Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure

Veeam empowers organizations using Azure IaaS and PaaS solutions with native, purpose-built capabilities to make their investments more resilient. This includes snapshot scheduling, with customizable Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs), backup copies (for cost optimization and portability), and automated, wizard-driven workflows for ease of use.

To deliver these capabilities, Veeam offers two deployment models:

• Veeam Data Platform is a backup software option that enables team to architect their backup strategies end-to-end, including integration into backup for workloads across hybrid- and multi-cloud infrastructures. 

• Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft Azure is a backup service option in which Veeam manages the underlying infrastructure and overall software installation, delivering a SaaS solution dedicated to Azure workloads. 

Across both deployment options, Veeam delivers capabilities aligned to the Azure Well-Architected Framework, including Logically Air-Gapped separation of backups from production, least-privilege Identity and Access Management (IAM) delivered via Role-based Access Controls (RBAC), and automated backup policies ensuring protection of the entire Azure estate.

Yes! Veeam provides cost-effective Azure backup solutions, reducing expenses by:

• Compressing data up to 7x
• Tiering data out to lower cost storage options
• Offering deployment options that best-fit organizational needs
  • Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft Azure is a SaaS solution, priced via predictable levers
  • Veeam Data Platform offers an integrated cost optimization calculator for cost forecasting ahead of policy-setting

Yes! Users can automate their Azure backups with Veeam's policy-driven capabilities, configuring backup and retention settings based on any parameter – including Tags, ultimately reducing manual effort, and enhancing data management efficiency.

In short, Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure can automatically create and manage snapshots and backups of Azure VMs (including managed or unmanaged VHDs) along with VM configuration. Backup chains can be created with image-level backups or snapshots. Image-level backups can include full and incremental backups, and cloud-native snapshots include point-in-time snapshots. Recovery can be performed at the full- or file-level in just seconds.

Whenever we create a backup file that’s based on Azure VM snapshots or perform a recovery from an image-based backup file, Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure deploys temporary instances, called workers. These are deployed to Azure accounts only when you need to create a backup from a snapshot or a restore.

You can either create specific configurations for each Azure region that you want to deploy workers in, or you can let Veeam can do this automatically. This means you don’t have to set them up for each and every region!

Choose from multiple schedule options for both Azure snapshots (down to 60 snapshots per hour) and backups to satisfy even the most stringent SLAs. You can also define how long you’d like to keep snapshots and backups of your Azure data.

Scheduling can be automated based on policies set within Veeam Data Platform. You can define which Azure accounts you want to back up in each region, and you can choose whether you want to back up separate Azure VMs or use a tag-based policy so you don’t have to manually add each new VM to your backup policy.

Scheduling options also allow you to specify where you’d like to keep your Azure snapshots or backups. You can also choose from hot and cool storage options with Azure Blob. Veeam recommends that you use the cool storage tier option for Azure backup files, since it significantly lowers the storage costs.

Veeam Data Platform supports cost control in three key ways:

• First, Veeam Data Platform creates a backup from a snapshot, allowing for that data to be compressed.

• Next, those backups may be stored on lower-cost object storage. The compression rate supported in Object Storage could be 40-50%, depending on your settings, dramatically reducing your storage bill for longer term retention needs. 

• Finally, the Azure Backup appliance within Veeam Data Platform supports cost estimation via a built-in cost calculator tool. When you set a policy for a given set of workloads, you can estimate that cost before you even complete your first backup. This ensures transparency end-to-end. 

The Microsoft Azure Plug-in for Veeam Backup & Replication seamlessly integrates the Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure appliance with the Veeam Backup & Replication console, offering centralized management across hybrid- and multi-cloud installations.

Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft Azure is a Veeam-managed backup service. Veeam manages the backup infrastructure, all data is stored in an Azure region of your choice, and you have full control of creating backups and completing restores.

When setting up Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft Azure, you will be prompted to enter information about your Microsoft Azure subscriptions. During setup, you’ll follow wizard-driven steps to automatically set backup policies, based on the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and retention needs of each workload – a process that can be streamlined by automatically assigning policies per workload, tag, etc. Then, your data is stored within Microsoft Azure storage, maintained by Veeam, ready for restore and other recovery functions.

After sign-up, there are two ways to access your instance. Option 1: you will be sent a direct link, which you can bookmark/store as you see fit. Option 2: you can log in to Veeam Data Cloud by going to Veeam.com and identifying the “Log In” button at the top of the page.

With Veeam Data Cloud, there is no data lock-in. After a subscription is canceled or terminated, backups will still be retained for an additional 30 days. To access this data, the Veeam Support team can assist you with the reassignment of your storage accounts.