ARTESCA+ Veeam is what occurs when backup software program and backup storage cease appearing like separate merchandise and transfer into the identical home. At a excessive degree, it’s a unified software program equipment that runs Veeam Backup & Replication inside Scality ARTESCA on a single server. As an alternative of organising a Home windows server for Veeam, a separate S3 goal, and the glue between them, clients can deploy a single system that integrates the Veeam management airplane and the S3 repository right into a single stack. In keeping with Scality and Veeam, this single-host design eliminates the necessity for separate bodily or digital infrastructure for Veeam. It will possibly cut back deployment complexity, time, and infrastructure prices by as much as 30% in comparison with conventional multi-tier designs.
Key Takeaways
- Unified stack, smaller floor: Veeam and S3 run inside ARTESCA, inner site visitors solely, no exterior DNS, keys keep on field.
- Arrange in minutes: Assistant creates account and bucket, allows Object Lock and versioning, units SOSAPI, arms off endpoints and creds.
- Proper-sized capability: 20 to 440 TB usable on commonplace x86 from HPE, Dell, Lenovo, or Supermicro.
- Resilience by default: CORE5 controls, IAM and optionally available MFA, Grafana visibility for day 2.
How the Unified Equipment Comes Collectively
When you haven’t adopted object storage lately, it’s price contemplating who’s behind ARTESCA. Scality has been constructing scale-out file and object storage since 2009, most notably via its RING platform, which underpins massive on-premises object shops in service supplier and enterprise environments. The corporate has appeared in Gartner Magic Quadrant stories for file and object storage for years, was named a frontrunner within the 2023 Magic Quadrant for Distributed File Programs and Object Storage, and was later acknowledged as a visionary within the 2024 Magic Quadrant for File and Object Storage Platforms.
For a mid-sized IT staff contemplating a comparatively new product like ARTESCA, a confirmed monitor document is a vital indicator that the product is enterprise-grade storage from a good vendor, not a facet mission from an unknown startup. ARTESCA is Scality’s on-premises, cyber-resilient S3 object retailer, explicitly positioned as “storage constructed for backup.” Fairly than chasing each doable object use case, ARTESCA focuses on backup and archive workloads, emphasizing immutability, operational simplicity, and the power to scale from tens of terabytes to multi-petabyte environments with out altering how it’s managed.
The present era launched Scality’s CORE5 cyber resilience framework, which layers protections from the API and id planes down via the information path and the cluster structure, guaranteeing backup information is protected in opposition to encryption, deletion, and insider abuse, and never simply unintended loss.
By design, ARTESCA+ Veeam retains the S3 path off the community. The S3 service is sure to inner interfaces; there isn’t any exterior DNS entry, and the entry keys Veeam makes use of stay contained in the equipment. Communication between Veeam and the S3 buckets happens on the equipment’s inner cloth, lowering publicity and simplifying auditing. There are extra price and efficiency advantages: fewer Ethernet ports are required and your backup window doesn’t overload your community with additional site visitors. If an exterior endpoint is ever wanted, it’s an specific, opt-in change that an administrator should allow and doc, with new credentials issued for that goal. In different phrases, the default posture is internal-only, and exterior entry occurs solely by deliberate selection.
Veeam writes to ARTESCA buckets configured with versioning and S3 Object Lock, making backups immutable upon touchdown. On the identical time, ARTESCA offers erasure-coded sturdiness and policy-driven retention on the again finish. The result’s that your backup repository—the final line of protection to your information—is a part of a system designed to imagine a breach has occurred. This setup reduces the assault floor and makes it extraordinarily tough for ransomware or insider threats to encrypt or delete your restoration copies.
Usability is one other necessary facet of the general story. ARTESCA was designed for deployment and operation by the identical groups that at present handle Veeam, with out requiring them to develop into specialists in S3 or Linux. On first login, the equipment presents a associate utility display the place you select your backup software program. Deciding on Veeam opens a built-in assistant that asks a couple of targeted questions fairly than dropping you right into a clean S3 console. It creates the ARTESCA account that may personal the Veeam sources, units up a number of buckets, allows versioning and Object Lock, units logical capability limits for reporting via Veeam’s Good Object Storage API (SOSAPI), after which generates the endpoint and credentials Veeam wants.
In apply, what sometimes requires an hour of back-and-forth between the backup and storage groups is streamlined. This guided circulation permits for the creation of a practical, immutable repository in only a few minutes. Moreover, it offers a unified view of storage well being and capability, accessible via the ARTESCA person interface and the Veeam console.
