Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0 demo of a fast Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1909 backup

Posted by Paul Braren on Feb 17 2020 (updated on Sep 25 2020) in

On January 21 2020, Microsoft began allowing anybody who clicks on "Check for updates" to get their Windows 10 Version 1909. That means a lot of folks have it by now, and with the New Veeam Availability Suite v10 set to launch tomorrow, and it's likely that the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0 offering will be arriving soon too, good timing!

As a Veeam Vanguard, I obtained permission to get my hands on the release candidate code and share a look with you today! What I'm demonstrating here could wind up being the actual release code, or at least identical in form and function.

first-look-at-synology-1618-plus-10-gb-nas

What better way to put the Synology DiskStation DS1618+ NAS to very good use than to perform a speedy backup of a Windows Version 1909 workstation with a Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe drive?

gigabyte-xeon-d-2100-mb51-ps0-motherboard-first-look-unboxing

I just had to fire up Windows 10 Version 1909 on the speedy GIGABYTE motherboard featuring the Xeon D-2123IT CPU to add to the fun, with a Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe SSD, of course.

Manual

Because of the pre-release status, I don't have much documentation to share with you just yet. Oh wait, there it is, a whole lotta 4.0 documentation is here already, just spotted it!

Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0 User Guide

Release Notes

Feb 18 2020 Update - The release notes are here!

Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0 Release Notes

This document provides last-minute information about Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows, including system requirements, installation and upgrade procedure, as well as relevant information on technical support, documentation, online resources and so on.

The release version of Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows is available for download at:
http://www.veeam.com/download.html starting from February 18, 2020.

See next:
System Requirements
Protected Computer

Hardware
CPU: x86-64 processor.
Memory: 2 GB RAM or more. Memory consumption varies depending on number and size of processed disks.
Disk Space: 200 MB for product installation.
Network: 1 Mbps or faster. High latency and reasonably unstable WAN links are supported.
System firmware: BIOS or UEFI.
Drive encryption: Microsoft BitLocker (optional). Only Microsoft BitLocker is supported for drive encryption. Other
drive encryption products are not supported.

OS
Both 64-bit and 32-bit (where applicable) versions of the following operating systems are supported:
• Microsoft Windows Server 2019
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016
• Microsoft Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel (including version 1909)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
• Microsoft Windows 10 (starting from version 1607 up to version 1909)
• Microsoft Windows 8.1
• Microsoft Windows 7 SP1
...

Video

Of course, I have a detailed walk-through of the entire installation process ready too.

Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0 demo of a really fast Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1909 backup

Download

Feb 18 2020 Update - The release notes are here!

This site has been updated to version 4!

Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows
Filename VeeamAgentWindows_4.0.0.1811.zip

So it appears that what I used for the video was called:
Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0.0.1797 - Workstation Edition
has become:
Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0.0.1811 - Workstation Edition

I've been using Veeam backups daily on many PCs since 2014's original release called Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE, saving my bacon regularly, with reliability and ease-of-use. It's a very popular product, and not only is it free, but they even offer the ability to open support incidents from right within the UI.

Testing Underway

A backup isn't much peace of mind until you recreate the recovery media and perform a full system restore. I haven't had a chance to do that essential second step quite yet.

Candid Product Feedback

Drop your comments below. As a voluntary Veeam Vanguard, I'll be happy to pass them along, or just drop them into the Veeam forum.

Screenshots

Veeam-Agent-4-Daily-Backups-Size — Veeam Agent for Windows 4.0

Veeam-Agent-4-Daily-Backups-Duration — Veeam Agent for Windows 4.0

Advanced-Settings-Backup — Advanced Settings.

Advanced-Settings-Maintenance — Advanced Settings.

Advanced-Settings-Storage — Advanced Settings.

Advanced settings explained here.

Feb 18 2020 Update

veeam-releases-next-generation-of-data-backup-with-highly-anticipated-new-veeam-availability-suite-v10

Veeam Releases Next Generation of Data Backup with Highly Anticipated NEW Veeam Availability Suite V10
With more than 150 new features and enhancements – including modern NAS support, Multi-VM Instant Recovery and heightened ransomware protection – v10 includes data protection capabilities that increase availability, portability, and extensibility for Cloud Data Management

February 18, 2020 07:24 AM Eastern Standard Time
BAAR, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Veeam® Software, the leader in Backup solutions that deliver Cloud Data Management™, today announced the general availability of NEW Veeam Availability Suite™ v10, ushering in the next generation of data protection capabilities that increase data availability, portability, and extensibility. First introduced in 2008 as Veeam Backup & Replication™, Veeam’s flagship Backup solution – Veeam Availability Suite – now delivers modern file data protection for Networked Attached Storage (NAS), Multi-VM Instant Recovery™ to automate disaster recovery (DR) and greatly enhanced ransomware protection. With greater platform extensibility, data mining through APIs, and more than 150 major enhancements, Veeam has launched the industry’s most robust solution for complete data management and protection for hybrid-cloud environments.
...

Feb 21 2020

Just a little follow-up, reported a minor bug, it's already fixed!

Can't open a support ticket from within the 4.0 UI, screenshots below
"Please upgrade to the latest product version before reporting an issue." Back on Feb 18 2020, GA day, the back-end servers didn't seem to expect this 4.x version to be opening a Support case. I reported this issue, case 04011746 was assigned.

"Support case has been opened." The issue was quickly fixed, and support asked me to open a test ticket. It works, case closed, all set!

Disclosure

Paul-Braren-Veeam-Vanguard-Program3 — Veeam Vanguard Program.

TinkerTry.com, LLC is not a Veeam Pro Partner, but I am a Veeam Vanguard Program member who received travel assistance getting to VeeamOn 2017, and Veeam Vanguard Summits 2018 and 2019. Veeam has been an advertiser on many virtualization sites for years now, and Veeam had a BuySellAds-purchased advertisement at TinkerTry as well, but that was well over 12 months ago.

All TinkerTry advertisement goes through third party BuySellAds. None of my articles are sponsored posts, and there are currently no affiliate links for Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE, or any of their other products. There are no commissions for any Veeam products folks buy after reading one of my articles.

TinkerTry takes extreme care to protect visitors by using only one ad network, BuySellAds, which has never had a security issue to date, and is very commonly used in the virtualization blogger community. Their CEO seems to get what's going on with ad blockers, evident in his recent post. I regularly receive lucrative offers from various companies looking to have me inject JavaScript trackers into TinkerTry, which I of course turn down.

I reserve and exercise the right to freely write about topics that I choose, whenever I choose to, an essential part of what makes blogging about home virtualization labs, storage, and backup so much fun for me. I tend to feature articles about stuff I actually use.

Sep 25 2020 Update

Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0.1.2169 - Workstation Edition continues to work well for me, doing daily backups of my Windows 10 Version 1909 and Version 2004 systems, to my Windows Server VM on ESXi 7.0b using a new 16TB VMFS datastore on my new Western Digital HC550 18TB drive. Forum discussion about this new agent release here.

Great new video by Rick Vanover and Melissa Palmer, featured below.