Timeline and Details
| Start date | End date | Associated with | Project URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2021 | February 2021 | Algebra Bernays University | Project PDF |
Overview
Designed and implemented a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery solution for a hybrid Windows/Linux environment. Built automated backup workflows with application-aware processing, item-level recovery, and bare-metal restore capabilities to ensure business continuity and minimize downtime.
Infrastructure Deployed
Servers (7 total)
- Linux file server (NFS/SMB shares)
- Linux KVM virtualization host
- Windows AD DC with DHCP
- Windows SQL Server with file shares
- Windows Exchange Server
- Veeam Backup & Replication manager
- Veeam Recovery Environment (bare-metal restore)
Storage Architecture
- Configured iSCSI storage (targetcli + initiator) with 350GB ReFS repository
- Implemented 64KB block allocation for optimized Veeam performance
- Automated synthetic full backups weekly with incremental daily backups
Technical Implementation
Backup Strategy
- Configured protection groups for automated server discovery and monitoring (8-hour scan intervals for critical systems)
- Implemented application-aware processing for Exchange and SQL Server with transaction log backups
- Deployed 2-3x daily backup schedules outside business hours (critical systems: 3x/day; others: 2x/day)
- Enabled guest file system indexing for granular item-level recovery
- Established 8-day retention policy with weekly health checks to prevent data corruption
Recovery Capabilities
- Bare-metal recovery: Full server restoration to dissimilar hardware using Veeam RE
- Application-level recovery: Exchange mailbox item restore and SQL database point-in-time recovery
- File-level recovery: NFS/SMB share granular restore
- Successfully tested Active Directory DC recovery with <5-minute RTO
Technologies Used
Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise Plus • iSCSI (targetcli) • CentOS 7 • Windows Server 2016 • NFS • SMB/CIFS • SQL Server • Exchange Server • ReFS • BackupPC • KVM
Results
- Achieved 99.9% backup success rate with automated health monitoring
- Reduced recovery time objective (RTO) to under 5 minutes for critical systems
- Implemented synthetic full backups to minimize storage consumption (extreme compression enabled)
- Validated disaster recovery procedures through successful bare-metal and application-level restore tests
- Ensured business continuity with multiple daily backup points for mission-critical Exchange and SQL servers