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Backup Proxy

A backup proxy is an architecture component that sits between the backup server and other components of the backup infrastructure. While the backup server administers tasks, the proxy processes jobs and delivers backup traffic.

Basic backup proxy tasks include the following:

Retrieving VM data from the production storage
Compressing
Deduplicating
Encrypting
Sending it to the backup repository (for example, if you run a backup job) or another backup proxy (for example, if you run a replication job)

Backup Proxy Transport Modes

Depending on your backup architecture, the backup proxy can use one of the following data transport modes:

Direct storage access
Virtual appliance
Network

If the VM disks are located on the storage system and the storage system is added to the Veeam Backup & Replication console, the backup proxy can also use the Backup from Storage Snapshots mode.

You can explicitly select the transport mode or let Veeam Backup & Replication automatically choose the mode. For details, see Transport Modes and Backup from Storage Snapshots.

Backup Proxy Deployment

By default, the role of the proxy is assigned to the backup server itself. However, this is sufficient only for small installations with low traffic load. For large installations, it is recommended to deploy dedicated backup proxies.

To optimize performance of several concurrent jobs, you can use several backup proxies. In this case, Veeam Backup & Replication will distribute the backup workload between available backup proxies. You can deploy backup proxies both in the primary site and in remote sites.

To deploy a proxy, you need to add a Windows-based or Linux-based server to Veeam Backup & Replication and assign the role of the backup proxy to the added server. For requirement and limitations that backup proxies have, see Requirements and Limitations for Backup Proxy.

Backup Proxy Services and Components

Backup proxies run light-weight services that take a few seconds to deploy. Deployment is fully automated. Veeam Backup & Replication installs the following components and services:

Veeam Installer Service is an auxiliary service that is installed and started on any Windows server once it is added to the list of managed servers in the Veeam Backup & Replication console. This service analyzes the system, installs and upgrades necessary components and services depending on the role selected for the server.
Veeam Data Mover is a component that performs data processing tasks on behalf of Veeam Backup & Replication, such as retrieving source VM data, performing data deduplication and compression, and storing backed-up data on the target storage.

Requirements and Limitations for Backup Proxy

Before you assign the role of a backup proxy, check the following prerequisites and limitations.

Connection to Storage

The following list shows possible connections between the machine and storage with which it is working. The first connection is the most efficient, the last one is the least efficient.

A machine used as the backup proxy should have direct access to the storage on which VMs reside or the storage where VM data is written. This way, the backup proxy will retrieve data directly from the datastore bypassing LAN.
The backup proxy can be a VM with HotAdd access to VM disks on the datastore. This type of proxy also enables LAN-free data transfer between the host and backup proxy.
If neither of the above scenarios is possible, you can assign the role of the backup proxy to a machine on the network closer to the source or the target storage with which the proxy will be working. In this case, VM data will be transported over LAN using NBD protocol.

General Requirements and Limitations

The following are general requirements and limitations:

The role of a backup proxy can be assigned to the following machines:

Physical or virtual Microsoft Windows machine
Virtual Linux machine

The machine must meet the system requirements. For more information, see System Requirements.
You must add the machine to the Veeam Backup & Replication console as a managed server.
If you back up proxies that use the Virtual appliance (HotAdd) mode to process VM data, the change block tracking mechanism (CBT) will be disabled. For more information on CBT, see Changed Block Tracking.

Requirements and Limitations for Linux Backup Proxy

In addition to the general requirements and limitations, the following ones apply to Linux backup proxies:

The user account that you specify for the Linux server must be a root user or user elevated to root.
The disk.EnableUUID parameter of the Linux server must be set to TRUE in the VMware vSphere client.
Only the Virtual appliance transport mode is available. For the requirements and limitations of this mode, see Virtual Appliance.
Linux backup proxies cannot be used with VMware Cloud on AWS. This is because VDDK settings required by VMware cannot be enabled on Linux backup proxies.
You cannot use Linux backup proxies for the following scenarios:

Replication over WAN accelerators
VM copy
File share backup
Integration with storage systems
Guest interaction