Forum Discussion

MomSpagetti's avatar
MomSpagetti
Day Hiker III
5 months ago

Veeam v13 Integration and Plugin

Hi Everyone,

We're new Pure customers this year and have two Flasharray C models, one for virtual infrastructure and the other will be used solely as a storage repository to back up those virtual machines using Veeam Backup and Replication.

Our plan is to move away from the current windows-based Veeam v12 in favor of Veeam v13 hardened Linux appliances.  We're in the design phase now but have Veeam v13 working great in separate environment with VMware and HPE Nimble.  Our question is around Pure Storage and Veeam v13 integration and Plugin support.  Veeam's product team mentions there is native integrations in v12, but that storage vendors should be "adopting USAPI" going forward.  Is this something that Pure is working on, or maybe already has completed with Veeam Backup and Replication v13? 

 

14 Replies

  • Having spent 6 years at Veeam, I completely understand how eager customers are to adopt new code and features, especially with such a significant release as Veeam V13 (shameless plug for my blog on the subject). I get the frustration of wanting to get your array up and running with the solution.

    Here's some context that might help: As one of the storage integrations built on the Universal Storage API, Pure actually builds and maintains our own plugin. Thus Veeam only handles quality assurance on their end. Unlike some other integrations that shipped at launch, we ensure our plugin works with the final GA release of Veeam, which sometimes means waiting on code.

    This can occasionally coincide with other initiatives or depend on other features (as this will also support Fusion) to deliver the best solution to address the most use cases, across both customer bases. That said, we definitely don't want to keep anyone waiting longer than necessary, and we're committed to building great solutions with such a strong partner as Veeam.
    Hope you understand and I will be sure to return with more details as as soon as I am able to release them. 

  • bferrar's avatar
    bferrar
    Day Hiker II

    What a great question!  We absolutely support Veeam USAPI and Veeam Backup and Replication.  Last year when we announced it, Veeam was still promoting v12 so that is the version the collateral mentioned.   However we are will certainly plan to support v13 in the same manner.  😄

  • Garry's avatar
    Garry
    Day Hiker III

    Veeam KB4129 explicitly lists the Pure FlashArray plug-in as supporting Veeam Backup & Replication 13 and states the plug-in “leverages the Veeam Universal Storage API.”

    https://www.veeam.com/kb4129

    It also shows the latest plug-in build and requirements (e.g., Purity 6.3+). Veeam Software
    Veeam’s user guide for Universal Storage API Integrated Systems has separate steps for installing/updating plug-ins on a Linux-based backup server, which is the model you’re moving to with v13.
    https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/hyperv/universal_storage_integration_api.html


    Veeam’s v13 docs describe the Veeam Software Appliance (Linux-based backup server) install path.

    https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbr/userguide/deployment_linux.html?ver=13

    • MomSpagetti's avatar
      MomSpagetti
      Day Hiker III

      Hi Garry,

      We followed these steps again, but there's still no Pure Storage plugin bundle for the Hardened Linux version of Veeam.  There's only the Windows exe download.  Maybe you found something that we missed?

  • Just an update here. With the release of 13.0.1 of VBR, you are able to utilize the previous plugin to integrate Pure Storage with your Veeam deployment. This is also the version that allows update from your previous Veeam deployment. 
    You won't yet be able to take advantage of the Fusion integration which will be in the new plugin, once released. But it will allow you to continue to utilize the integration. 
    Hope this helps. Please let me know if there are any further questions

    • MomSpagetti's avatar
      MomSpagetti
      Day Hiker III

      Hi Allynz,

      Do you have an estimated ETA for that new Fusion plugin for the hardened linux repository?

      • Allynz's avatar
        Allynz
        Trekker II

        Currently there is a goal of having a Directed Release by the beginning of February. This will for sure include the Windows version. And though I cannot exactly promise it with certainty, Stay tuned for the Linux rewrite, we also may have some good news around it in the same timeframe. 

  • The upcoming Fusion Plugin is set to support v13. You can expect it first to support the Windows version (which is the upgrade path to Linux) and then for us to do the work to convert over to Linux. With the USAPIv2 Pure does the development while Veeam supports the QA. The Veeam Appliance already supports direct array connections for the purpose of integration. 

  • Is there any information yet on when we can expect a new version of the plugin compatible with Veeam V13?

  • Howdy MomSpagetti​  - the Pure Storage integration with Veeam already leverages their USAPI architecture, we were actually one of the first platforms to adopt that due to the ease of the effort required to consume our API. It will require updates to the USAPI plug-in architecture, as well as testing to support the v13 appliance, but we're already up to date on USAPI for v2.0 which is the standard for Veeam v12.

    We also have a few Veeam Vanguard working within Pure (such as myself) who have been up to speed with testing v13 through the alpha/beta releases.  We don't the storage integration updated with the newest updates that were made to the architecture/framework changes for for USAPI v2.1 just yet, but we expect this to be ready when Veeam hits their official release of v13 around Q4 2025 - or "when it's ready" as has been the Veeam methodology for years.

    So it's underway and coming, but v13 is a significant shift even on the Veeam side, and requires some updates for the integrations, along with things such as currently only supporting new/greenfield deployments.

    • MomSpagetti's avatar
      MomSpagetti
      Day Hiker III

      Thank you for the reply and appreciate the information.  We'll wait this out.  v13's VSA and Infrastructure appliance is proving to be a great fit in our environment so far.  We have 2nd environment running HPE AF-series Nimble which has been working very well so far.  The plan is to replace that with another Pure array in the next couple of months.

      jhoughes​, are you aware if the Pure plugin will be natively integrated into v13 VSA on the Linux side, or still require a virtual appliance like one would use with a Veeam v12 Windows backup server?  With the v13 VSA being hardened, I'm curious how the USAPI v2.1 plugins will look to the customers.

      • Allynz's avatar
        Allynz
        Trekker II

        The upcoming Fusion Plugin is set to support v13. You can expect it first to support the Windows version (which is the upgrade path to Linux) and then for us to do the work to convert over to Linux. With the USAPIv2 Pure does the development while Veeam supports the QA. The Veeam Appliance already supports direct array connections for the purpose of integration.