Author: Michael Schroeder

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Backup NFS shares with RSYNC and Veeam

The poor man’s guide to backup old NetApp boxes

Veeam Backup and Replication has a deep integration into NetApp hardware since version 8. Yet there is still no NAS Backup Support for SMB and NFS Shares (v10 Feature or 9.5 Ux). The question arises how to back up NAS data from older NetApp boxes, when the ONTAP version is simply too old for Veeam integration and  you can’t utilize NDMP, NFS or SMB protocol for direct NAS backup?

I will outline a real-life scenario where a customer has an old Netapp (7+ years old) with single controller holding very important data (I will not comment on that). 🙂

How can we integrate these datasets into an existing Veeam infrastructure?

I’ve created a cheap and dirty(?) method how to synchronize the content of that old Netapp box with a Linux VM which can be easily backed up by Veeam. The content of the Netapp NFS share will be replicated into a Linux VM (1st copy), backed up to disk by Veeam (2nd copy) and archived to tape (3rd copy, 2nd media type) which is then kept in a fireproof safe (offsite). It was possible to fulfill the 3-2-1 rule (3 copies, 2 types of media, 1 copy offsite).

pro

  • no extra licenses
  • simple implementation
  • reliable and mature protocol
  • 3-2-1 rule
  • rock-solid

cons

  • needs extra space on VM storage
  • basic knowledge of Linux commands

Continue reading “Backup NFS shares with RSYNC and Veeam”

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VeeamON 2018 [day 2]

It’s day two of VeeamON in Chicago. I find it usually hard to keep blog news updated during events like VeeamON. The whole conference keeps you busy from early in the morning to late evening.

There’s the General Session, many breakout sessions, interesting talks with other visitors, partners, sponsors and Veeam employees.

Watch the recording of today’s General Session on YouTube.

Continue reading “VeeamON 2018 [day 2]”

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VeeamON 2018 prequel

Good morning Chicago. Tomorrow VeeamON 2018 will take place here at McCormick Convention Center close to Lake Michigan. Staff has been busy the whole weekend to get everything set for the opening on Monday. I had a short glimpse at the exhibition hall yesterday, where people were laying out carpet and setting up booths and banners. I’m curious how it will look like tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates.

Continue reading “VeeamON 2018 prequel”

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Increase efficiency with vRealize Log Insight

Syslog Server – a time saving tool

Today I’m writing about a use case, which is not very popular amongst IT professionals. Troubleshooting by parsing system logs. Sounds attractive as a dental surgery.

Almost any system and any component logs events, warnings and errors into some kind of internal log. Emphasis is on any and internal, because that’s part of the problem. Log information isn’t usually easy accessible. And once you’ve copied all logs to a common location, you need to scroll through it by a text editor. This is cumbersome and tricky. If you – for example – have to align events from a server with events from a switch, you’ll need multiple steps to achieve it. A very time-consuming procedure. If you have bad luck (Murphy says, you will..), one of the components is unavailable, because an error occurred. No log – no analysis. Continue reading “Increase efficiency with vRealize Log Insight”