Overview
Generally, it is good to be informed of low backup storage situations on Veeam repositories. Running out of disk storage during backup operations can result in corrupted backups. By default, Veeam is configured to trigger a warning notification when backup storage space is 10% or less free space.
For example, if you have 1TB of storage and the notification is set to warning at 10% left then it would trigger when there is 100GB or less space. It is good to be aware of low disk space situations so we can proactively address the issue before it leads to a problem.
However, in some scenarios, 10% can trigger nuisance warnings that make all affected jobs turn yellow (warning). For example, if there is 50TB of storage then warnings are going to be issued with 5TB left on the disk. In this situation, it may not be justified to resolve the issue as there is still a lot of free space
Solution
We recommend changing the notification settings when 10% of free space is still more than adequate for current needs. Changing these settings will return the backup jobs to green instead of showing up as warnings. Our goal is to keep all jobs green so we do not have to investigate why they are not. Green is good!
Do not change these settings if you do not feel comfortable that you will not run out of space! Changing the value from 10% to 1% may not be wise. We recommend decreasing the threshold to only that which will resolve the issue, for example, changing from 10% to 7%.
Note: This guide will work for Hyper-V hosts and VSphere hosts.
Changing Veeam repository low-disk notifications
First, log into your Veeam appliance. In the top left corner click the drop-down and select General Options.
Next, click the notification tab.
Then you will see an option for backup storage, there will be a checkbox next to it that says “Warn me when free disk space is below:”. You want to leave this box checked.
Next to that will be a percentage. You are going to want to change the percentage from 10% to what fits best for your storage. We recommend cutting it in half to around 5%.
You will then want to change the option “Skip VM processing when free disk space is below:”. You will want to lower that percentage to ensure that the VMs are not skipped from processing when there is plenty of storage.
Summary
Once the notification settings are made to verify future backup jobs return green status. Take care to leave the threshold at a reasonable percentage as to notify you in the future if disk space gets dangerously low.