Veeam Backup & Disaster Recovery Deployment

Secure, Immutable Backup Solution for 160 Workloads Across Production and Disaster Recovery Data Centers for K-12 School System

The Challenge: Ensuring Reliable Backup and Disaster Recovery at Scale

This Maryland K-12 school system required a robust and secure backup and disaster recovery solution to protect its growing number of critical workloads. With 160 workloads spanning virtualized and physical environments, the district needed to ensure data availability, rapid recovery capabilities, and protection against modern threats such as ransomware.

The existing environment lacked a fully integrated, off-domain backup architecture with immutable storage— leaving the organization vulnerable to data loss and cyberattacks. Additionally, the district required seamless replication between production and disaster recovery (DR) sites, along with enhanced monitoring, reporting, and alerting capabilities.

To meet these requirements, the district sought a comprehensive solution that would deliver high-performance backup infrastructure, secure data storage, and automated disaster recovery processes— all while aligning with best practices for cybersecurity and business continuity.

The Solution: End-to-End Veeam Backup and Disaster Recovery Deployment

Data Networks designed and implemented a complete Veeam backup and disaster recovery solution to support 160 workloads across production and DR environments.

The deployment included installation and configuration of two (2) Cisco Catalyst 9500 24-port 25/10Gb SFP+ switches (one per site) to provide high-speed, redundant connectivity. These switches were integrated with the district’s core network to ensure reliable data transfer between systems and locations.

To support backup operations, Data Networks deployed three (3) Dell PowerEdge R750 servers:

• Two (2) in the production data center (one for backup storage and one for immutable storage running Linux)
• One (1) in the disaster recovery data center for backup and recovery operations

In addition, two (2) Dell EMC PowerProtect DD3300 backup appliances (one per site) were implemented to provide scalable, disk-based backup repositories with replication between production and DR environments.

The solution architecture enabled backups to be written locally, replicated to immutable storage, and further duplicated to the DR site— ensuring data resilience and protection against ransomware.

Data Networks deployed and configured the Veeam Availability Suite (licensed for 160 workloads), including backup and replication instances in both production and DR environments. The team configured backup jobs, retention policies, and replication workflows, as well as advanced features such as SureBackup for 15 critical workloads, Virtual Labs, and full failover/failback capabilities.

Veeam ONE was also implemented to provide comprehensive monitoring, reporting, and alerting. This included ransomware detection alerts, SMTP and SNMP notifications, and detailed reporting on backup performance and storage optimization.

The Outcome: Secure, Resilient, and Fully Managed Data Protection

With the deployment of a modern Veeam backup and disaster recovery solution, the district now benefits from a highly resilient and secure data protection environment. The combination of immutable storage, off-domain backups, and multi-site replication ensures that critical data is protected against both accidental loss and cyber threats.

The new infrastructure delivers faster backup and recovery performance, while automated failover and failback capabilities minimize downtime in the event of an outage. Enhanced monitoring and reporting through Veeam ONE provide IT administrators with real-time visibility into system health and potential risks.

By implementing a scalable architecture that includes 2 Cisco switches, 3 Dell PowerEdge servers, and 2 PowerProtect DD3300 appliances, Data Networks provided the district with a future-ready platform for business continuity and disaster recovery— ensuring operational stability and peace of mind.

Tags: K-12, K12, education, data center, datacenter