The recent cyber security incident of a manufacturing company highlighted how ransomware or unauthorised access can disrupt operations, compromise data and halt production. Implementing an immutable backup solution is one of the ways to significantly reduce such risks and help enterprises strengthen their cyber resilience.
The importance of immutable backup
Immutable backup storage is a data protection solution where backups are stored in a write-once, read-many (WORM) format, meaning once data is written, it cannot be modified, deleted or encrypted, even by administrators or malware. This immutability ensures that backups remain intact and tamper-proof, providing a reliable last line of defence against cyber threats such as ransomware, accidental deletion or insider attacks.
What is the security standard that a hardened backup storage follows?
In best practice, a hardened storage generally follows the DISA STIG (Defence Information Systems Agency Security Technical Implementation Guides) security standard, which is pre-applied to its pre-hardened Linux-based ISO image. This involves hardening the underlying operating system to meet strict security guidelines, and some solutions will provide scripts and ISOs to help automate and ensure this compliance.
By deploying immutable backup storage, enterprises not only comply with data protection regulations but also significantly reduce downtime, financial loss and reputational damage in the event of data compromise; turning backup systems into a powerful shield for organisational resilience.
Supermicro Storage System for the Veeam immutable storage solution
Veeam is a leading provider of enterprise backup and recovery solutions, enabling organisations to safeguard their data across physical, virtual and cloud environments. To enhance data protection, Veeam collaborates with hardware partners such as Supermicro to deliver validated integrations for immutable storage solutions within the Veeam Backup platform.
This integration not only simplifies deployment and management but also strengthens cyber resilience by providing secure, tamper-proof backup storage for critical enterprise data. By leveraging Veeam and Supermicro’s combined expertise, companies can achieve faster recovery, reduced downtime and greater confidence in their data protection strategy, ensuring business continuity and compliance in an increasingly complex cyber threat landscape.
The Supermicro Storage Server Solution supports backup environments of various sizes
Supermicro Storage SuperServer SSG-521E-E1CR24H
The Supermicro SuperStorage Simply Double, integrated with Veeam Backup & Replication, delivers high-capacity, high-performance data protection for enterprises. Its innovative 2U design doubles hot-swap drive bays and IOPS in the same space, with a patented Riser Bay for easy access and serviceability. Powered by dual 5th/4th gen Intel® Xeon® processors, it ensures reliable performance for backup and recovery workloads for most small & medium size companies. Together, Supermicro & Veeam provide a scalable, secure and cost-effective immutable backup solution.
Supermicro Storage SuperServer SSG-542B-E1CR90
For larger environments, the Supermicro SuperStorage 90-Bay Top-Loading system offers high-density, easy deployment in a 4U rack with dual-socket 5th/4th Gen Intel® Xeon® processors (up to 350W TDP). It delivers exceptional performance with higher base frequency, more cores and optimised throughput and IOPS. Designed for enterprise-scale workloads, the solution is available as a max. 90-bay storage, built with 12Gb/s SAS technology for maximum efficiency. It can meet the highest data storage and performance requirements for enterprise data backup environments.
Veeam Hardened and Immutable Repository
The Veeam Hardened and Immutable Repository offers enterprise-grade protection by ensuring backups are immutable, preventing deletion, modification or encryption even during cyberattacks or by administrators. Built on a hardened Linux architecture with restricted access and single-use credentials, it enhances data integrity and strengthens security. This solution supports regulatory compliance requirements like GDPR, HIPAA and ISO 27001 while eliminating the need for expensive third-party WORM storage. Fully integrated with Veeam Backup & Replication, it enables automated backup verification, fast and reliable restores and seamless management. As a final layer in a multi-tier data protection strategy, it ensures resilient, tamper-proof and cost-effective enterprise data protection.
More than a general data backup & recovery solution from Veeam – platform migration
Some companies would like to migrate from an existing virtualisation platform to another one based on different requirement and reasons. Migrating away from one hypervisor to another introduces a complex decision-making process for businesses. A non-exhaustive list includes application dependencies, migration timeline, identifying workload criticality and application downtime impact to the business.
One of the common cases is that the customer would like to migrate from VMware to Proxmox VE platform. Veeam provides the capability to allow customers to easily begin working on this migration. Veeam VMware VM backup can be restored directly to Proxmox VE with on-the-fly conversion. Provided that the proper storage types are in place, it is possible to convert the VM’s disk types to RAW, QCOW2 and VMDK when restoring to Proxmox VE.
