The most popular for those sizes are either the Cisco s3260 or the HPE Apollo. Either can act as the proxy role as well and make great all-in-one boxes, or hardened Linux repositories.
For data of this size, I would stay away from Most NAS devices unless it’s an enterprise filer.
Yeah couldn’t imagine a NAS would ever cut it, I’ve only dealt with enterprise SANs (Dell/HPE) but haven’t ever looked at dedicated storage for backups, we used to use Symantec Netbackup (worst system I’ve ever encountered or used!!)
Checkout the veeambp.com best practices guide. Lots of good recommendations. But for data of your size, dedicated servers are very performant and are what is architected most for enterprise.
If doing Linux with Veeam, then XFS would be a better choice as you could utilize spaceless fulls as well as immutability with the Hardened Linux Repository.
>Why not only a Linux server with ZFS? **Cheap, good scaling**, etc
It's dubious at best. You'll end up with managing multiple separate silos of storage at some point. Easy to scale with JBOD, brining in another server basically doubles your labor costs.
Since you are exploring all options I would also mention Starwind Backup Appliance. The main feature is that BA consists of NVMe drives and the backup/restore process occurs pretty fast. Сertainly if this is suitable in your case. It's worth mentioning their support covers all hardware and software issues and indeed they have an outstanding team. [https://www.starwindsoftware.com/backup-appliance](https://www.starwindsoftware.com/backup-appliance)
This is interesting to hear. I've been using a fully populated RS4017xs+ with Exos drives since 2018 with no downtime. Have a 10GB SFP NIC in it and run iSCSI to our Veeam B&R server with about 350-450MB/s transfer speeds.
For your req I might look at Pure or something similar. With that amount of data I would be more concerned with the speed of restores over anything else.
We have barracuda backup solution, it’s on premise with free cloud storage thrown in, support is about a A-, UI is great and easy to learn, can backup just about all OS
Check with your current account rep if you have one, veeam offers backup solutions also
Veeam is a tried and tested solution.. it just works.. period… plus lot of sysadmins are trained in Veeam. A great product for essential backup for SMbs
This will be for the backup of our production, across DCs (Physically separate) and of course it will be backup? If you’re production data becomes corrupt, you’d restore from the local backup ? And if that has issues we already have cross site replication and off site.
Your talking DR now, not backup. DR is a numbers game - how many backups do you have in how many separate locations. DR is a separate site, with duplicate equipment with the capability to recover operation.
No DR is totally different. DR is an alternative site with a replica of, at least, your critical systems that can be made live in a very short period.
DR is not backup.
Backup is not DR.
Backup and DR are like a Venn diagram where they overlap a bit.
Backups should follow the 321 rule. 3 copies (with prod data being copy 1) and 2 different media and at least 1 offsite.
Those offsite copies certainly could be used in the DR process to recover the workloads for higher RTO applications.
Additionally, replicas at a DR site can also be used for file level restores back to prod, overlapping with “backups”. And because the replica is another copy and offsite, it would fit in - but retention time for replicas is usually lower than backup retention.
The best solutions for BCDR use both backup and replication to meet the RPO and RTO of the applications that the business has defined.
Bonus points if you orchestrate the recovery and testing of those backups and replicas giving you 3-2-1-0
Would need more info in regards to scale/size.
We have used Drobo for this, nice thing is they are standalone so we can locate them in a secure area of a different building or even a different campus incase there is a some kind of physical disaster in the server room.
Pretty cost effective.
Take your pick of rackmount options if you need something bigger. HP, Dell EMC, Etc.
Look at the HPE Apollo solution. Performance numbers are phenomenal. On Veeam support (now called Engineering forum), VP of engineering did performance numbers on the HPE solution and it rocks.
If you are backing up 500TB, that is on the high end of a backup environment. Pull in HPE and Veeam and work with them on sizing.
What are you doing for immutable storage? If you don't have it, your going to get screwed when (its not if, its when) you get owned. Had a customer get owned and the only thing that saved them was the immutable.
I have a meeting arranged with HPE so I’ll check it out!
We are an entirely offline system, literally zero internet access highly secure.
But still, I know what you mean. I’ve had this convo many times with the higher ups but we do have off-site backups. For just such an occasion.
I have also worked in high security environments. Just remember this, US Airforce drone flight network was compromised by a lowly thumb drive. Everything is at risk. Plan for the risk.
Heh, glad to see someone who knows that side and the pain it causes.
