Is there some way to make instant recovery with the thin provisioned disk in Veeam instant recovery with only thick disks by default? In some conditions, this can be real, but in agent based backup it’s impossible.
Instant Recovery with only thick disks (Agent-based backup)
Recently I upgraded B&R to version 10. And I tried to import Windows-agent-based backup. It was done successfully. After that I tried to perform Instant Recovery to my vCenter. It works, but no disk type configuration is presented (thick or thin), so my restore VM became thick-provisioned. Only default storage policies are configured. And storage migration with thin-disk selection helped in this case. But when it tried to “Export disk content as virtual disks” as VMDK file – it allows to select thin or thick disk type. Is it possible to make Instant Recovery with thin-provisioned disk?
- Question from Veeam R&D Forums
The answer to the above question is: No, Veeam Agent-based backups do not support instant recovery to thin provisioned disks. This lack of support is because Veeam Agent backups are file-level or volume-level backups that primarily target physical machines, workstations, or specific workloads, and these backups do not retain the same virtualization-specific metadata. So, when performing an instant VM recovery from an agent-based backup, the target disk always recovers to a thickly provisioned disk by default.
In Veeam Backup & Replication, thick and thin disks refer to the type of disk configuration used when restoring a virtual machine or workload to a virtualized environment. The following article will provide you with other methods to make instant recovery with thin-provisioned disks and introduce you to Veeam thick disk and thin disk and their differences.
If you still require thin-provisioned disks for instant VM recovery, you can consider the following alternatives.
1. Use Hypervisor-Based Backups
You can use Veeam Backup & Replication with direct hypervisor integration if the source workload is a virtual machine. This method preserves disk configuration settings and allows you to specify a thin provisioning configuration during instant recovery.
2. Post-Recovery Conversion
After recovering from an agent-based backup to a thick disk, you can manually convert the disk to a thin provisioned disk after recovery.
◆In VMware vSphere: Use the Storage vMotion feature to migrate the virtual machine to another datastore and select Change disk format to thin provisioning.
◆In Hyper-V: Use the thin provisioning disk to export and reimport the virtual machine.
3. Reconfigure Agent Deployment
If the original workload can be virtualized, deploy the workload as a virtual machine and then use hypervisor-integrated backups instead of agent-based backups.
Thick disks allocate all storage space for a virtual disk at creation, regardless of how much space is actually used. It has two types: Thick Provision Lazy-Zeroed and Thick Provision Eager-Zeroed.
★Thick Provision Lazy-Zeroed: Allocate space when the disk is created, but zeros out blocks only when data is first written. It’s faster creation, but slower initial write operations.
★Thick Provision Eager-Zeroed: Space is allocated when the disk is created and all blocks are pre-zeroed. It takes longer to create but provides optimal performance for write-intensive workloads.
✦Predictable Performance: Dynamic allocation without latency.
✦Suitable for high I/O workloads or critical systems.
✦Ensures storage capacity is fully reserved and available.
Thick disks dynamically allocate storage space and consume space only when data is written to the disk. For example, if you create a 100 GB thin disk, but the virtual machine uses only 20 GB of data, the disk consumes only 20 GB of physical storage.
▶Optimizes Storage Utilization: Saves space by allocating only the space used.
▶Ideal for environments with limited storage or non-critical workloads.
👉Following is a table that lists the comparison of thick disks and thin disks, to help you clearly see the differences.
|
Feature |
Thick Disk |
Thin Disk |
|
Performance |
Offers consistent performance; no allocation overhead. |
May have performance overhead during space allocation. |
|
Storage Utilization |
Consumes full storage capacity upfront, even if unused. |
Saves space by using only what the VM writes. |
|
Use Case |
Best for critical systems requiring high performance and predictability. |
Suitable for environments with limited storage or low-intensity workloads. |
|
Migration Speed |
Faster migration due to pre-allocated storage. |
Migration may take longer due to dynamic space allocation. |
AOMEI Cyber Backup provides a powerful instant recovery solution that not only keeps your data safe, but also helps you seamlessly and quickly recover your virtual machines in the event of a disaster. With AOMEI Cyber Backup, you can ensure your business runs smoothly and protect your critical information from potential disruptions.
Install AOEMI Cyber Backup from the button below:
Step 1. Navigate to Task > Instant Recovery > + New Instant Recovery, you can choose to Restore from task or Restore from local path. The following steps we choose Restore from task as an example.
Step 2. In the Source section, choose the virtual machine and backup version.
Step 3. In the Restore to section, choose the target device.
Step 4. Set the hardware settings for the new virtual machine, including CPU quantity, CPU Cores, and memory size.
Step 5. Click Start Restore to start the instant recovery.
Step 6. Click Start Migration to restore the virtual machine to the production environment resumes normal.
Although agent-based backups do not directly support thin disk provisioning during instant recovery, you can choose to implement it through other means. The choice of thick or thin disks in Veeam depends largely on your workload and storage constraints, and you can tailor the disk provisioning to the needs of your environment.