Skip monster swap files with v6!

You’ve probably noticed a lot of Veeam Backup & Replication v6 promotional activities lately. We’ve previewed v6 at VMworld, SNW, TechEd and other big events. Further, we’ve just completed our special series of webinars that outline features of the upcoming release. These four webinars are now available for replay, and you can download the presentation slides as well.

My favorite small Veeam Backup & Replication v6 feature is the ability to skip the page file within virtual machines during both backup and replication jobs. This option is an advanced setting for a job and is enabled by default, as shown in the figure below:

Take a moment and think about this incredible efficiency for a backup operation. Add in changed block tracking, and it becomes even more relevant! Changed block tracking is provided in vSphere environments for Data Protection from the vStorage APIs. We have also implemented a block change tracking mechanism for Hyper-V VM backups! This feature is not limited to Windows virtual machines using Veeam Backup & Replication v6. Keep in mind this is via agentless image-based backups, how cool is that!

While nobody will really want the dreaded Monster VM in their environment, having the ability to skip the swap file will certainly aid backup efficiency.

Veeam Backup & Replication v6 will be released this quarter (Q4 2011). Stay tuned for more information on the launch of this major release!