Today, Veeam made available to our VCSP partners the RTM of Veeam Backup & Replication 12 (Build 12.0.0.1402). It actually feels like it’s been a while between major releases for us since v11 was released to manufacturing. In fact it’s been just under two years since that last RTM date, but in that time there has been a lot of other Veeam releases covering multiple platforms and we have been ensuring that this release of our flagship product is ready for prime time!

With that, we have the much awaited v12 version of Backup & Replication.

Before it goes GA (Launch Event on the 14th of February), we give our providers a window to deploy the new version as v12 is what we term a breaking update. This means that if a Cloud Connect tenant upgrades from any previous version before VCSPs this will break backup or replication functionality. With that in mind the RTM has been made available for our VCSP partners to ensure it is installed and tested before being pushed out to production before the GA release.

Backward Compatibility and Veeam Platform Support:

Veeam Backup & Replication releases from version 10 (10.0.1.4854 P20210609) can write backups via Cloud Connect to a cloud repository on v12. To take advantage of the majority of the new features listed below, all tenants are required to be on v12.

v12 is considered a breaking release. If your Veeam Cloud Connect tenants upgrade their Veeam backup software to the latest releases before you upgrade your own Veeam Cloud Connect environment to V12, tenants will be unable to access their cloud repositories and hosts. Usage of the RTM build in customer environments is prohibited until version 12 is GA, which is expected in a few weeks.

Veeam Cloud Connect v12 is backwards compatible with the following earlier versions of Veeam backup software

  • Veeam Backup & Replication: Version 12 can receive backups and replicas from version 10.0.1.4854 P20210609 and later
  • Veeam Agent for Windows: Version 12 can receive backups from version 5.0.0.4301 and later
  • Veeam Agent for Linux: Version 12 can receive backups from version 5.0.0.4318 and later

In addition to that and Backup & Replication v12, the RTM location also contains the new versions of Veeam ONE v12 (12.0.0.2498) and the new versions of Agent for Windows (6.0.0.959) and Linux (6.0.0.1058) the Mac Agent (2.0.0.747) and Veeam Service Provider Console (7.0.0.12777)

VCSP Features and Enhancements:

v12 is another huge release from us and contains a number of enhancements. A lot of those enhancements are aimed at improving the performance and scalability of the Backup & Replication platform that VCSPs can take advantage of while also opening up opportunity for new services based on an advanced feature set.

  • CDP for DRaaS The long awaited CDP for Cloud Connect Replication targeting VMware Cloud Director or vSphere Based IaaS Clouds is finally here. Low per second RPOs for critical tier one workloads is now possible for all end users to take advantage of.
  • CDP for VCD to VCD Replication – Like the above, having the ability to leverage CDP between VMware Cloud Director sites has been a top ask for a long time now, and once again, the wait is over in this v12 release.
  • Direct to Object Storage – While not billed as a VCSP feature, the reality is that the ability for Veeam Customers to consume Object Storage directly will benefit any service provider offering their own Object Storage service externally. This has also been baked into the agents and NFS backup, so this will mean increased consumption of cloud based storage.

There are 585 listed new features and enhancements in v12.

Stay tuned for an updated, What is in it for Service Provider series coming out over the next few months as I deep dive into how service providers can leverage v12 and other elements of our platform to offer services and generate recurring revenue with Veeam.

Current Veeam Licensing (compatible with Veeam Backup & Replication v10 and later) are compatible with all builds shipping in this release. No new licenses are needed to upgrade.

As usual, there has also been a lot of work to improve and enhance scalability in the Backup & Replication Cloud Connect and CDP functionality to accommodate the increasing usage of DRaaS and of the Veeam Agent for Windows, Linux and Mac of which there are new versions released at the same time of v12 RTM/GA.

Veeam Service Provider Console v7 and Veeam ONE

As a reminder, for Veeam Service Provider Console v7 (which has been made available today as well), v12 will be taken advantage of and extend to support Veeam Backup for Public Clouds and Microsoft 365. Veeam ONE has also been released as part of the v12 RTM bundle and I will be posting separately around what’s contained in that release and our Veeam Cloud and service Providers are strongly encouraged to download and install the build of console into production.

v12 Preview Posts:

There will be a live streamed launch event on the 14th of February. You can register for that event here.

VCSP Forum Link on v12 and Cloud Connect

TL:DR ChatGPT Version

Veeam Backup & Replication 12 (Build 12.0.0.1402) is now available for VCSP partners and offers several enhancements aimed at improving performance and scalability. The latest version is considered a “breaking release,” meaning backup or replication functionality could break if tenants upgrade before VCSP partners install and test the new version. However, tenants using Veeam Backup & Replication version 10 or later can write backups to a cloud repository on version 12. Veeam Backup & Replication 12 is backward-compatible with versions 10 and later. The RTM release also includes new versions of Veeam ONE, Veeam Agent for Windows, Linux and Mac, and Veeam Service Provider Console. The 585 listed new features and enhancements include CDP for DRaaS and Direct to Object Storage. Current Veeam licensing is compatible with the release, no new licenses required for upgrade.