From a enterprise perspective, the mix of heritage, safety, and ease makes ARTESCA+ Veeam attention-grabbing. Scality is specializing in environments requiring 20-440 TB of usable storage for its unified equipment. This providing is designed for department workplaces, edge areas, and mid-sized information facilities which have outgrown conventional scale-up backup home equipment however usually are not inclined to create their very own object storage platform.
For these groups, a software-defined equipment that integrates Veeam and S3 storage on a validated x86 server—optimized for Veeam’s default block dimension of 1 MB—allows modernization of backup infrastructure. This resolution is supported by documented reference architectures that show as much as 5.5 TB/h of backup throughput and 4 TB/h of restore throughput on a single-node reference, enabling groups to boost their backup capabilities with out embarking on a full-scale object storage mission.
For this report, Scality shipped us a preconfigured ARTESCA+ Veeam system so we may start testing instantly. The {hardware} format and preliminary configuration had been explicitly assembled for our proof-of-concept work and shouldn’t be learn as a reference SKU. In manufacturing, ARTESCA and ARTESCA+ Veeam are offered as software program home equipment that clients and channel companions can license and deploy on their most well-liked, validated x86 platforms from distributors similar to HPE, Dell, Lenovo, and Supermicro. They will additionally combine these options into their very own equipment choices or managed companies. That mannequin preserves the flexibleness to standardize on acquainted {hardware} or add worth across the equipment whereas nonetheless leveraging the unified software program stack we’re evaluating right here.
Touring the UI
Like many backup and storage platforms, the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment comes with a user-friendly net interface. After finishing the set up and upon logging in, we arrive on the “Overview” web page, which offers a abstract of our configuration. The preparation to achieve this level is usually the work of a channel associate, however the finish buyer can even drive this step. All the details are concise and simple to grasp, together with storage footprint, lively information companies, and storage utilization proportion.
The “Id” web page permits directors to handle built-in customers and teams and configure their permissions with ease. Integration with LDAP listing servers can also be doable, with preconfigured choices for Microsoft Lively Listing, Pink Hat Listing, Tivoli Listing, and eDirectory. Multi-factor authentication can be enabled globally or for particular customers.
The “Platform” web page offers insights into the server you will have chosen to run the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment on, with service statuses on the “Dashboard” tab, a couple of exercise charts, and a button labeled “Superior Metrics.” Clicking this button opens the equipment’s built-in Grafana monitoring dashboard, displaying statistics on the server’s useful resource utilization and exercise. That is particularly helpful for organizations seeking to accumulate information on backup efficiency, community bandwidth utilization, and reliability, and it requires no extra set up or configuration throughout setup.
We’ve labored extensively with Grafana dashboards for storage merchandise through the years. One of many extra attention-grabbing points right here is that this service additionally runs on the equipment itself. We’re used to distributors discussing Grafana dashboards that may be built-in into current environments. ARTESCA goes a step additional by offering a working, deployed occasion for purchasers to make use of. This can be a very nice contact for monitoring companies.
The “Nodes” tab means that you can configure extra ARTESCA+ nodes for redundancy, supporting architectures with 1, 3, or 6 nodes. It’s price noting that the ARTESCA+ Veeam resolution is at present single-node; we spotlight ARTESCA’s broader performance for reference. The “Volumes” tab allows directors to create, modify, or delete volumes on related nodes.
After set up, the volumes required to function the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment are seen.
The “Storage Companies” web page is the place the ARTESCA+ cluster and the person information drives of the nodes will be managed. Deciding on the “Increase Cluster” button means that you can add or take away nodes. If you select a node, all information drives are displayed. Defective drives will be safely eliminated and changed by clicking the “Unmount Defective Disk” button. Moreover, you may add extra drives by clicking the “Mount X New Disk” button, the place X represents the variety of unused drives related to the node. Just like the “Dashboard” tab on the “Platform” web page, the “Superior Metrics” button opens Grafana and shows detailed statistics for the chosen node’s information drives.
Subsequent up is the “Information Administration” web page. This view presents tabs labeled “Accounts,” “Information Browser,” “Workflows,” “Places,” and “Information Companies.” Every tab controls very important capabilities mandatory for the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment to function.
