I recently inherited a Dell PowerEdge R540, and while I'm not sure about its age, it still functions well. I'm considering deploying the Veeam Hardened Repository ISO on it by adding some 3.5-inch disks for a total of about 70TB of storage, along with a bit of extra RAM. My main question is: do you think this effort is worth it?
6 Answers
For non-production use cases, this setup sounds entirely feasible! Just keep in mind if this is for an enterprise environment, you may face challenges explaining to higher-ups why a backup failed due to "unsupported hardware." Better safe than sorry!
Check out Veeam's knowledge base to ensure their repository supports the R540. If it can handle Rocky Linux, you should be fine, but confirm that it’s on Veeam's list of supported hardware.
Exactly! Worst case, you could set up Linux on it for the hardened repository, while keeping your Veeam server separate.
Before you dive in, check out Dell's support website using the service tag. It can give you useful info about the server's age, original parts, and warranty status. This could help inform your decision on its validity for your needs.
I have a Dell R730 that functions similar. We loaded it up with big disks, set it up with Ubuntu, and isolated it from the network so only our Veeam server accesses it. Also, keep a spare disk around just in case! We were attacked by ransomware recently, but the backups remained untouched. If you're on a tight budget, this is a smart backup solution.
Absolutely! The Dell R540 still has plenty of life left in it. If you're not using it for production or critical enterprise applications, it can serve well as a solid backup solution for a home lab or small business.
The R540 was released in 2017. Depending on your organization's budget situation, this could be a solid plan - especially if you struggle to get approval for new equipment. Plus, if something goes wrong, you can find parts online fairly easily.
Totally get that! As long as it's a secondary repository, it should work without major issues.