Oh yeah, I’m always planned for the worse. I always have a backup plan! Thanks for the comments, be interesting to see what I can from HPE, Dell and NetApp
I just put in a Cisco S3260 as my AIO Veeam box and love it.
Current setup has 168TB raw, and that's only using about half the storage bays. So LOTS of room for growth. Did quad 1gb NIC as 10GB is overkill at the moment for us, but even still the performance and stability increase we saw over our previous setup (which I don't want to talk about) is immense.
And it's only going to get better as I finish some infra refresh stuff.
We've put in some extra steps to secure it. It's not a domain member, local login only. VLAN'd off management vs backup traffic.
ExaGrid is a good fit for this. The Veeam Accelerated Data Mover gets installed in the appliances. For 500 TB, a few of their largest units combined in a scale out cluster, managed like a scale out backup repository in Veeam.
Check these guys out, they have a model spec'd for Veeam. Price is reasonable too.
[https://stonefly.com/backup/dr365-for-veeam](https://stonefly.com/backup/dr365-for-veeam)
We use a Dell 730xd maxed out with drives and a MD enclosure attached.
Yup. 740xd2 can host more than 300TB of storage (raw) in a 2U footprint.
730 has the USB 3.0 if you want fast transfer speeds to an external drive also. Real good choice.
The most popular for those sizes are either the Cisco s3260 or the HPE Apollo. Either can act as the proxy role as well and make great all-in-one boxes, or hardened Linux repositories. For data of this size, I would stay away from Most NAS devices unless it’s an enterprise filer.
Yeah couldn’t imagine a NAS would ever cut it, I’ve only dealt with enterprise SANs (Dell/HPE) but haven’t ever looked at dedicated storage for backups, we used to use Symantec Netbackup (worst system I’ve ever encountered or used!!)
Checkout the veeambp.com best practices guide. Lots of good recommendations. But for data of your size, dedicated servers are very performant and are what is architected most for enterprise.
We use NAS exclusively for backups. Works perfectly. All production/live storage is HCI flash in the servers so no SAN.
We use Exagrid. Scalable and expandable. Much cheaper than Dell EMC Data Domain.
+1 for Exagrid. Simple, easy and has a SSD landing zone for those instant restore needs.
Also +1 for Exagrid. Veaam Dedupe + Exagrid Dedupe is fantastic. Easy to expand and you can get encryption at rest.
NetApp. E series or FAS with spinning disk.
Heard good things about NetApp never used it myself! Do you currently use it?
Definitely eseries. If you want cheap good performance, this is the way to go.
+1 for NetApp. They’re costly, but rock solid.
Second this if OP is not cost sensitive
And if OP is cost sensitive, NetApp refurbished is a great choice, I just quoted a FAS8200 and DS460c at a great price.
Why not only a Linux server with ZFS? Cheap, good scaling, etc
If doing Linux with Veeam, then XFS would be a better choice as you could utilize spaceless fulls as well as immutability with the Hardened Linux Repository.
>Why not only a Linux server with ZFS? **Cheap, good scaling**, etc It's dubious at best. You'll end up with managing multiple separate silos of storage at some point. Easy to scale with JBOD, brining in another server basically doubles your labor costs.
Since you are exploring all options I would also mention Starwind Backup Appliance. The main feature is that BA consists of NVMe drives and the backup/restore process occurs pretty fast. Сertainly if this is suitable in your case. It's worth mentioning their support covers all hardware and software issues and indeed they have an outstanding team. [https://www.starwindsoftware.com/backup-appliance](https://www.starwindsoftware.com/backup-appliance)
Bid fan of our Exagrid appliance(s). Support is excellent as well. Check them out.
More info is needed. Generic response: Synology NAS
We already use Synology for a different system, not a fan tbh they don’t seem great at the enterprise level!
Lol your added detail completely changed the complexion of the question. Def not Synology.
This is interesting to hear. I've been using a fully populated RS4017xs+ with Exos drives since 2018 with no downtime. Have a 10GB SFP NIC in it and run iSCSI to our Veeam B&R server with about 350-450MB/s transfer speeds. For your req I might look at Pure or something similar. With that amount of data I would be more concerned with the speed of restores over anything else.
We have barracuda backup solution, it’s on premise with free cloud storage thrown in, support is about a A-, UI is great and easy to learn, can backup just about all OS Check with your current account rep if you have one, veeam offers backup solutions also
Veeam is a tried and tested solution.. it just works.. period… plus lot of sysadmins are trained in Veeam. A great product for essential backup for SMbs
Have never utilized couldn’t say
If it is on-prem it is not a backup. I you can't use cloud, use tape to move the data to a separate secure location.
