies or archives.
This innovation simplifies the process of constructing a dependable data backup strategy, offering a novel approach that aligns with security requirements like the 3-2-1 rule (comprising three copies of data on two different media types, with one copy kept offline).
For organizations that rely on object storage as their primary data repository, the benefits of direct-to-object storage are numerous:
- Effortless Implementation of Immutable Storage: It facilitates the straightforward establishment of immutable storage.
- High Reliability and Availability in the Cloud: Ensuring a remarkable level of reliability and availability, with a staggering 99.999999999% uptime in cloud environments.
- Streamlined Storage for Home and Branch Office Users: This feature simplifies storage management for users in home and branch office settings, eliminating the need for dedicated hardware.
- Enhanced Flexibility in Hyperscale VMware Environments: Notably, it offers greater flexibility in hyperscale VMware environments, removing the necessity for a staging repository or expensive virtual hard disks, for example.
VeeaMover
This feature streamlines the management of various types of data. When coupled with direct-to-object storage, it empowers customers to effortlessly transfer their backup data from on-premises storage systems to cloud-based object stores while preserving the connection between the data and the backup jobs.
Prior to this update, customers had to manually reconfigure settings, employing various workarounds to ensure that backup data could migrate alongside its associated backup jobs. VeeaMover simplifies this entire process, enabling businesses to execute the migration with just a few clicks.
Moreover, VeeaMover offers versatility in several other scenarios, including:
- Migrating Data to Immutable Repositories: It facilitates the migration of data to immutable storage repositories.
- Migrating NTFS (New Technology File System) Repositories to REFS (Resilient File System) or XFS (Extended File System): Customers can use it to migrate data from NTFS repositories to REFS or XFS.
- Migrating Workloads to New Object Storage Systems or Physical Infrastructure: VeeaMover aids in the migration of workloads to either a new object storage system or physical infrastructure.
- Balancing and Adjusting Backup Storage: It also serves the purpose of balancing and readjusting backup storage as needed.
Enhanced Security
In Veeam backup and replication v12, another notable area of enhancement is cybersecurity. Veeam has bolstered its data protection measures to combat the ever-evolving threats posed by ransomware and various hacking techniques:
- Trusted Immutability for Each Workload: Organizations now have the capability to ensure that every backup remains immutable and ready for restoration in the event of an attack. This is made possible by leveraging options from trusted vendors. For instance, they can utilize on-premises storage systems (including object, file, and block storage), deduplicating backup storage appliances, hardened repositories, and cloud-based object storage.
- Improved Resilience: Enterprises can respond swiftly to ransomware attacks with the assistance of alerts from Veeam ONE. This allows them to restore only clean data through automation and implement more secure recovery orchestration across all their workloads.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Organizations can adopt a zero-trust security model by implementing MFA. For instance, they can use passwordless service accounts (MSAs) to enhance security for Windows systems, while employing one-time credentials to strengthen defenses for Linux systems. Veeam v12 also provides support for IPv6-only and Kerberos-only environments, enhancing security measures further.
VCD/Service Provider Improvements
Veeam has expanded its features tailored for service-provider environments, with a focus on enhancing support for VMware Cloud Director services. Here are the newly introduced features:
- VCD-to-VCD Continuous Data Protection (CDP): This feature reduces downtime and minimizes the risk of data loss within Cloud Director by enabling multi-tenant CDP. It allows for instant failover to the most recent secure state or a specific point-in-time at the virtual application level, offering extremely precise Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) granularity.
- CDP-to-VCD Recovery: Veeam Cloud Connect simplifies disaster recovery and minimizes downtime by facilitating instant failover. Service providers can replicate a tenant’s VCD resources from the production environment to dedicated disaster recovery servers.
Veeam provides three key capabilities to ensure business continuity:
- Data Security
- Data Recovery
- Data Freedom
Users can conveniently backup and restore data from various locations, avoiding vendor lock-in. This flexibility allows them to leverage different cloud platforms as needed. The Veeam platform is available in three editions: Foundation, Advanced, and Premium, each of which includes the renowned backup and replication features of Veeam, along with instant recovery capabilities.
The Advanced and Premium tiers take business continuity to the next level by offering more advanced resiliency features, enhanced monitoring, analytics, and recovery capabilities:
- Foundation: This edition delivers robust enterprise-grade data protection through Backup and Replication v12, encompassing over 500 enhancements and new features.
- Advanced: In addition to the features of the Foundation edition, the Advanced tier provides extended capabilities with Veeam ONE. This deepens observability and monitoring, empowering customers to proactively identify and address backup and recovery issues before they become critical.
- Premium: At the highest level of enterprise data protection and backup recovery, the Premium edition combines Veeam Backup and Replication, Veeam ONE, and Veeam Recovery Orchestrator. It introduces end-to-end data recovery automation with nearly zero Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs), automated testing, comprehensive data security, and resiliency. Premium customers also enjoy the added benefit of the Veeam Ransomware Warranty, covering up to $5 million of data recovery costs in the event of a ransomware attack.
Veeam Backup Best Practices
To make the most of Veeam v12, organizations can follow these best practices:
Calculate the Right Number of Resources
- Determine the appropriate repository size based on the number of proxy cores used by the organization. Divide the number of proxy cores by three and round up. For example, if there are 62 proxy cores, provision 21 cores for the repository.
- Consider RAM requirements for the repository. Allocate four GB of RAM for each repository core. If there are 21 cores, allocate a total of 84 GB of RAM.
- Ensure that the overall repository has a minimum of two cores and 8 GB of RAM.
Consider Different Hardware Options
- Understand the available infrastructure options when setting up the backup repository.
- Customers can limit the maximum number of concurrent tasks or data transfer rates. Especially if the repository is running on appropriately sized hardware.
- Whenever possible, host the Veeam backup repository on physical hardware. It can enhance performance and ensure backups are stored on separate systems.
- If the repository is hosted on a virtual machine. Then, store it on a hard disk instead of a VMDK file for improved resiliency in case of VMDK file corruption.
Consider a Scale-Out Repository
- Follow the 3-2-1 rule for backup architecture: maintain three copies of data (original plus two backups). Store them on at least two different media types, and keep at least one copy off-site.
- Evaluate the need for a scale-out backup repository. Which consists of multiple storage tiers and is suitable for dynamic enterprise environments.
- When setting up a scale-out Veeam repository, specify the performance tier, placement policy, and optionally, a capacity tier. The performance tier includes existing repositories (performance extents) combined within the scale-out repository structure.
Conclusion
Veeam Data Platform v12 is a game-changer in the realm of data resiliency, data replication & protection, and data management. With features like instant recovery, enhanced ransomware protection, and VeeaMover technology. Organizations can enhance their data resiliency and protect their critical assets effectively. Additionally, the integration with Veeam Backup and Replication 12 ensures a unified data management experience.
In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, having a robust data platform like Veeam Data Platform v12 is crucial for organizations to thrive while keeping their data safe and accessible. As data continues to be a strategic asset, investing in the right data management and protection tools is paramount. Moreover, Veeam Data Platform v12 proves to be a worthy choice for businesses of all sizes.
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