Christian Mohn wrote a book which will help you get started with Veeam Backup & Replication v7. The book is about 110 pages and contains 5 chapters.

1. Introduction to Veeam Backup & Replication v7 for VMware
2. Configuring Backups
3. Restoring Data
4. Replicating Virtual Machines
5. Other Feature

Introduction to Veeam Backup & Replication v7 for VMware

This chapter explains the different compononents within a Veeam Backup & Replication infrastructure. It also takes a look on some common backup strategies and terms which are being used nowadays.

You will learn about the 3-2-1 rule and how to achieve this with Veeam by using different features such as Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS) and Veeam’s native tape support. Besides this there is also a clear view on achieving RPO’s and RTO’s and why it is important when you are working with backups.

As a wrap up of the introduction there is also a quick look at the editions within Veeam such as the differences between the free version and the paid version.

The chapter then goes on explaining how to install Veeam Backup & Replication and how to patch Veeam, configure a repository and adding your vCenter to the Veeam console.

Configuring Backups

Chapter 2 goes on with probably the most important thing, configuring the backup jobs. To get a better knowledge on how Veeam works there is a quick explanation on how Veeam makes and stores the backups.

The chapter is split into 3 parts.
First you will be adding a proxy server and learn how to configure a backup job using some of the basic settings.
Second you will put this Backup to Tape and as a final job you will learn how to copy the backup to a remote location using WAN acceleration.

Restoring Data

Making backups is one thing but understanding how to restore them is also important. Christian explains here how you can quickly recover a full VM using instant VM recovery or a slower recovery using full VM restore. Since Veeam is also able to do file level recovery there is also a quick summary on how to do guest file restores.

Replicating Virtual Machines

As the product name “Veeam Backup & Replication” says it’s a 2-in-1 solution and chapter 4 is all about replication to achieve a DR scenario. The chapter explains you how the infrastructure looks and how to configure your jobs to get a DR site up and running in just a few clicks.

Other Features

Veeam Backup & Replication does more then just making backups and/or replicas of your virtual machines. The final chapter has a look on some of the extra features.

There is a quick look on SureBackup and SureReplica which helps you automatically test any server and application on wether you can use the backup or replica in case of data loss or a failure on a production site.

U-AIR (Universal Application-Item Recovery) is briefly explained as well on how you can use the wizard to restore anything from any type of application.

Quick migration is the built-in tool which allows you to vMotion VM’s which you are running using Instant VM Recovery WITHOUT the need of a vMotion license.

SAN support is a quick look in how Veeam work directly with HP storage to reduce the impact on your production virtual machines where a snapshot may cause issues.

vCloud Director explains how Veeams handles a vCloud Director infrastructure.

Veeam also comes with a webinterface called the “Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager” which is mentioned as well which offers you the ability to do searching in backup files as well as 1-click restore.

And the last version 7 feature being discussed is the new vSphere Web Client which is available for vSphere 5.1 or higher.

My view on the book

This book is a really great way for people to get started with Veeam Backup & Replication v7. Christian did a great job explaining all the things you actually need without going into complex configurations.

For everybody who is new to Veeam as either an end-user or a consultant make sure to check this book! Even if you are an expert in Veeam this book can be very useful as a “quick reference” for those easy deployments.