Enhanced Data Archival and Cost Efficiency
Veeam’s new update to the Veeam Data Platform (Veeam Backup & Replication version 12.2) brings a set of powerful enhancements, like support of additional hypervisor, more AWS cloud integrations, platforms, and security enhancements. Headlined by the highly anticipated Direct to S3 Glacier feature. This new capability helps and improves organizations manage long-term data storage and archival. In this blog, I would like to review the key features of Direct to S3 Glacier, why it is such a great addition, where it helps our customers, the changes in Scale-out Backup Repositories (SOBR) that enabled this feature, and how to set it up. We will also explore the limitations and gotchas that users should be aware of.
Key Features of Direct to S3 Glacier
The Direct to S3 Glacier feature in Veeam Backup & Replication 12.2 enables backing up GFS backups from a local performance tier backups directly to Amazon S3 Glacier, a cost-effective storage service optimized for infrequent access and long-term retention. This new capability offers:
- Direct transfer: Enables backups to be sent directly to Amazon S3 Glacier without needing an intermediate Cloud S3 Standard storage tier.
- Enhanced security: Utilizes built-in encryption during transit and at rest on the S3 bucket.
- Availability and resiliency: Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes are designed for 99.9% availability and 99.999999999% (11 nines) data durability. In addition, the ability to set object lock on the dataset assures resiliency of the backups.
Why is Direct to S3 Glacier Important?
The new ability to go Direct to S3 Glacier is important for several reasons:
- Cost savings: Traditional storage solutions can be expensive for long-term data retention. Amazon S3 Glacier offers a highly economical alternative.
- Efficient management: Direct integration with Veeam Backup & Replication simplifies the management of archival data.
- Scalability: As data volumes grow, the scalable nature of Amazon S3 Glacier ensures that businesses can continue to store their data without escalating costs.
- Compliance: In cases where long-term data retention is required for regulatory compliance. This feature helps to meet legal and compliance requirements effectively.
Changes in SOBR Enabling Direct to S3 Glacier
The Scale-out Backup Repository (SOBR) was enhanced to support Direct to S3 Glacier:
- Tiering enhancements: SOBR now includes direct tiering capabilities to Amazon S3 Glacier, bypassing the previous need for intermediary Capacity Tier.
- Policy-based management: Veeam backup policies allow for automated tiering of the GFS based backups, ensuring that data moves to S3 Glacier based on the customer needs
Setting Up Direct to S3 Glacier
Setting up Direct to S3 Glacier in Veeam Backup & Replication 12.2 is a straightforward and not much different than setting a local archive:
- Open Veeam Backup & Replication console and navigate to the Backup Infrastructure tab.
- Select Scale-out Backup Repository and click on add repository (you need to create a regular S3 Glacier repository first).
- Give the repository a name:
- Add a local repository to the Performance Tier.
- Set placement policy as desired.
- Skip Capacity Tier.
- Choose Amazon S3 Glacier as the repository, define the GFS Archive days requirement. Also, make sure you set the Storage settings to what’s needed.
- Apply and close.
Now you can use this SOBR in your backup policies.
Limitations and Gotchas
While Direct to S3 Glacier offers substantial benefits, please be aware of its limitations:
- Retrieval times: Amazon S3 Glacier retrievals can take several hours, depending on the retrieval option chosen. Plan accordingly for data retrieval needs.
- Data transfer costs: While storage costs are low, data transfer to and from S3 Glacier can incur additional charges. Monitor usage of data retrieval to avoid unexpected expenses.
- Policy configuration: Improperly configured policies can lead to unintended data transfers or retention issues. Double-check configurations to align with business needs. This is very important when applying Object Lock on the backed-up data.
Direct to S3 Glacier feature in Veeam Data Platform represents a significant improvement for customers that needs a long term affordable and secure backup. By leveraging the cost-efficient and secure storage capabilities of Amazon S3 Glacier, organizations can achieve greater scalability, improved compliance, and substantial cost savings. It’s important to plan and understand its limitations and costs, but the bottom line is that this new feature can be a powerful tool in any organization’s data management strategy.
For more information on Scale-out Backup Repositories see our User Guide.
The post Veeam Data Platform 12.2: Direct to S3 Glacier appeared first on Veeam Software Official Blog.
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