2. Same PVE Machine Dedicated Drives (Requires 1 Machine)
In this strategy we will use different storage drives for our backups. We assume a Proxmox environment from which you want to backup the virtual machines. What we will do is
- Create a Proxmox PBS VM on our main PVE machine
- Pass through the drives to the PBS VM (1 drive would suit but a mirrored pool would of course be best). This prevents the ZFS on top of ZFS problem.
- Then schedule backup jobs to our PBS on the same machine but stored on separate drives
This method is especially great if you have a system that allows for multiple drives for storage. For instance an ATX case would be great for this. You could have for instance a mirrored ZFS pool for production and then a third drive or mirrored pool dedicated solely to backups. So yes if you just have a small mini pc that has no options for drive expansion then this method won't be for you.
Pass Through the Drives
Benefits
Performance Impact: A PBS VM on the same system can experience noticeable performance degradation during large backup operations, as it competes for disk I/O and CPU cycles with production workloads. A bare metal PBS system provides guaranteed performance without contention.
Reliability: With a bare metal deployment, if your production hypervisor or its storage fails, your backups remain completely separate and accessible. A VM-based approach creates a single point of failure at the host level.
Practical Trade-offs: The VM approach makes sense for smaller deployments where backup windows are outside peak production hours and where cost is a primary concern. Bare metal becomes more attractive as your backup volume grows or if downtime tolerance is very low.
Enhanced Data Protection
- Isolation from Hardware Failures: Storing backups on separate drives protects against data loss due to hardware failures or corruption in the production environment.
- Corruption Prevention: If the production drives become corrupted, backups on different drives remain intact and accessible.
Improved Security
- Threat Isolation: Keeping backups on different drives enhances security by isolating them from potential threats that may affect the production environment.
- Access Control: This separation allows for stricter access controls, reducing the risk of unauthorized access to backup data.
Backup Integrity
- Consistent Availability: Backups stored on different drives ensure that they are available even if the primary system experiences downtime or issues.
- Disaster Recovery: In the event of a disaster, having backups on separate drives facilitates quicker recovery processes, minimizing downtime.