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Backup & Recovery with Veeam on Blimp + ZS3 Server

A Step-by-Step Guide to Encrypted, Deduplicated Snapshots and Daily Restores

In this guide, we’ll show you how to leverage Veeam Backup & Replication alongside Blimp’s decentralized storage and the ZS3 Server’s S3-compatible gateway to build a secure, scalable backup and recovery pipeline for your business.

ZS3 Server makes your Blimp allocation accessible through the familiar S3 API, so you can use Veeam just like you would with AWS S3 or other traditional object storage platforms—without the high egress fees, vendor lock-in, or centralized risks.

By combining Veeam’s enterprise-grade backup features with Züs’s zero-knowledge, blockchain-anchored storage, this solution delivers encrypted, cost-efficient, and ransomware-resistant backups. It’s ideal for organizations running Microsoft 365, virtual machines, or file servers that require off-site, cloud-based data protection.

Prerequisite:

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

  • Blimp Account with a funded S3-compatible allocation

  • ZS3 Server Deployment:

    • Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04+, CentOS, etc.) with public IP

    • Ports 22, 80, and 443 open

    • Docker installed

    • Wallet file (for mounting allocation)

  • ZS3 Access Key & Secret Key (generated via Blimp UI after setup)

  • Veeam Backup & Replication v11+ or Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 v6+ on a Windows VM or server

  • Basic familiarity with SSH and Veeam’s UI

Create an S3 Allocation

Step 1: Navigate to the S3 Tab

  • Open the Blimp UI and navigate to the S3 tab. Click on the Create New Allocation button to start the process of setting up a new allocation.

Fig1: Create new S3 allocation

Step 2: Fill in Allocation Details

  • In the form that appears, enter the required details about your allocation.

  • Once all fields are completed, click the Confirm button to proceed.

Fig2: Add Allocation Details

All Blobber types can use USD for payment. If you want to pay in ZCN, you must select "All Blobbers" or "Unbranded".

Step 3: Select Storage Providers

  • By default, Blobbers are automatically chosen based on geodiversity. Optionally, manually select up to five sharded providers if needed.

  • After finalizing your provider selection, click on the Pay with USD button. Or if you want to pay in ZCN, click the text "Pay with ZCN" located to the right of the header.

Fig3: Select storage providers

Step 4: Complete Payment (in ZCN)

  • You can pay using ZCN from your existing balance. If you do not have sufficient ZCN in your wallet, you have the option to purchase more ZCN by connecting your Metamask or Coinbase wallet.

Fig4: Review Payment (in ZCN)
Fig5. Get ZCN and Confirm Payment

Upon successful payment, the allocation will be created.

Deploy your Blimp ZS3 Gateway

Tutorial 1: Deploy New Script Using Blimp

Step 0: Have Access to a Public-facing Linux Server

  • Your ZS3 gateway needs to run on a machine that:

    • Has a publicly reachable IP

    • Runs a Linux distro (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Amazon Linux, etc.)

    • Allows SSH access on port 22 (for deploying the script)

    • Has ports 80 & 443 open (so Caddy can obtain and serve TLS certificates)

    • Has Key Pairs to enable access into SSH

Firewall rules for HTTP(S)

Direction
Protocol
Port Range
Source
Purpose

Inbound

TCP

22

YOUR·IP/32

SSH (from your location)

Inbound

TCP

80

0.0.0.0/0, ::/0

HTTP (for ACME HTTP-01)

Inbound

TCP

443

0.0.0.0/0, ::/0

HTTPS (Caddy + S3 gateway)

Outbound

ALL

ALL

0.0.0.0/0, ::/0

Allow your instance to reach the Internet for Docker pulls, ACME, etc.

  • In this example, we use an AWS EC2 Instance:

    • AMI: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (HVM)

    • Instance: t3.medium (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM)

    • Storage: 20 GiB root + 50–100 GiB gp3 data volume

Step 1: Identify your IP address

  • Find your server's IP address. In AWS, go to the EC2 Instance Dashboard. Select the instance you are using and look for the Public IPv4 address in your Details>Instance Summary.

Fig6. AWS EC2 Instance Dashboard

Step 2: Generate the Script

  • Click "Manage Allocations". Find the allocation you would like to work with and click the ellipses at the last column of your allocation row. Once drop down opens, click "Setup".

Fig7. Manage Allocation Setup Location

  • Enter your server's IP address in the provided field within the Blimp UI. Click on the Generate Script button.

Fig8. Generate Script

  • A modal will then pop out to set the password for the S3 deployment. This will be used to access your Blimp S3 server allocation

Fig9. Setup Secret Key

Note you cannot use special characters in this password. It will cause future errors such as : "The request signature we calculated does not match the signature you provided. Check your key and signing method."