In case you have used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform for storing information, you seemingly already perceive storage “Accounts.” Accounts are namespaces that comprise a number of buckets, that are repositories for information objects similar to digital machine backups. The contents of those buckets will be seen by clicking the “Information Browser” tab and choosing the related bucket. Buckets will be created, emptied, deleted, and have their capacities modified utilizing that tab. On the “Workflows” tab, automated replication, expiration, and transition (transferring a bucket’s contents to a different location, usually used for archiving) actions will be configured.
The “Places” tab is the place you may add extra inner or exterior repositories, together with Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft Azure Blob Storage, and extra. Related areas are listed on the web page, and new ones will be added utilizing the “Create Location” button on the suitable.
“Information Companies” shows the inner S3 endpoints utilized by the built-in Veeam occasion. Whereas different ARTESCA deployment choices expose S3 endpoints via this tab, the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment doesn’t help creating extra information companies, guaranteeing the very best degree of safety.
The final configuration merchandise on the administration interface is the “Alerts” web page. Right here, present and previous alerts are logged, together with these associated to working system upgrades, drives, companies, nodes, and quantity/file system area warnings. Optionally, alerts can be configured to be despatched through electronic mail utilizing the “Electronic mail notification configuration” button and accompanying wizard.
With its intuitive UI, the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment will be simply configured to satisfy the backup and archival wants of companies and organizations throughout various industries, and is additional enhanced by Veeam’s ever-expanding compatibility.
ARTESCA+ Veeam
The entrance finish of the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment is the built-in Veeam occasion. Working on KubeVirt, the Home windows Server-based digital machine outfitted with Veeam Backup & Replication helps backing up digital machines from varied hypervisors. These embody Proxmox VE, Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware vSphere (ESXi/vCenter), Nutanix AHV, Oracle Linux Virtualization Supervisor, and lots of others. As many purchasers transfer away from VMware-based virtualization options, Veeam plans to help extra common hypervisors quickly, together with XCP-NG, HPE Morpheus VM Necessities, Citrix XenServer, and Pink Hat OpenShift Virtualization. Check out the newest information on Veeam Information Platform v13.
The Benefits of a Unified Software program Equipment
Having Veeam on board enhances the efficiency, effectivity, and safety of Scality’s software program equipment. Information switch between Veeam and the S3 storage repository, facilitated by ARTESCA+, happens internally through virtualized networking. This method eliminates the necessity to duplicate exterior community site visitors from hypervisors and information sources to Veeam after which again to the storage repository. This additionally eliminates the necessity to expose the S3 bucket to the remainder of the community, lowering the answer’s assault floor.
To arrange the S3 bucket utilized by the built-in Veeam digital machine, hook up with the ARTESCA+ net GUI and navigate to the “Accounts” tab on the “Information Administration” web page. Subsequent, click on the “Begin Veeam VBR Assistant” button, which is able to show a wizard to configure a storage account and bucket.
In our lab, the built-in Veeam Assistant delivered a working, immutable repository in minutes. The wizard created the ARTESCA account, enabled versioning and Object Lock on the bucket, set SOSAPI capability reporting, and handed us the endpoint, area, and keys Veeam wanted. As a result of Veeam and the S3 service talk internally, there was nothing to reveal on the community and no DNS configuration required, eliminating the same old back-and-forth between the storage and backup groups. The circulation is simple for IT generalists and, in our expertise, felt successfully foolproof whereas nonetheless leaving superior controls out there.
After the software program equipment’s preliminary setup is full, the Home windows Server occasion operating Veeam Backup & Replication is on the market to log into through Distant Desktop Protocol (RDP) or VNC. Veeam should then be related to the ARTESCA+ S3 storage bucket utilizing the “Backup Repositories” tab on the “Backup Infrastructure” web page. Proper-click the tab, then choose “Add backup repository” so as to add the beforehand created S3 bucket.
Choose “Object storage” from the record of backup repository sorts, then select “S3 Appropriate” on the next two pages. After doing so, you can be offered with one other wizard, the place the connection particulars of the S3 bucket you will have created have to be entered. The “Service Level” is positioned on the “Information Companies” tab of the “Information Administration” web page within the ARTESCA+ net GUI (ours was “s3.artesca-plus-veeam.native”). Enter the area (discovered within the “Places” tab) and credentials, choose the bucket and folder created earlier, and configure the “Mount server” to be the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment’s built-in Veeam server. It’s also possible to set extra particulars right here, similar to an object restrict and whether or not to allow near-instant restoration with the vPower NFS service.
Veeam is now prepared to hook up with an information supply or hypervisor to start backups.
