VMCE Veeam Backup & Replication Architecture 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Veeam's architecture, what is the purpose of a WAN Accelerator?
- To deduplicate and compress backup traffic between sites, reducing bandwidth consumption (Correct answer)
- To accelerate VM boot times during Instant Recovery across WAN links
- To prioritize backup traffic over production VM traffic on WAN links
- To encrypt backup data before transmission over public WAN connections
Correct answer: To deduplicate and compress backup traffic between sites, reducing bandwidth consumption
WAN Accelerators use global deduplication and caching to reduce the volume of data transferred between sites, making offsite backups and replications much faster.
Question 2: Which Veeam transport mode is most efficient for SAN environments where the backup proxy has direct access to the same storage as the production VMs?
- Direct SAN Access mode (Correct answer)
- Network (NBD) mode
- Virtual Appliance (HotAdd) mode
- Backup from Storage Snapshots mode
Correct answer: Direct SAN Access mode
Direct SAN Access mode allows the proxy to read VM disk data directly from the SAN LUN, bypassing ESXi hosts and the production network for maximum throughput.
Question 3: What is Veeam's 'Synthetic Full Backup' and how does it differ from an Active Full?
- A synthetic full is constructed on the backup server by merging existing incremental files without re-reading source VM data; an active full re-reads the entire VM from source (Correct answer)
- A synthetic full reads only changed blocks from the source; an active full reads all blocks including unchanged ones
- A synthetic full is stored in a compressed format; an active full stores uncompressed data
- A synthetic full runs automatically on weekends; an active full must be triggered manually
Correct answer: A synthetic full is constructed on the backup server by merging existing incremental files without re-reading source VM data; an active full re-reads the entire VM from source
Synthetic full backup consolidates existing backup data on the repository side without accessing source infrastructure, while an active full reads the entire VM disk from the source.
Question 4: Where does Veeam create a VM snapshot during a backup job using VMware vSphere?
- On the ESXi host using vSphere VADP API to quiesce and freeze the VM disk I/O (Correct answer)
- On the backup proxy server to capture the VM state at job start
- On the backup repository as a metadata-only snapshot reference
- On the vCenter Server database as a logged checkpoint
Correct answer: On the ESXi host using vSphere VADP API to quiesce and freeze the VM disk I/O
Veeam triggers a VMware snapshot via VADP on the ESXi host to capture a consistent point-in-time state of the VM disks before reading data.
Question 5: In a Veeam deployment, what is the 'Backup Proxy' responsible for?
- Processing backup traffic by reading VM data, compressing, deduplicating, and encrypting it before sending to the repository (Correct answer)
- Storing backup files on local or network-attached disks
- Managing job scheduling and triggering backup sessions
- Providing a web interface for administrators to manage backup jobs
Correct answer: Processing backup traffic by reading VM data, compressing, deduplicating, and encrypting it before sending to the repository
The Backup Proxy is the data mover that handles all data processing tasks including reading VM data from source, applying compression/deduplication/encryption, and transmitting to the repository.
Question 6: What is the maximum number of concurrent tasks a single Veeam Backup Proxy can handle by default, and what controls this setting?
- The concurrent task limit is configurable per proxy (default 2), controlled in the Backup Proxy properties in the Veeam console (Correct answer)
- It is fixed at 4 concurrent tasks and cannot be changed
- It is automatically determined by vCenter based on available ESXi resources
- It is set globally in the Veeam Backup Server options and applies to all proxies
Correct answer: The concurrent task limit is configurable per proxy (default 2), controlled in the Backup Proxy properties in the Veeam console
Each backup proxy has a configurable concurrent task limit (defaulting to 2) set in its properties, allowing administrators to tune performance based on available proxy resources.
Question 7: Which Veeam architecture component is specifically required for Veeam's 'Backup from Storage Snapshots' feature with EMC/Dell or NetApp storage?
- A Storage Integration Plugin (storage-specific) plus a Backup Proxy with access to the storage system (Correct answer)
- A dedicated Veeam Storage Proxy appliance deployed on the storage array
- A Veeam Enterprise Manager license with storage snapshot API access
- The Veeam vPower NFS Service configured on the storage controller
Correct answer: A Storage Integration Plugin (storage-specific) plus a Backup Proxy with access to the storage system
Backup from Storage Snapshots requires the appropriate storage vendor integration plugin and a backup proxy that can access the storage system to mount and read snapshot data.
VMCE Veeam Backup & Replication Architecture 3
In Veeam's architecture, what is the purpose of a WAN Accelerator?