Two jobs, one tape

[rrober]

Hi all,

Apologies for what feels like an elementary question. I'm trying to wrap my head around tape backups. Here's the scenario I'm trying to get to work:

I have a backup job (Job1) that backs up a hyper-v cluster to a B&R repository. This works great.
I've just set up a backup-to-tape job (TapeJob1) that backs up Job1 to tape using a GFS media pool as the destination. Initial testing shows this works great as well.

I'd like a second backup to be stored to the same tape. However, as the files don't come from a Veeam backup (but rather they're just a bunch of folders with files) I can't add this as a secondary source for TapeJob1. That only accepts backup jobs and entire repositories as a source.

So, I assume I'd need a files-to-tape-backup job to perform this. However, if I try to set this up I'm unable to pick my GFS media pool. I'm only allowed to create a new media pool. I guess because it doesn't accept GFS pools?

I'd like both jobs (TapeJob1 and FileToTapeJob1) to backup to the same tape every week. Ideally, I'd like to set an expiration date after the second job completes but I can live without that. This is assuming that I can manually tell Veeam not to use that tape again for X weeks.

Is there any way to get the above scenario to work? Or rather, is there any way to backup both a set of flat folders/files AND a backup job to the same tape?
I don't want it to just fill up all the tapes, as I'll need to pull a monthly, quarterly and yearly tape to keep in long-term storage. If the backups are spread across tapes that's pretty inefficient for storage.

If you need any other information please do not hesitate to ask. If I made any wrong assumptions, please feel free to correct me.

Thank you very much in advance,

rrober

[Dima P.]

Hello and welcome to the community rrober,

So, I assume I'd need a files-to-tape-backup job to perform this. However, if I try to set this up I'm unable to pick my GFS media pool. I'm only allowed to create a new media pool. I guess because it doesn't accept GFS pools?

Correct, file to tape job should be used to tape out files and folders, while backup to tape is designed specifically to process Veeam backups to tape. GFS media pools are not supported by file to tape jobs as a target but your can use simple media pools for both jobs.

Is there any way to get the above scenario to work? Or rather, is there any way to backup both a set of flat folders/files AND a backup job to the same tape?

Sure. You need to point your backup to tape and file to tape job to the same simple media pool. Make sure that media set creation option is NOT set to 'Create new media set for every backup session' (otherwise every tape job run will consume a it's own portion of tapes without appending to the previously started tapes). Cheers!

[rrober]

Thank you very much for the swift reply! I'll try setting this up using a simple media pool.

After the second job gets appended to the same tape the first job used, is it possible to then set an expiration date on the entire tape? Both jobs I mentioned would run once a week, but I'm only visiting the datacenter and pulling a tape once a month. Is it possible to make sure that after the two backup jobs were written to tape, that tape is no longer used for a certain period of time? Or does the expiration setting only apply to the actual written data, and will it continue using this same tape until it's full (even after the two jobs have completed)?

I ask because I'd prefer to just pull out a single tape each month. If they were to fill up the tape completely before starting a new tape, over time I'd possibly have to pull two (or more?) tapes to put into storage.

I hope I was clear in my explanation. Thank you again for the great reply!

[tomnewman]

In the Media Set properties, in the 'Media Set' section, Set "Automatically create new media set" to daily and adjust the time so that it is before the first job runs.

In your scenario where you are only running the jobs once a week you can also set "On these days" and set it appropriately. If the two jobs complete within a single 24 hour period then it won't matter whether you set it to everyday or specific days but if they are, for instance, on different days then you will need to spcify "on these days". For instance, if you set the time to 00:00 and on these days to Monday, then all tape jobs from Modnay - Sunday will be written to that tape (or set of tapes if they fill more than one tape), then on the following Monday at 00:00 it will start a new tape (or set of tapes).

I found B&R's tape configuration quite confusing when I first started using it as it was very different to what I had used previously. The Media Set settings control when a new tape (or set of tapes) is used and the Retention settings control when a tape is allowed to be overwritten.

[rrober]

@Tomnewman

Thank you so much! That sounds like exactly what I'm looking for.
I love this product, and especially love people like you sharing their knowledge. Much appreciated.