ARTESCA+ Veeam and Proxmox VE
To check the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment, we related the assessment unit to our Proxmox VE (PVE) server. Getting digital machines backed up is accomplished in three straightforward steps:
- Connecting the PVE cluster to Veeam
- Including a employee digital machine
- Making a backup job
We’ll give an summary of the steps to get began with Veeam, however a extra detailed information is on the market right here: Veeam Plug-in for Proxmox VE 3 Consumer Information. To attach Veeam to PVE utilizing the Backup & Replication console, enter the “Stock” view, and choose the “Add server” choice after right-clicking the “Digital Infrastructure” record merchandise.
When the “Add Server” menu seems, comply with the wizard’s directions to attach a Proxmox VE occasion. It would request the server IP tackle or hostname and credentials, so be sure you have the data to your cluster prepared.
After connecting the PVE, a employee digital machine (VM) is required to facilitate information transfers between the Proxmox VE server and Veeam. Proper-click “Backup Proxies” within the “Backup Infrastructure” view, and choose “Add proxy” from the drop-down menu that seems.
Add a employee utilizing the “Proxmox VE employee” wizard from the pop-up menu, then choose your required host, CPU, reminiscence, and community settings. Title it accordingly (we used ‘artesca-worker’) and end the wizard.
Lastly, we’ll have to create a backup job to start out backing up the digital machines on Proxmox VE. On the “Dwelling” view in Veeam Backup & Replication, click on the “Jobs” merchandise, then the “Backup” merchandise below it. Proper-click “Backup,” hover over “Backup” within the drop-down menu, and choose “Digital machine.”
A menu will then seem, permitting you to pick out the backup job parameters. Make sure you embody all digital machines you want to again up by utilizing the “Add” button within the “Digital Machines” step. Additionally, guarantee you choose the ARTESCA+ S3 storage bucket because the backup repository for the job. After you end, the backup job will run in accordance with your schedule.
After getting configured Veeam to again up and retailer your hypervisors and information sources, the ARTESCA+ Veeam unified software program equipment will run reliably within the background, defending your group’s info and offering peace of thoughts.
The Way forward for Scality and Veeam
Scality offered a preview of the subsequent main model of ARTESCA+ and promised larger simplicity, higher integration, and extra automation for organising the onboard Veeam digital machine. Additionally they intend so as to add help for deploying the Veeam Software program Equipment (constructed on Linux) and lots of enhancements to multi-node and high-availability options. The replace will cut back the answer’s complete deployment time and get rid of a number of setup steps lined on this article. Moreover, whereas this paper was written for Veeam B&R V12, organizations utilizing V13 will discover improved total object storage efficiency and effectivity, and acquire the platform’s newest safety and security measures.
Conclusion
ARTESCA+ Veeam does precisely what Scality says it’ll do. In our lab, the unified software program equipment eradicated the guesswork between backup and storage by maintaining the S3 path inner, enabling versioning and Object Lock by default, and guiding setup via a brief assistant that an IT generalist can run with out handholding. The result’s a working, immutable repository in minutes with few transferring elements to take care of.
Safety posture is sensible fairly than performative. Inner-only endpoints, no exterior DNS, credential isolation, IAM, and optionally available MFA cut back publicity whereas maintaining day-to-day administration acquainted. Monitoring in Grafana offers clear visibility throughout companies, nodes, and disks, making it simpler to confirm that backups are operating as meant and to identify points earlier than they develop into outages.
From a enterprise standpoint, the worth lies in time-to-protection and decrease operational overhead. Groups get Veeam and an S3 goal in a single stack on commonplace x86, maintaining {hardware} selection versatile and avoiding lock-in. Scality positions this unified equipment for roughly 20 to 440 TB of usable capability, which aligns with department, edge, and mid-market websites which have outgrown a scale-up goal however don’t wish to arise a separate object platform.
There are a couple of guardrails to be cognizant of. The unified equipment is a single node. When you want larger resilience or larger capability, deploy ARTESCA as a multi-node cluster and hold Veeam because the management airplane. Exterior S3 publicity is on the market, however it’s an opt-in change that needs to be documented and managed with separate credentials.
On stability, it is a mature method, backed by Scality’s lengthy monitor document and a staff with a long time of enterprise storage expertise, that pairs smart defaults, sturdy immutability, and easy operations.
This report is sponsored by Scality. All views and opinions expressed on this report are based mostly on our unbiased view of the product(s) into account.
