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In today's data landscape, businesses generate and store vast amounts of data, making effective backup strategies more critical than ever. Veeam backup solutions, a leading backup and recovery solution, integrates seamlessly with S3-compatible object storage, such as Impossible Cloud or other Amazon S3-alternatives, providing a flexible, scalable, and cost-efficient option for long-term data retention and archiving. However, simply using S3 storage isn't enough. Optimizing configurations like block size, task limits, and retention settings is essential to get the best performance. 

1. The Role of Block Size in Efficient Backups

Using S3-compatible cloud storage for Veeam backups is a cost-effective solution, but proper configuration is essential, particularly in terms of block size and managing a high number of storage requests.

Veeam employs a default block size of 512 KB for archive data and 1 MB for regular backup data. These block sizes determine how data is split into chunks and uploaded to S3 API cloud storage. A smaller block size can enhance compression, especially when dealing with small source data, reducing overall storage costs. However, when backups grow, the number of stored objects can quickly increase, sometimes into the millions.

2. The Role of Requests in S3 Storage

As backups expand, Veeam generates millions of small objects stored in S3. The software continuously uploads new data while deleting expired objects, resulting in a large volume of “GET”, “PUT”, and “DELETE” requests. These operations, particularly the deletion of objects, can be resource-intensive, potentially causing bottlenecks in larger environments.

To avoid performance issues, S3 providers impose limits on requests. For instance, Amazon S3 has set limits of 3,500 “PUT”/”COPY”/”POST”/”DELETE” requests and 5,500 “GET”/”HEAD” requests per second. Exceeding these limits can slow down the backup process, making it crucial to manage storage tasks efficiently by adjusting task limits and block sizes for backup and recovery software to function efficiently.‍

3. Recommendations for Optimizing Veeam Backups on S3 Storage

S3 object storage, when configured correctly, is highly effective for large-scale backups. To achieve optimal performance, the configuration must include appropriate block size settings and repository task limits. Adopting these best Veeam backup practices will help ensure a seamless backup process and avoid overloading the storage infrastructure: 

• Block Size Settings: Set the block size to 4 MB or 8 MB (enabled via a registry key). Keep in mind, larger block sizes increase storage usage in incremental backups, potentially raising storage costs. 

• Retention Settings: Ensure that the immutability retention period is less than or equal to the backup retention period.

• Task Limit: Adjust the S3 repository task limit to 4 or 8 tasks for optimal performance.

By adhering to these guidelines, users can optimize their Veeam backups on affordable S3-compatible storage, reducing costs and maintaining high performance across their backup environments.​​For businesses looking to take their backup strategy even further, Impossible Cloud offers a robust solution fully compatible with Veeam and other leading data management platforms. With its decentralized architecture, S3 API compatibility, and industry-leading security features like object lock and immutability, Impossible Cloud provides an efficient, cost-effective alternative for scaling backups. Its transparent pricing model - free from hidden fees like egress or API charges - helps organizations significantly reduce total storage costs while ensuring data durability and resilience.

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