Setup DS923+ Synology NAS as a Backup Repository for VBR

Veeam Backup & Replication utilises NAS-Based Repository to store backup files, VM copies, and metadata for replicated VMs. In this article, we will discuss Setup DS923+ Synology NAS as a Backup Repository for VBR (Veeam Backup and Replication). Please see DSM Security: How to Protect Synology DS923+ NAS, and how to install SAMBA file shares for Servers and Clients. See How to Sync Data in Cloud Drives to Synology NAS.

File-sharing protocols like SMB or NFS enable users to access files and directories on a computer, server, or virtual machine via the network by configuring a directory as a file share. Any operating system supporting these protocols can host a file share. In this example, I will be using Synology DS923+ NAS to host your file share.

Note: You will agree that safe and intelligent storage systems are key to running a business. You can also use the Active Backup suite to protect your endpoints, servers, VMs, and even Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace accounts.

The DS923+ serves as an ideal solution for storing backups on your Synology system. Particularly for organisations utilising third-party backup software like Veeam Backup and Replication. It provides a perfect repository for business-critical data and backups in both company environments and home labs.

Synology as a Backup Target

The Synology 923+ NAS systems as mentioned above is a reliable storage destinations for backups.

The easiest way to connect storage solutions with any backup software is through file protocols such as SMB or NFS. These enable easy storage and folder management. The second method is to set up designated LUNs, or block storage essentially providing blank virtual drives to be formatted and managed directly by backup software servers.

Here is guide on how to fix “IP Address blocked on Synology NAS due to forgotten Password“. See how to Set up Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure.

Synology NAS/SAN Protocols

I will be utilising SMB protocol in this section. If you plan also to utilise Synology NAS as a backup Repository. Please take a look at the table below for more information.

Please see if you wish to have your data copied (replicated) to a secondary Synology systems, or utilize rsync compatible servers, Synology C2 Storage, or the S3-compatible destination. That is, Synology own replication solution.

Note: To replicate data to other cloud destinations. First, perform a backup to a local NAS . Then to a secondary destination as shown in the image and table below.

Backup Repositories

A backup repository is a storage location where Veeam keeps backup files, VM copies and metadata for replicated VMs. To configure a backup repository, you can use the following storage types:

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Determine your Repository Need

Kindly employ the Veeam Size Estimator (VSE) or Veeam Capacity Calculator to estimate your storage capacity requirements. The Veeam Sizing Calculator and the Veeam Sizing Estimator capacity was recently extended by the Veeam Team. This quick wizard allows you to discover all of its functionality using the quick wizard functionality in the Help menu.

Below we have two results based on the data source (1 and 2 respectively) inputed. You can deleted each result as you wish when you do not need it. This is a very basic calculation without taking retention requirements etc into consideration.

General Recommendation: Setup DS923+ Synology NAS as a Backup Repository for VBR

I have already shown in this referenced guide how to “Create Local Backup Repository and Add HyperV to VBR Inventory“. This utilizes physical disks as backup repositories. In this section, I will show you how to create a backup repository on an SMB share.

Note: iSCSI gives you the option of using a Windows repository with ReFS or a Linux repository with correctly configured XFS storage to use FastClone. Therefore,  see this guide ‘How to the steps to create ISCSI LUN on Synology NAS and present them to the VBR server as a backup repository.

iSCSI is preferred to using SMB. This is because iSCSI LUN is connected directly to the Veeam server (no additional data transformation layers like VMDK). Do not forget to format the volume with ReFS in order to leverage Fast Clone. Please see Install and configure iSCSI Target Server and iSCSI Initiator on a Windows Server

Note: Veeam recommends to place the repository servers in a Restricted Zone, because these servers contain a 100% copy of your production environment. The repository servers should be physically secured. This way access is restricted, and have appropriate access control systems in place.

Create SMB (CIFS) Share on Synology D923+

If you do not have a NAS system, you can create a File Share in Windows Server. Please see this guide “Step-by-step guide on how to set up the Synology DS923+ NAS“. In this article, we also discussed the steps to create and manage Shared Folders on DS923+.

For me, I will be creating an SMB share as a backup repository. To do this, access the Synology NAS Management Interface. Click on the Control Panel on the Desktop or navigate to the main menu and Select Control Panel. Then Select Shared Folder

Select “Create Shared Folder”. You can choose to create a Mount Hybrid Share Folder if you wish.

Note: Synology Hybrid Share is a hybrid cloud solution combining the performance of Synology NAS with the scalability of C2 Storage. Mount your cloud storage on a Synology NAS for local and low-latency access to the remote data stored on the cloud.

Enter the Shared Folder name and Disable Enable Recycle Bin as this is a prerequisite for Creating a Shared Folder with WriteOnce if you wish to use this option.. After populating with basic information, click Next to proceed.

Select “protect this shared folder with WriteOnce” and click Next.

Confirm the settings and click next to finish the folder creation.

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Adding SMB (CIFS) as Backup Repositories on VBR

Note: An SMB share cannot accommodate Veeam Data Movers. Therefore, deploying a gateway server is necessary for communication with the SMB share. Veeam Backup & Replication will automatically deploy a Veeam Data Mover on the gateway server.

Open the Veeam Backup & Replication Console. Select Backup Infrastructure on the bottom left menu, and Right click Backup Repositories and choose Add Backup Repository. Below are other options to Add a backup repository.

Select Network attached storage. On the NAS system, you also have to enabled the SMB Service.

Select SMB share

Enter the Repository Name and click Next

Enter the path and shared folder and specify the the access credentials.

If the access right are sufficient, you should be able to proceed. Click Next to continue.