Step 3: Execute the Script

  • Start by accessing your server using your key pair .pem or .ppk file. As an example, you can ssh into your terminal by typing:

  • Once inside, copy the cURL Script from the S3 server setup page. Looks something like this:

Fig10. S3 Server Setup after Script Generation

  • Run the script on your server terminal

Fig11. Execute Script

Once the script runs successfully, Blimp will automatically detect your server and guide you to the next step.

If you clear your browser cache (or use private/incognito mode) and click Setup again for the same allocation, Blimp will generate a brand-new deployment script. That script won’t match your existing ZS3 Server, so you’ll have to run it again on your host and effectively redeploy the gateway.

Tip: Only run Setup once per allocation—unless you want to reset and redeploy your server.

Step 4: Create a Bucket

  • Create a Bucket: Select Create Bucket from the Type of Request menu.

Fig12: Conduct S3 Operations

  • Enter your desired bucket name. Click on Run cURL Request.

Fig13. Run cURL Request

  • The response will be displayed in the right-hand panel.

Fig14. Check Response

  • List Existing Buckets: Choose Buckets from the List Operations section under the Type of Request menu. Click on Run cURL Request to view the list of buckets.

Fig15: Choose Buckets

By completing this step, you have successfully deployed the ZS3 server, created the S3-compatible allocation, and performed basic S3 operations. To learn more about the ZS3 server, check out the docs here.

Note: The ZS3 gateway embeds your wallet credentials when you deploy it. If you later add that wallet to Vault for split-key management (or make any other change to it), your existing cURL/API credentials will no longer match and requests will fail. To fix this, simply go back to the allocation "setup", regenerate the deploy script, and run it again so the gateway picks up your updated wallet.

Extract Blimp ZS3 Server Endpoint

Tutorial 2: Extract Endpoint from Blimp-generated Script

When you generate and execute the deployment script using Blimp, it provides an endpoint URL for accessing your deployed ZS3 server. This endpoint is dynamically configured within the curl command.

Going back to the script you used to deploy the ZS3 server, the script includes various parameters such as authentication credentials, location IDs, and domain configurations.

In the provided example, the executed command is:

In your cURL code, look for the "blimpdomain".

This indicates that blimp8fbfl.zus.network is the assigned ZS3 endpoint for your deployed ZS3 instance.

Backup with Veeam

This guide will walk you through the full process of connecting Veeam to Züs S3 for storing your backups securely on decentralized cloud infrastructure.

1. Launch Veeam and Navigate to Backup Infrastructure

In the Veeam Backup & Replication console, go to Backup Infrastructure → Backup Repositories → Add Repository → Object Storage. This opens the object storage integration wizard.

Select "S3 Compatible" as Storage Type. Veeam supports multiple cloud object storage providers. Click next.

Fig1: Launch Veeam

2. Enter Züs S3 Endpoint & Region

In the “S3 compatible storage system” section, fill out the fields:

  • Service Point: Enter your z3server url

  • Data Center Region: eu-central-1 or us-east-1 &#xNAN;(Choose based on your configuration — this does not impact functionality)

Fig2: Enter ZS3 Endpoint

3. Add S3 Access & Secret Key

Click on the “Add” button beside the account credentials dropdown:

Fig3: Add keys

  • Access Key: Your ZS3 Access Key

  • Secret Key: Your ZS3 Secret Key

  • Description: (Optional) Label your key for clarity

Click OK, then select the added credential from the dropdown and then click on Next.

Fig4; Keys added

4. Select the Bucket & Folder

In the “S3 compatible storage system bucket” screen:

  • Bucket: Choose your designated bucket (e.g., Veeam)

  • Folder: Optionally create or select a folder like Backup365 to organize backup data.

Fig5: Select Bucket and Folder

You can also check the immutability option to prevent deletion or tampering during the retention period — a best practice against ransomware attacks.

5. Finalize Configuration

Enter a name and description for your object storage entry.

Fig6: Finalize

Example:

  • Name: zs3-zero-backup

  • Description: Created by zero at 05/10/2024 19:07:10

Click Next and finish the process.

Your Züs S3 storage will now appear under: Backup Infrastructure → Object Storage

6. Review Cloud Credentials (Credential Manager)

After clicking Next, Veeam opens the Cloud Credential Manager automatically to display the credentials you just created.

Here’s what you can do in this view:

  • Review the created S3-compatible credential.

  • Edit the credential by selecting the entry and clicking the Edit button.

  • View or modify the:

    • Access Key

    • Secret Key

    • Description (e.g., created by your team or timestamped info)

That is it! You're all set! You’ve successfully configured Veeam to back up to decentralized storage using Blimp and ZS3 Server.

This setup provides secure, scalable, and cost-effective backup for your Microsoft 365, VM, or file-based workloads.

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