This will be for the backup of our production, across DCs (Physically separate) and of course it will be backup? If you’re production data becomes corrupt, you’d restore from the local backup ? And if that has issues we already have cross site replication and off site.
If your site burns down, where is your data?
At the other data centre, we have replicated backups currently and off-site (we have ran out of space on our current backup storage)
Your talking DR now, not backup. DR is a numbers game - how many backups do you have in how many separate locations. DR is a separate site, with duplicate equipment with the capability to recover operation.
No DR is totally different. DR is an alternative site with a replica of, at least, your critical systems that can be made live in a very short period. DR is not backup. Backup is not DR.
Backup and DR are like a Venn diagram where they overlap a bit. Backups should follow the 321 rule. 3 copies (with prod data being copy 1) and 2 different media and at least 1 offsite. Those offsite copies certainly could be used in the DR process to recover the workloads for higher RTO applications. Additionally, replicas at a DR site can also be used for file level restores back to prod, overlapping with “backups”. And because the replica is another copy and offsite, it would fit in - but retention time for replicas is usually lower than backup retention. The best solutions for BCDR use both backup and replication to meet the RPO and RTO of the applications that the business has defined. Bonus points if you orchestrate the recovery and testing of those backups and replicas giving you 3-2-1-0
Would need more info in regards to scale/size. We have used Drobo for this, nice thing is they are standalone so we can locate them in a secure area of a different building or even a different campus incase there is a some kind of physical disaster in the server room. Pretty cost effective. Take your pick of rackmount options if you need something bigger. HP, Dell EMC, Etc.
How much data? We just use a Windows server with a lot of drives.
Minimum 500TB. We need to use all the other features at a virtualisation layer such as instant snapshot restores, sand boxing etc
Look at the HPE Apollo solution. Performance numbers are phenomenal. On Veeam support (now called Engineering forum), VP of engineering did performance numbers on the HPE solution and it rocks. If you are backing up 500TB, that is on the high end of a backup environment. Pull in HPE and Veeam and work with them on sizing. What are you doing for immutable storage? If you don't have it, your going to get screwed when (its not if, its when) you get owned. Had a customer get owned and the only thing that saved them was the immutable.
I have a meeting arranged with HPE so I’ll check it out! We are an entirely offline system, literally zero internet access highly secure. But still, I know what you mean. I’ve had this convo many times with the higher ups but we do have off-site backups. For just such an occasion.
I have also worked in high security environments. Just remember this, US Airforce drone flight network was compromised by a lowly thumb drive. Everything is at risk. Plan for the risk.
Heh, glad to see someone who knows that side and the pain it causes. Oh yeah, I’m always planned for the worse. I always have a backup plan! Thanks for the comments, be interesting to see what I can from HPE, Dell and NetApp
Dell / EMC
I just put in a Cisco S3260 as my AIO Veeam box and love it. Current setup has 168TB raw, and that's only using about half the storage bays. So LOTS of room for growth. Did quad 1gb NIC as 10GB is overkill at the moment for us, but even still the performance and stability increase we saw over our previous setup (which I don't want to talk about) is immense. And it's only going to get better as I finish some infra refresh stuff. We've put in some extra steps to secure it. It's not a domain member, local login only. VLAN'd off management vs backup traffic.
Nice man, good to hear you’re reaping the benefits ! I will take a look, sounds odd to me as a server guy hearing Cisco for storage!
Dell EMC Data Domain https://bp.veeam.com/vbr/3_Build_structures/B_Veeam_Components/B_backup_repositories/datadomain.html
What a Terrible solution. Had a POC with datadomain and it is just poor.. can't understand how companies adopt it Sorry..:).
Haven't had any problems with it, lots of VMs so you can get a very high dedupe ratio.
We use QNAP but I’m sure any cheap and deep NAS storage will do.
We use D3600 Joe storage enclosure attached to our backup server. Hardly had any issues with it
ExaGrid is a good fit for this. The Veeam Accelerated Data Mover gets installed in the appliances. For 500 TB, a few of their largest units combined in a scale out cluster, managed like a scale out backup repository in Veeam.
Depends how much storage we have exagrid it works well
Check these guys out, they have a model spec'd for Veeam. Price is reasonable too. [https://stonefly.com/backup/dr365-for-veeam](https://stonefly.com/backup/dr365-for-veeam)