Change the number of concurrent tasks or limit the data rate if necessary. Click Next to continue or Click on Advanced to see the following option on storage capability settings below.

On the mount server wizard, click Next.

Review the settings and confirm by clicking Apply. If you’re adding a repository with existing backups, flag the setting to import them automatically.

Click Next to proceed

On the summary window,  click on the Finish button. The SMB/NFS repository is ready to use

You will get a prompt suggesting you to move the “Configuration Backup” to the newly created repository. Click No. If you click Yes, this will be moved to the newly created repo. But this can be changed as you wish to the default Repo or any other repository created in the future.

Virtual Machine Backup with VBR

You can create a Hyper-V Backup Job with or without Guest Processing. To do this, launch the Veeam Backup & Replication Console. On the Home tab, click Backup Job > Virtual machine > Microsoft Hyper-V.

Enter the job name and description and click Next

At the Virtual Machines step, select VMs that you want to back up. To do this, click on the Add button.

In the Add Object window, select the necessary VMs and click Add. Click Next.

Click Next to proceed to the next section.

From the Backup repository list, select a backup repository where the created backup files will be stored. On this wizard, you have the possibility to configure the Retention period, configure the GFS for Long-Term retention.

Note: Be careful with the default repository. But do not worry, when you select a wrong repo. You will be able to move the backup to a new repo by editing the backup job. Thereby continuing the chain if you want or create a new full backup.

By default, Backup mode is Incremental with weekly Synthetic full backup. If you want a different backup mode, click in Advanced Settings and use the desired settings. Below are te settings avaible.

More advanced settings

Note: You can instruct Veeam Backup & Replication to create an index of files and folders on the VM guest OS during backup. VM guest OS file indexing allows you to search for VM guest OS files inside VM backups and perform a 1-click restore in Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager. VM guest OS file indexing is enabled at the job level. You can specify granular indexing settings for every VM in the job. Please select "Enable Guest File System Indexing and Malware detection".

Note: If you do not set an account that has permission on the VM. you will get the following error “ Unable to perform guest file system indexing: Failed to install via Deployment Svc“. To mitigate this issue, select a user account that has enough permissions on the VM. If you have not set up credentials beforehand. Click the Manage accounts link or click the Add button to add credentials. Afterwars, click Next to proceed.

VM guest OS file indexing is optional as described above. If you do not enable this option in the backup job settings, you will still be able to perform 1-click restore from the backup created by such backup job. For more information, see the Preparing for File Browsing and Searching section in the Enterprise Manager User Guide.

Note: However, if you do not enable indexing in the backup job. During a 1-click restore from Linux and other OS backups, Veeam Backup Enterprise Manager will not display symlinks to folders in the file system browser.

Next, select to run the backup job manually or schedule the job to run on a regular basis. Click Apply. For me at this moment, I will click on Apply only.

Please excuse the Target Repository. I only realised this after I created the job and I had to edit the job to reflect the right backup repository.

Please review the details of the backup job. If you want to start the job right after you close the wizard. Select the Run the job when I click Finish check box. Else, leave the check box unselected. Then click Finish to close the wizard

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Run the backup Job Manually

To do this, Open Veeam Backup & Replication Console. n the left-hand navigation pane, click on the “Jobs” tab.

Locate the backup job you want to run manually from the list of jobs displayed in the main window. Right-click on the selected backup job and choose “Start Job” from the context menu. Alternatively, you can click on the “Run” button in the toolbar.

Once the job has been initiated, you can monitor its progress in the “Job” tab. The status of the job will be displayed, along with any relevant information about the backup process.

After the job completes, review the job summary to ensure that it ran successfully and to check for any warnings or errors.

As you can see, our backup files are available in our repository and can be restored.

Restore the Entire VM in Hyper-V to the original location

Now that we have successfully performed the VM backup, now let’s restore the VM.

Note: If you restore a workload to the production network. Make sure that the original workload is powered off to avoid conflicts. The restored VM will have the same MAC address as the original VM. Therefore, if you restore the VM to the same Hyper-V host where the original VM is running. A MAC address conflict may occur. To overcome this situation, power off the original VM before you start the restore process. This is a new lab environment, so I do not care about this as the VM will be deleted regardless.

Launch the Veeam Backup & Replication Console and select Home on the bottom left menu. Navigate to the “Backups” section located in the left-hand menu.

Right-click on the selected backup and choose “Restore entire VM.”

At the Virtual Machines step, click the Add button to open the selection of available backups. Choose the desired VM from one of the backups and click Add.

At the Restore Mode step, select Restore to the original location and click Next.

At the Secure Restore step, you have the option to perform these content scan and next.

Enter a reason and click next.

You will be prompted with a message that the existing object will be deleted. Click Ok.

As you can see, the VM has been deleted.

Choose if the target VMs should be powered on and connected to the network. Click Finish as shown below.

As you can see from the log, the VM restore has completed successfully. Click the close button to close button as as shown below.

Since I decided not to have the VM restarted automatically, I would like to do this manually. Select the VM and click on Start.

Now logon and start using the VM as if nothing ever happened.

Conclusion relating to how to setup DS923+ Synology NAS as a Backup Repository for VBR

Veeam strongly advises against utilising SMB shares as primary backup targets. Citing concerns related to the reliability of the SMB stack. The exception to this recommendation is the usage of Continuously Available SMB shares.

Furthermore, Synology NAS differ mostly in three crucial parameters: maximum storage capacity, performance, and price. Order your Synology NAS today.

I hope you found this article on how to Setup DS923+ Synology NAS as a Backup Repository for VBR (Veeam Backup and Replication) very useful. Please feel free to leave a comment below.