Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows: System Requirements & Architecture
Previously, I blogged about the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows – in this post, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows system requirements and architecture will be explained. The system requirements (as well as a ton of other awesome documentation) is published online at the Veeam Help Center. A few highlights from the requirements are:
- 2 GB of RAM
- Windows 7 SP1 or higher
- Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 or higher
- Backups can go to local storage, DAS, removable media, SMB (CIFS) shares, a Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 2 repository or a Veeam Cloud Connect 9.5 Update 2 backup repository
One of the most anticipated capabilities is the integration with Veeam Backup & Replication and Veeam Cloud Connect. With the currently available Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows, this is done with the backup repositories and with Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 2. That update (as well the updates for all products) can be found at the updates site.
The integration with Veeam Backup & Replication repositories is used for on-premises repositories, but it also can be used with Veeam Cloud Connect (which requires the service provider to be on Veeam Cloud Connect 9.5 Update 2). Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows writing to a Cloud Connect repository can be done directly from the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows system — even when the system is not connected to the internet (more on this game-changing feature later).
Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Architecture
There are three components to Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows:
- Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Service
- Veeam Agent Tray Application
- Microsoft SQL Server 2012 LocalDB Express
Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Service
The Windows Service is intuitively named and is responsible for performing all the backup and restore activities. This service starts automatically and runs within the security context of Local System. This permits the Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service to take consistent backups of the operating system during the backup job.
Veeam Agent for Windows Tray application
This is the system tray application that interacts with the core services of Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows; you can launch the Control Panel which is where users configure the backup job, view backup status, as well as volume or file level, restores (image below). It is a good idea to hover the mouse over the system tray application so that backup status (success, warning, failure, etc .) can be visible quickly. This is a great feature to see the status of your last backup.
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 LocalDB Express
Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows needs a place to store configuration and this is provided with Microsoft SQL Server LocalDB Express. This is a lightweight database that has a minimal set of requirements yet provides everything Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows needs. Two key benefits come by the LocalDB Express configuration: First, it is only approximately 35 MB in size for an installation. Second, it uses virtually no resources. This super cool design is also important fundamentally important of any backup design – it simply cannot impact the computer performance itself! This is a view of the database processes during a backup with Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows:
Ready to install?
This is a great architecture for doing backups of Windows systems, and having a clear understanding of the system requirements and these three components are critical to getting started with Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows.
