Diffrence between Backup to Tape and File to Tape

[Joker24-7]

Hi,

i´m new here. Can someone tell me the diffrence betwen a backup to tape Job and file to tape job ?

Thank you for your help

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi,

Yes, sure. Here you go:

▪Backup to tape jobs allow you to archive full backups or forward incremental backup chains stored on disk
▪Files to tape jobs allow you to archive files from any Microsoft Windows or Linux server connected to the Veeam backup server or from a shared folder accessible by the Veeam backup server

Thanks!

[Joker24-7]

Hi,

so if I use reversse incremental Backup it makes no diffrence if i do a File to tape or Backup to tape Job is this right ?

Thanks!

[veremin]

It makes, because a files to tape job will transfer both .vib and .vbk files, meanwhile, a backup to tape one only .vbks. Thanks.

[Vitaliy S.]

Additionally, if you use backup to tape jobs, you will be able to track what VMs are on tapes, as opposed to using file to tape jobs. In the second variant you will only know which files are stored on tapes.

[Dima P.]

Christoph,

so if I use reversse incremental Backup it makes no diffrence if i do a File to tape or Backup to tape Job is this right

Existing backup to tape functionality has one limitation for backup source - reverse incremental backups .vrb and Microsoft SQL Server log files .vlb are skipped, so if you target backup to tape to the reversed incremental backup, only vbk will be transferred.

As guys said, having file to tape job with reversed incremental is ok because it will recognize backup as a regular file, so both vrb’s and vbk’s are pushed to tape. Keep in mind that file to tape job does not provide you the advanced scheduling options like starting tape job after the source disk job is completed or when new backup file appear in the repository.

In addition you can refer to our Help Center > Archiving Data to Tape chapter. Thank you.

[jessie0]

Hello

"Additionally, if you use backup to tape jobs, you will be able to track what VMs are on tapes, as opposed to using file to tape jobs. In the second variant you will only know which files are stored on tapes."

Does the above statement mean that "Backup to Tape" jobs are for backing up entire VMs and or physical servers, while "File to Tape" jobs are as the name implies, VM or physical server directories and files only?

Thank you.

[Net Runner]

Correct. You may treat the "File to Tape" procedure as a more granular approach of protecting particular files and folders on your physical servers or inside the VMs. In the contrary "Backup to Tape" operates whole objects be it virtual machines or physical servers.

[jessie0]

Hello Net Runner,

Got it!
Thanks for the clarification!