ARTESCA+ Veeam Unified Software Appliance

ARTESCA+ Veeam is a unified software appliance that runs Veeam Backup & Replication for Windows (versions 12 and 13), or the Veeam Software Appliance version 13, inside Scality’s hardened object storage platform.

It simplifies deployment and operations, delivers end-to-end cyber resilience with zero-trust security, and cuts infrastructure costs—with the flexibility to run on your hardware of choice.

Note

Refer to Trying ARTESCA+ Veeam if you want to deploy ARTESCA+ Veeam on a demo environment to get familiar with the product.

The ARTESCA+ Veeam Unified Software Appliance integrates seamlessly with standard data sources that can be protected by Veeam Backup & Replication.

The core of the appliance is a unified software stack built upon a hardened operating system, which provides a secure and stable foundation.

On top of this, ARTESCA Kubernetes orchestrates and manages the deployment of ARTESCA containers, which are specialized for data management.

Veeam components, including VBR Server, VBR Proxy, and VBR Gateway, are deployed within a Veeam Virtual Machine that is scheduled by the KubeVirt Container, allowing them to run within the Kubernetes environment while still leveraging their robust backup and recovery capabilities.

This integration enables Veeam to manage the backup and recovery processes, while ARTESCA provides the underlying storage and data management infrastructure.

Note

In the context of Veeam VBR 12 and 13 for Windows, the Veeam Virtual Machine refers to the Windows Virtual Machine on which the Veeam VBR packages will be deployed.

In the context of Veeam VSA 13, the Veeam Virtual Machine refers to the Linux Veeam Software Appliance (VSA).

Supported Architecture Models

The ARTESCA+ Veeam Unified Software Appliance can be used as the primary backup and storage solution to protect your production environment, or as a secondary repository with Veeam as standby to quickly failover from primary.

Primary Repository

In this architecture model, the ARTESCA+ Veeam Unified Software Appliance protects your production environment and stores a first, immutable backup copy.

The appliance is configured so that the ARTESCA S3 endpoint is unaccessible from outside of the appliance. Additionally, the appliance can be used to offload a second backup copy to an external backup repository target.

Secondary Repository

In this architecture model, the ARTESCA+ Veeam Unified Software Appliance is used as a secondary backup repository to store backup copies and Veeam configuration and database.

The appliance is configured so that Veeam Backup & Replication is pre-installed and ready to be activated at any time, in case of a primary site disaster.

Supported Integration Models

The ARTESCA+ Veeam Unified Software Appliance can be integrated with an external Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) proxy, Veeam ONE, or the Veeam Recovery Orchestrator.

Veeam Backup & Replication Proxy

The ARTESCA+ Veeam Unified Software Appliance includes a VMware backup proxy. However, for large installations, you need to deploy a dedicated backup proxy to optimize performance.

Follow this workflow to integrate a dedicated Veeam Backup & Replication proxy into your environment:

  1. Add an external server to your backup infrastructure.

  2. Integrate a dedicated VMware backup proxy in virtual appliance mode.

  3. Create a backup job using the newly created proxy.

Add an External Server to Your Backup Infrastructure

  1. On the Veeam application, go to Backup Infrastructure. Right click Managed Servers and select Add server….

  2. On the Add Server dialog box, select Microsoft Windows.

  3. Enter the IP address of the Windows VM that is going to act as proxy and click Next.

  4. Specify the credentials for the proxy server. You can select existing credentials or click Add to add new ones. Click Next.

  5. Make sure the settings are correct and click Apply.

  6. Make sure all steps are successful and click Finish.

Integrate a Dedicated VMware Backup Proxy in Virtual Appliance Mode

  1. On the Veeam application go to Backup Infrastructure. Right click Backup Proxies and select Add proxy….

  2. On the Add Backup Proxy dialog box, select VMware backup proxy.

  3. Choose the server previously created and set the Max concurrent tasks. Click Next.

  4. Make sure the traffic rules are correct and click Next.

  5. Check that all settings are correct and click Apply.

  6. Make sure all steps are successful and click Next.

    On the Summary dialog box, click Finish to complete the proxy configuration.

  7. On the Backup Infrastructure page, right click the recently created proxy and select Properties….

  8. On the Edit VMware Proxy dialog box, locate the Transport mode section and click Choose….

  9. Select the Virtual appliance mode and disable the Failover to network mode. Click OK.

  10. Click Finish to save the changes.

    The new VMware proxy is available under the list of Backup Proxies.

Create a Backup Job Using the Newly Created Proxy

  1. On the Veeam application, go to Home. Right click Jobs and select Virtual machine….

  2. Enter a name for the new backup job and click Next.

  3. Add a virtual machine to the backup job and click Next.

  4. Click Choose to select a backup proxy.

  5. Choose the proxy you created earlier and click OK.

  6. Make sure all the settings are correct and click Next.

  7. Skip the Guest Processing step by clicking Next.

  8. No need to schedule job runs. Click Apply and then click Finish.

Veeam ONE

Veeam ONE is a monitoring and analytics tool that provides comprehensive visibility into your Veeam Backup & Replication environment.

  1. On the Veeam ONE Console, right click Veeam Backup & Replication and select Add Server….

  2. On the Add Server dialog box, select Veeam Backup & Replication.

  3. Specify the server connection details:

    • Enter the Windows Virtual Machine IP address on the ARTESCA+ Veeam appliance.

    • Select the Veeam Backup & Replication server type.

    • Make sure the Install Veeam ONE Agent and Allow Veeam Backup & Replication console to display analytics data options are checked. Click Next.

  4. Enter the RDP credentials of the Windows Virtual machine and click Next.

  5. Review the summary to make sure all settings are properly configured and click Finish.

  6. On the Performance page, check that the VBR backup server on the ARTESCA+ Veeam appliance is successfully added to Veeam ONE.

  7. On the Summary page, you can see real-time monitoring and analytics information.

Installation

The ARTESCA+ Veeam Unified Software Appliance supports both Veeam Backup & Replication for Windows (versions 12 and 13) and Veeam Software Appliance (version 13).

Note

The Veeam Software Appliance can be set up as a standalone or as a Veeam Software Appliance HA cluster.

Operations

The ARTESCA+ Veeam Unified Software Appliance operations help you manage the appliance and its components.