VMCE_v12 Veeam Certified Engineer v12 Questions and Answers

For Hyper-V environments where VMs are stored on local storage, the On-host backup proxy should be used. This type of proxy processes jobs directly on the host where the Hyper-V role is enabled, allowing it to interact directly with the local VM storage. It is suitable for infrastructures with multiple Hyper-V servers storing VMs locally.References:

• Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide: Hyper-V On-Host Proxy
• Veeam Best Practices: Hyper-V Backup Proxies

For the given scenario where daily backups need to be sent from Site B to a repository at Site A and the connection between the two sites is limited, thus impacting the ability to complete direct backups within the backup window, a Backup Copy Job would be appropriate. A Backup Copy Job is a feature in Veeam Backup & Replication that allows you to create several instances of the same backup files across different locations (repositories).

In the image provided, the components involved in the Backup Copy Job from Site B to Site A would be:

• 6 (Repository at Site B): This is the source repository where the hourly backup jobs are stored.
• 4 and 3 (WAN Accelerators at both sites): These components optimize data transfer over the WAN.
• 2 (Repository at Site A): This is the target repository where the backup copies will be stored.

This setup would minimize impact on the source VMs at Site B since the Backup Copy Job works with backup data rather than directly with the production VMs, thus reducing the load on those VMs during the process.

To solve the space issue while enabling GFS retention, the engineer should add an Object Storage as a Capacity tier to the Scale-Out Backup Repository (SOBR) and set the policy to move backups that are older than 14 days. This approach allows for efficient use of local NAS storage for short-term retention and leverages object storage for long-term archival purposes.References: Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide, Veeam SOBR Configuration Guide

To achieve the goal of recovering a single SQL Database in a consistent manner with minimal impact on the production environment during production hours, while allowing for granular restores through the Veeam console, the engineer should A: Schedule transaction log processing every 30 minutes. By enabling application-aware processing for the SQL VM and scheduling the main backup job to run every 24 hours, the base image of the SQL database is protected. However, to achieve a more granular Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and ensure the ability to restore to specific points in time, transaction log backups must be performed more frequently. Configuring the backup job to process transaction logs every 30 minutes captures the SQL database changes more frequently without the overhead of a full backup, allowing for point-in-time restores directly from the Veeam console without the need for SQL Management Studio (SSMS) or a Database Administrator (DBA). This setup aligns with the goals of maintaining operational efficiency and minimizing the impact on production while ensuring robust data protection capabilities.

To change a backup copy job from periodic mode to immediate mode, an administrator can edit the original backup copy job and select the immediate copy mode from within the job settings. This change ensures that backup copy jobs are started immediately after the source backup job completes, rather than waiting for a defined copy interval.References:

• Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide: Backup Copy Job
• Veeam Help Center: Backup Copy Job Modes

To meet the 1-hour RPO for the databases within the VM, while only being able to snapshot the VM once per day, the best strategy is to enable regular transaction log backups (option A) and process transaction logs with the job (option E). This setup allows the system to capture changes in the SQL Server transaction logs at intervals less than the RPO requirement, without needing to snapshot the entire VM more frequently.References: Veeam Backup & Replication Documentation, Veeam Backup & Replication Best Practices Guide

Instant file share recovery is the most effective method to minimize service impact in this scenario. This feature allows users to instantly access the NAS data directly from the backup files without having to wait for the entire file share to be restored. This approach is beneficial when quick access to data is crucial.References: Veeam Backup & Replication Documentation, Veeam NAS Backup Guide

To meet the stringent Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 4 hours and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour for the two critical applications, the most suitable approach is to use a combination of backup copy jobs and hourly VM replication, which corresponds to answer C. Backup copy jobs can ensure that backups are available offsite for disaster recovery purposes, while VM replication provides the ability to quickly failover to a replica VM in case of a primary VM failure, thereby minimizing downtime. Veeam's replication capabilities are designed to create exact copies of VMs at regular intervals, which can then be rapidly activated in case of a failure. This strategy ensures that the applications can be brought back online within the 4-hour RTO, with data loss not exceeding the 1-hour RPO, thus meeting the company's stringent data protection requirements for these critical applications.

Veeam provides agentless backup solutions for several public cloud infrastructures, among which AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Microsoft Azure are the prominent platforms supported. Thus, the correct answers are A: AWS and E: Microsoft Azure.

• For AWS, Veeam offers Veeam Backup for AWS, an agentless solution designed to protect AWS workloads by leveraging native AWS technologies. This solution allows for the backup and recovery of AWS EC2 instances without the need for agents inside the instances, providing efficient and flexible cloud-native data protection.
• In the case of Microsoft Azure, Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure provides a similar agentless data protection capability, allowing for the backup and recovery of Azure VMs. This solution also utilizes native Azure technologies to facilitate seamless integration and management of backups within the Azure ecosystem.

These solutions are designed to provide comprehensive data protection for cloud workloads, simplifying management while ensuring robust backup and recovery capabilities in these public cloud environments.

For the migration of a physical Windows file server to a local VMware ESXi host, the most efficient approach considering the server's large data volumes is D: Perform Instant VM Recovery. Veeam's Instant VM Recovery allows for the quick restoration of a backup into a VM running on an ESXi host. This process involves running the VM directly from the backup file without the need to fully restore the VM's data to production storage initially. This method is particularly advantageous for large volumes as it minimizes the initial data transfer time, allowing the server to be operational in the virtual environment more rapidly. After the VM is up and running, Veeam provides the option to migrate the VM to production storage in the background, ensuring minimal disruption to operations. This approach is ideal for scenarios requiring quick migration or restoration with large data sets.

After completing a planned failover for VMs to the disaster recovery site, the typical actions available in Veeam Backup & Replication for a failover plan are:

• Undo: This allows you to reverse the failover and return the VMs to the original location.
• Start: This would be used to initiate the failover plan if it needs to be executed again.
• Edit: This option permits modifications to the failover plan.
• Delete: This allows the removal of the failover plan if it is no longer needed. There are no options for Copy in the context of a failover plan, and the Cancel option is typically available before and during the failover process, not after completion.

To receive an automatic alert if the backup copy job violates the company's 8-hour policy for copying backups to a remote location, the backup administrator should enable the appropriate Recovery Point Objective (RPO) monitor. This feature tracks the age of the latest backup and alerts when it exceeds the defined RPO.References: Veeam Backup & Replication Documentation, Veeam RPO Monitoring and Reporting Guide

Given the provided transport modes and the fact that no modifications are allowed to these settings, a possible cause for the restore of a VMware virtual disk to fail using this proxy server is C: The virtual disk is thin-provisioned. In the transport modes shown, the Direct storage access and Virtual appliance options would require the VM disk files to be accessible in a certain way that might not be compatible with thin-provisioned disks depending on the storage configuration and the current state of the VM. If the storage integration specifics or the snapshot handling do not support the thin-provisioned format, the restore operation could fail. It's important to ensure that the transport mode selected is compatible with the type of virtual disk being restored to prevent such issues.

In a scenario where a customer needs to recover from Wasabi's Cloud due to local backups becoming unavailable, the method that would provide the fastest Recovery Time Objective (RTO) while allowing users to interact with the recovered system as quickly as possible is D: Instant Recovery to local VMware VM. Veeam's Instant Recovery feature allows for the restoration of a backup directly into the production environment without the need to fully copy the backup data. When recovering from cloud storage like Wasabi, the backup data will be streamed on-demand to the local VMware environment, allowing the VM to start running immediately while the remaining data is transferred in the background. This method minimizes downtime and provides the quickest path to operational recovery, ensuring users can access the recovered system with minimal delay. It's important to note that the effectiveness of this approach depends on the available bandwidth and the size of the data being recovered.

Instant VM Recovery is a feature in Veeam that allows you to start a virtual machine directly from a backup file without waiting for the full restore. Using Instant VM Recovery to Hyper-V is the best option for achieving the lowest possible Recovery Time Objective (RTO) because it allows the damaged physical server's backup to be run as a VM in the Hyper-V environment almost immediately. The Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows supports Instant Recovery to a Hyper-V VM, which will enable you to restore service quickly while you can plan for a more permanent recovery solution.

Before creating a NAS backup job, an engineer must add the NAS file share to the Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) console under the Inventory section. This involves specifying the NAS Filer and the particular file share to be protected. This step allows Veeam to recognize the file share as a valid source for backup operations.References:

• Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide: NAS Backup
• Veeam Help Center: Adding File Shares to Inventory

When moving the Veeam Backup & Replication server and its configuration database to new hardware or servers, the appropriate process to undertake is a configuration restore, denoted by option A: Restore. This process involves using the Veeam Backup & Replication Configuration Backup utility, which regularly backs up the configuration of the Veeam Backup & Replication server. In the event of a hardware migration or significant system change, this utility allows administrators to restore the server's configuration, including all settings, job configurations, and inventory, onto the new server setup. This ensures a seamless transition with minimal disruption to the backup operations and policies that were previously in place.

In the context of disaster recovery, the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is best defined by option B: The acceptable data loss measured in time that can be tolerated. RPO is a critical metric in disaster recovery and business continuity planning that specifies the maximum amount of data (measured in time) that an organization can afford to lose in the event of a disaster or system failure. It effectively sets the limit for how frequently data backups or replications should occur. For instance, an RPO of 4 hours means that the organization must be able to recover data from no more than 4 hours prior to the disaster, implying that backup or replication operations should occur at least every 4 hours. Establishing an RPO is essential for developing an effective data protection strategy, as it guides the choice of backup methodologies and technologies to meet the organization's tolerance for data loss.

When configuring Veeam Backup & Replication in a VMware vSAN environment, the best practice is to use the Virtual Appliance transport mode. This mode is also referred to as "hot-add" and allows the backup proxy to mount VM disks directly from the datastore. This method is more isolated from the VMkernel network traffic, as it does not require network connectivity to the hosts to retrieve data, thus providing a level of isolation that meets the requirement stated in the question. The Direct NFS and Direct SAN options are not applicable for vSAN, and Network mode would not provide the necessary isolation from VMkernel network traffic.

