Read the full series:
|
Ch.1 – Architecture & Requirements |
Ch.9 – Volume recovery |
In the previous Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE blog post we discussed the integration between Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE and Veeam Backup & Replication. Besides the minimum requirements (Veeam Backup & Replication v8 with update 2) and the configuration, we also looked at addition data protection possibilities such as backup copy jobs and backup to tape jobs. Finally we looked at additional administration tasks like reviewing statistics, deleting and / or removing endpoint backup jobs and more.
Today we continue and look at probably the most important additional functionality… Additional restore options
Every restore option you have today with Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE remains valid when integrating the solution with Veeam Backup & Replication, we will go deeper into those in one of the upcoming posts… But when you do integrate, you have additional options. Let’s have a look at them.
File-level restore
As an administrator, working in the Veeam Backup & Replication console, you get the possibility to restore files and / or folders from that computer backup. There is one limitation as an administrator, you can’t restore files to the original location (you can from the end-user side though). Instead, you can use the Copy To option to save restored files and folders in a new location.
Veeam Explorers
Are you backing up a server running Active Directory, SharePoint, Exchange or SQL? If so, you suddenly get the possibility to use one of the Veeam Explorers on the backups taken with Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE.
The procedure is very easy: just start file-level restore from Veeam Backup and Replication Console and launch the Veeam Explorer from backup browser.
Export disks
Any disk from endpoint’s backup file can be exported into VMDK, VHD or VHDX format within Backup and Replication Console. Do note that it is not a P2V restore tool, so if you boot up from these disks in your virtual environment, you might have issues with physical drivers still installed (although we already have seen many successful attempts). There are however other use-cases why this is a great recovery option: think about data disks that can be attached to a running VM.
A few notes on this export:
- VMDK disks can be restored to a datastore in the thin provisioned format while restoring to a server will save the disk in a thick format
- VHD/VHDX disks are always restored as dynamically expanding
Conclusion
Integrating Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE with Veeam Backup & Replication is more than just the possibility of using your repositories as a backup target. With the integration, you receive a ton of additional possibilities including using the Veeam explorers, disk conversions and lots more.
If you want to learn more, you can always check out this in-depth video on the resources page.
Read the next chapter:
- Ch.8 – File level Recovery
See also:
Veeam Community Forums: Veeam Agent for Windows (formerly Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE)