Veeam Backup & Replication with Azure Cloud Storage

Immutable Backup, Cloud Offsite Protection, and Improved Recoverability for Maryland State Agency

This Maryland state regulatory agency responsible for protecting sensitive healthcare data faced increasing risk due to an aging, unsupported backup repository. The organization needed to strengthen data security, improve application availability, and ensure reliable recoverability while minimizing disruption to day‑to‑day operations. To address these challenges, the agency partnered with Data Networks to deliver a modern, secure, and resilient data protection solution built on Veeam, Microsoft Hyper‑V, and Microsoft Azure.

The Challenge

The customer’s legacy backup platform was no longer supported, creating operational risk and potential security exposure. With critical workloads running across virtual and physical servers, the agency required a modern backup strategy that protected data from ransomware, improved recovery confidence, and provided geographic redundancy. Additionally, leadership wanted better visibility into backup health, storage consumption, and potential security threats— without negatively impacting end users.

The Solution

Data Networks designed and deployed a Veeam Backup and Replication implementation centered on a new Dell PowerEdge R750 server running Microsoft Hyper‑V on Windows Server 2022. Veeam Backup and Replication was deployed as a virtual machine on the Hyper‑V host, allowing for centralized management and scalability.

To enhance resilience, Data Networks configured multiple storage repositories within the environment. High‑performance local SSD storage was deployed as the primary backup landing zone, while a second repository leveraged SUSE Linux Enterprise Server to provide immutable backup storage with a 30‑day retention period. This immutability ensures backups cannot be altered or deleted, significantly reducing ransomware risk.

For offsite protection and disaster recovery readiness, Data Networks integrated Microsoft Azure Blob Cool Storage as a cloud backup target. The team provisioned a new Azure tenant and subscription, deployed the Azure storage account, and implemented Azure Cost Management alerts to proactively notify stakeholders if capacity usage exceeds defined thresholds.

Added Value and Outcomes

Data Networks deployed Veeam agents to protect three physical servers and integrated existing anti‑malware tools into the backup workflow. Veeam ONE was implemented to provide advanced monitoring, reporting, and alerting across all repositories—including malware encryption detection and storage utilization insights.

To validate recoverability, Data Networks configured Veeam SureBackup, successfully testing the ability to restore physical servers as virtual machines on the new infrastructure. The engagement concluded with a comprehensive knowledge transfer, ensuring staff could confidently manage backups, monitoring, and Azure cost controls.

Results

• Modern, fully supported Veeam backup platform
• Immutable backups to defend against ransomware
• Secure offsite backups in Microsoft Azure
• Improved visibility into backup health and storage usage
• Increased confidence in recovery and business continuity

Tags: SLG, local, government, data center, datacenter