To meet the requirements of setting up a Scale-Out Backup Repository (SOBR) with immutability for malware protection and specific retention policies, the most fitting configuration is D: Copy and move mode with a Performance Tier configured on a Linux Hardened Repository using the XFS file system and immutability set for 21 days, and a Capacity Tier on Amazon S3 with immutability set for 60 days. This setup utilizes the copy and move mode to ensure that backups are first stored on the on-premises Linux Hardened Repository with an immutability setting that prevents modifications to backups, providing protection against malware for the most recent 21 days of backups. As this on-premises server has limited capacity, older backups beyond 21 days are moved to the Capacity Tier in Amazon S3, where they are also protected with immutability for the entire 60-day retention period. This configuration leverages the strengths of both on-premises and cloud storage while ensuring that all backups are protected from modification or deletion by immutability, aligning with the customer's malware protection concerns and retention requirements.

To avoid running out of space when moving backups to a new repository, the "Move backup..." function in Veeam Backup & Replication should be used. This function allows you to relocate backup files to a new repository without duplicating data, which can save space. Unlike a simple copy action, the move function ensures that the backup chain remains intact and does not require additional space for a copy of the backups during the transfer. When the move is initiated, Veeam will also automatically update the configuration to point to the new backup location, thus preventing any disruptions in the backup chain.

Veeam Data Platform can achieve image-level backups for Solaris workloads. This means it can create a complete backup of the system at the image level, capturing the entire state of the Solaris system, including the operating system, applications, and data.References: Veeam Data Platform Documentation, Veeam Solaris Backup Guide

Instant VM Recovery to VMware offers the lowest possible RTO for restoring a physically damaged Linux server to a VMware vSphere infrastructure. This feature rapidly restores service by running the server directly from the backup file in a VMware environment.References: Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide, Veeam Agent for Linux Guide

The procedure of adding a Microsoft Exchange Database Availability Group (DAG) to a Veeam Agent backup job differs depending on the type of the DAG that you want to process: For a regular DAG, the backup job configuration procedure is the same as for any failover cluster. To process a regular DAG, you must configure a Veeam Agent backup job for a failover cluster https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/agents/dag_hiw.html?ver=120

Veeam Agents are designed to provide backup solutions for physical and cloud environments. They support various operating systems, including Ubuntu (a Linux-based OS) and Windows Server. These agents ensure that data on servers running these operating systems can be effectively backed up and restored. However, Veeam Agents do not support FreeBSD, IBM iSeries, or iOS as these platforms require different backup solutions or are not typically used in environments where Veeam operates.References:

• Veeam Agents User Guide
• Veeam Help Center: Supported Environments

To dynamically include VMware VMs with a custom application installed in a backup job, the most efficient approach is C: Create a backup job based on vSphere tags. VMware vSphere tagging allows administrators to assign metadata to VMs, making it easier to categorize and manage them according to various criteria, such as application type, department, or any custom criteria relevant to the organization. Veeam Backup & Replication can leverage these tags to dynamically include VMs in backup jobs. By setting up a backup job to include VMs tagged with a specific identifier related to the custom application, any VM tagged accordingly will be automatically included in the backup job. This approach simplifies management, ensures consistency, and allows for the flexible and dynamic grouping of VMs based on changing criteria without the need for manual adjustments to the backup job configuration.

For GDPR compliance, Veeam provides the capability to add location tags to Scale-out Backup Repositories. Location tags in Veeam Backup & Replication are used to identify the location of data, which is essential for adhering to data sovereignty laws like GDPR. Location tagging helps ensure that data residency requirements are met by keeping data in a defined geographical area. In the context of GDPR, it's important to manage and control where personal data is stored and processed. Proxy servers, file copy jobs, and WAN accelerators do not have the functionality to be tagged for GDPR compliance in the same manner as repositories within Veeam Backup & Replication.

The feature that is unique to Veeam Agent for Linux and not available in other Veeam Agent configurations is C: Backup from native snapshots. Veeam Agent for Linux includes the ability to leverage native snapshot capabilities of the Linux kernel, such as LVM (Logical Volume Manager) snapshots or Btrfs subvolume snapshots, to create consistent point-in-time copies of data. This capability allows for application-consistent backups even in complex Linux environments, ensuring that data is captured in a consistent state without the need for custom scripting or downtime. Native snapshot support in Veeam Agent for Linux enhances the flexibility and reliability of backups, particularly in environments where Linux-based applications and databases are critical to business operations.

Based on the configuration shown in the image, backups older than 21 days are moved to the capacity tier. Since the VMware backup job retention is set for 31 days and keeps weekly GFS full backups for 14 weeks, the backup from the week of January 1st is older than 21 days but within the 14-week GFS retention policy. Therefore, as of March 20, the backup data you need to recover would be in the capacity tier, not on the local performance tier, because it has been offloaded to the object storage configured as the capacity tier to reduce long-term retention costs.

References: Veeam Backup & Replication Documentation, Scale-Out Backup Repository Configuration Guide