Table of Contents

To simplify your reading experience, here is the table of contents for the article (please click the section of interest to scroll down directly to it):

• What are immutable or WORM storage repositories?
  • Benefits of Immutable / WORM Storage
• Configure immutable / WORM storage repositories with Veeam Availability Suite v10
  • What is a backup repository?
• Create scale out backup repositories with minimum local retention & long term retention & archiving on cloud WORM storage
• Create scale out backup repositories with automated age-based sorting of backup data between local & cloud WORM storage

What are immutable or WORM storage repositories?

Immutable or WORM (Write-Once Read-Many) storage Repositories are storage volumes that can be written only once and read or accessed as often as needed. The data stored in immutable storage repositories can neither be edited nor deleted for a pre-determined time period.

Immutable storage volumes are file-level or NAS volumes widely used in the industry for storage and retention of confidential data by industries such as healthcare, financial services, or legal and government departments.

Benefits of Immutable / WORM Storage

WORM storage repositories are best fit for mitigating risk and addressing data security and integrity concerns. This also makes them a very handy feature when it comes to compliance regulations such as HIPAA/HITRUST, FedRAMP, FISMA, CJIS, among several others.

The unchangeable or non-edit friendly nature of immutable storage repositories also makes them suitable for backup data storage and archiving. When stored in immutable storage repositories, backup data is secure from threats such as ransomware attacks, virus infection, human error and other similar disasters which account for a large percentage of business data loss.

Configure Immutable / WORM Storage Repositories with Veeam Availability Suite V10

In the latest Veeam Availability Suite version 10 release, Veeam introduced immutable Backup Repositories. Prior to the release, our engineers worked with the Veeam team to ensure availability of the feature in our Veeam-ready backup and DR appliance (DR365V).

With the enterprise backup & disaster recovery appliance, users can leverage all the features of Veeam backup software in conjunction with StoneFly’s patented storage operating system and storage servers.

The DR365V appliance enables users to leverage the familiar Veeam console to provision immutable backup repositories in the following ways:

• Create immutable backup repositories with minimum local retention & long term retention on affordable and highly scalable cloud WORM storage repositories Learn more
• Create immutable backup repositories with automated age-based data transfers between local and cloud WORM storage repositories Learn more

Before we discuss the immutable storage provisioning capabilities of DR365V, let’s define the associated terms for context.

If you’re familiar with the basics, please   to skip directly to the WORM storage features.

What is a backup repository?

A backup repository is Veeam’s target backup data storage location. The Veeam-ready backup & DR appliance (DR365V) supports the following types of backup repositories:

• Local Backup Repository
  • Virtual Machines (VMs) on DR365V (Virtual Windows or Linux Server | NFS or CIFS shares)
• Cloud Backup Repository (Azure blob, AWS S3, StoneFly private cloud, or any other S3 compatible cloud)

What is a local backup repository?

A local backup repository is a type of backup repository provisioned on the DR365V appliance.

The DR365V is a unified storage and server hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) with compute, networking, storage, and virtualization built into one easy-to-manage appliance. This means users can leverage the Veeam console to provision virtual NAS (NFS or CIFS) shared on the DR365V appliance to be used as local backup repositories.

The DR365V supports VMware, Hyper-V, KVM, or XenServer (Citrix) hypervisors. Users can choose any flavor of hypervisor that best fits their needs and budget. (Learn More)

What is a cloud backup storage or object storage repository?

Cloud backup storage or object storage repository, as the name suggests, are backup repositories or target backup storage locations provisioned on public (Azure, AWS, etc.) or private (StoneFly) cloud servers.

The built-in cloud connect of the DR365V appliance enables users to integrate their choice of public or private clouds as cloud backup repositories for Veeam backup data storage.

Supported Object Storage Repositories Include:

• Microsoft Azure Hot Blob or Cool Blob
• AWS S3 & S3-IA
• StoneFly Private Cloud
• Any Other S3 Compatible Cloud

What is a scale out backup repository?

The scale out backup repository combines local and object storage repositories as such as that the former is used as performance tier while the latter is used long term retention or archiving tier.

It goes without saying that in order to use scale out backup repositories in Veeam and DR365V, users need to provision local and object storage repositories first.

Now that we’ve defined the terms associated with immutable storage repositories, let’s explore the WORM storage provisioning capabilities of DR365V.

Create scale out backup repositories with minimum local retention & long term retention & archiving on cloud WORM storage

Veeam can be configured to automatically create two backup copies: one in the local backup repository and the other in the cloud backup repository. Users can leverage the scale out backup repositories to define and control backup data retention on local and cloud WORM storage repositories.

With the Veeam console, users can define how long the backup data is stored on the local backup repositories (VMs on DR365V) before it’s deleted or transferred. Similarly, users can define how long a backup copy is stored in the cloud WORM storage repositories.

It’s worth mentioning that the difference between the local backup repositories and cloud WORM storage, as specified above, is that the local repositories can be written and read as often as needed; whereas the cloud WORM can only be written once and read as many times as necessary.

One way of using this feature is to setup minimum retention on local repositories and longer retention on cloud WORM repositories.

For example, a user can specify that the backup data stored in local repositories is deleted after a month; while the copy of that data is retained in the cloud immutable storage repositories for several years.

Create scale out backup repositories with automated age-based sorting of backup data between local & cloud WORM storage

Another way of using scale out backup repositories is via the integration of automated storage tiering.

The Veeam backup data is created and stored on local backup repositories. Then, as per user defined policies, the data is automatically transferred to immutable cloud storage repositories where it is retained for several months or years.

Note: “Transferred“ implies that the backup data is moved completely; therefore it no longer uses local storage space. However, users can also choose to create copies if need be; as the back copy in the cloud WORM cannot be edited.

Summary

Immutable or WORM storage repositories are target storage locations that can be written once and read as often as needed.

StoneFly’s purpose-built backup & DR appliance for Veeam enables users to provision immutable WORM storage repositories in the cloud. Using the familiar Veeam console, users can provision scale out backup repositories that leverage cloud WORM repositories for long term backup data storage and archiving.

With the WORM storage feature, users can retain backup data for years and comply with industry regulations such as HIPAA, HITRUST, FISMA, FEDRAMP, CJIS, and others.

To learn more about the immutable storage capabilities of DR365V, contact StoneFly pre-sales engineers.

Schedule a Demo or Request a Quote for DR365V

To experience the WORM storage capabilities of DR365V in a live demonstration schedule a demo: https://stonefly.com/request-a-demo

Already made up your mind to purchase the DR365V backup and DR appliance? Request a quote by contact StoneFly sales:

Email:              [email protected]

Phone: +1 (510) 265-1616

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