How can Boston help?
As a solutions integrator, Boston can provide a full turnkey solution comprising hardware and software as a complete solution design, together with implementation:
- Data environment assessment: Every IT environment has unique data management and backup & recovery requirements — for example, varying Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) for different applications. Boston can help assess your current data landscape and design a tailored backup solution that meets both business and technical needs.
- Solution sizing and design including hardware and software Proper sizing and design of backup infrastructure, both hardware and software, are critical to an effective backup solution. Backup storage capacity and performance are key factors that depend on the organisation’s data retention requirements (for example, daily backups retained on disk for 30 days). Additionally, it’s important to ensure that all backup jobs can complete within the designated backup window. Therefore, a detailed design that considers disk storage size, backup write performance and network speed is essential to achieving a reliable and efficient backup solution.
- Proof of Concept (PoC) arrangement in our Boston Labs or customer environment In our Boston Labs, we provide a dedicated environment and the necessary equipment for customers to test the latest features of backup solutions, evaluate hardware performance and, most importantly, validate the integration of all solution components.
- Backup and Recovery solution planning and deployment service Boston provides comprehensive planning and deployment services for enterprise backup and recovery environments. We will conduct detailed assessments of data volume, retention policies, RTO/RPO targets and workload characteristics to design optimised backup architectures. We implement and configure backup servers, storage and network components, ensuring performance tuning, security hardening and seamless integration with virtualisation, databases and cloud platforms for efficient, policy-driven data protection.
- Solution upgrade or enhancement consultation Boston provides expert consultation for backup solution upgrades and enhancements. We assess current infrastructure, software versions and performance, then recommend optimised upgrade paths. Our focus is on minimising downtime, ensuring data integrity, maintaining compatibility and integrating new features to improve scalability, reliability and overall system performance.
Proof of Concept of the Veeam Harden and Immutable Storage and Migration
A PoC has been performed in our Boston Labs for solution validation before:
The objectives of this PoC are to demonstrate the following:
- Integration of the Veeam Hardened and Immutable Storage with the existing Veeam Backup & Replication infrastructure.
- Migration capability of Veeam Backup & Replication to transfer a VMware virtual machine image to a Proxmox VE virtualisation platform.
The below shows the Veeam Backup Server connecting to VMware vSphere platform and Proxmox VE virtualisation platform with backup policies defined.
The Management Interface of Veeam Hardened Repository is delivered as bootable installation media (ISO) for rapid deployment on any physical, virtual or cloud machine that supports booting from USB or ISO. The installation process requires minimal interaction, with automated disk partitioning intelligently configuring storage volumes for optimal performance and OS-level security. For even faster provisioning in VMware vSphere environments, the VSA is also available as a preconfigured Virtual Appliance (OVA).
The management of the Hardened Repository in Veeam Backup & Replication console.
A backup has been running and backup to the Veeam harden and immutable storage repository
In the repository configuration, you can define the immutability period — the number of days during which backups are protected from modification or deletion. This ensures data integrity and protection against accidental or malicious deletion. Additionally, the repository settings allow you to control the number of concurrent tasks accessing the backup repository to optimise performance and resource utilisation.
Restore a VMware VM to the Proxmox VE platform:
The VM can be restored on Proxmox VE platform and the VM up and running:
Summary of the PoC:
This Proof of Concept (PoC) focuses on validating the integration and functionality of the Veeam Hardened Repository within an existing Veeam Backup & Replication environment. It includes configuring the Hardened Repository for immutable backup storage, managing and monitoring it through the Veeam Management Console, and defining appropriate backup policies to ensure data protection and compliance. Backup jobs will be executed and the backup data stored on the Hardened Repository, followed by testing restoration procedures by recovering a Veeam virtual machine backup image to the Proxmox VE virtualisation platform, demonstrating interoperability and data recovery capability across environments.
Solution consultation with Boston
Boston is all about enabling our customers to make informed decisions in selecting the right hardware, software and overall solution for specific and bespoke requirements. If you’d like to request a POC or Demo of the Data Protection Solution and Migration of Virtualization Platform, please get in touch by emailing sales@boston.co.uk, call us on 01727 876100 or fill in the form below and one of our experienced sales engineers will gladly guide you through building the perfect solution just for you.