MinIO Veeam Backup and Replication v12 Throughput Benchmark

Veeam Backup & Replication 12 adds the capability to use object storage as direct targets on the performance tier. The performance tier of a Veeam backup repository is the level used for fast access to the data. Previously, object storage could only be used for the capacity tier, an additional level for storing data that needs to be accessed less frequently. Now Veeam users can rely on a single storage platform to store backups. This is significant because it removes a level of complexity and a potential point of failure.

MinIO can now be used in both performance and capacity tiers. This matters because the ability to use MinIO in this way provides greater flexibility than when MinIO was previously limited to Veeam’s capacity tier, opening backup architectures to take advantage of MinIO’s performance and scalability where it is most needed.  

It is important to understand that pairing MinIO with Veeam for both performance and capacity tiers simplifies backup architectures and operations. It is no longer necessary to maintain two separate storage platforms, one for each Veeam tier. You don’t need anything other than a single MinIO deployment to support Veeam. Storage architecture is flattened and system maintenance becomes easier. You’re already running Veeam because of its simplicity and speed – Veeam Backup & Replication 12 with MinIO extends this simplicity and speed to the storage layer.

MinIO Veeam 12 Benchmark

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to test the backup and recovery performance of Veeam Backup & Replication 12 prior to its release. With the announcement that Veeam will introduce the ability to use object storage as a direct target, it’s more important than ever to understand the performance characteristics of your object storage options. Object storage is inherently more flexible and scalable than file and block storage, making it a perfect fit for Veeam. With MinIO leading the object storage pack, we set out to demonstrate the value of pairing MinIO with Veeam.  

Together, Veeam Backup & Replication 12 backing up to MinIO exhibited stellar performance. We measured throughput of (backend speed) of 12000 MB/s or 12 GB/s going from the vSphere cluster to our 8 node MinIO cluster. In our test, the only limit to how fast you can back up and restore virtual machines and virtual disks is the throughput you can get out of vSphere. Simply adding more vSphere hosts would have increased throughput.

This result demonstrates that MinIO is now one of the fastest direct targets available for Veeam Backup & Replication. Not only that, MinIO performs capably in both the performance and capacity tier. This simplifies backup architecture and operations, decreasing the potential for failure and error. All you need is MinIO and Veeam.

We’ve been fans of Veeam for years. After all, MinIO and Veeam are great backup and recovery partners (MinIO earned Veeam Ready status in 2020).  Veeam is the #1 global leader in backup and recovery, and MinIO is the world’s fastest object storage. To make the most of Veeam, enterprises require MinIO scalable, high performance object storage. Backup, recovery, and replication should be efficient operations, not time sucks.

We tested Veeam Backup & Replication 12 with MinIO version RELEASE.2022-06-22T03-12-50Z and VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 3. We ran backup and restore operations from a cluster of 8 VMware vSphere hosts, each running two Veeam proxy servers and 1 Veeam Gateway Server and housing 14 VMs to a distributed MinIO deployment of 8 servers over a 100 Gbps network, and recorded performance characteristics.

We ran a series of backup and restore operations, ranging from a full backup and restore of a single VM to full backup and restore of 14 VMs, and then jumped all the way to 112 VMs. The average throughput is shown below:

Veeam Backup & Replication 12 and MinIO for Fast and Efficient Backup and Restore

Veeam Backup & Replication 12 allows object storage to be used for both the performance and capacity tiers. This is important because it simplifies backup architectures and operations, resulting in more efficient and less error-prone processes.

MinIO is the fastest object store on the planet. Combine our highly scalable and high performance object storage software with Veeam’s high-performance API-driven architecture and you’ve got one of the fastest and most operations-friendly BC/DR environments possible.

MinIO now serves as both performance and capacity tiers for Veeam, simplifying backup architecture and storage operations.  

Download the full benchmark report to get the details including specific steps and configurations so you can replicate these tests on your own hardware or cloud instances.

Please join us on Slack to discuss the results in detail or ask questions about benchmarking your environment.