TANDBERG RDX QUICKSTOR

[OXFR42]

Hello community,

I apologize for probably bothering you with the same question. But I can’t find clear information on my problem. In summary. I want to use a Tandberg QuickStor with a 4TB USB3 cartridge for a backup once a week with disk ejection. (This is still to be discussed in the backup plan)

Here is my client’s configuration:

• ESXI v: 8.0
• Veeam Backup and replication version: 12
• Veeam Virtual backup server: Windows 2022 STD
• Tanberg Quickstor RDX usb3 4TB

My problem, as you might guess, is the following:

How to eject the 4TB disk from my virtual machine at the end of the backup by veeam (tanberg tells me it’s impossible on the latest vmware version) If unofficial. Possible script on Veeam Server? Script on ESXI? Knowing that the client just wants to switch once a week with his second 4TB disk. Sorry for my question. But it remains very vague on QuickStor. And the Tandberg technician told me he had seen an unofficial script that could do it. I’m talking about the ejection of the disk and not the USB reader. Even if the client does it manually, but the copyJob works with the next rotation disk.

[Andreas Neufert]

Tandberg has I think a tool (exe) to eject the cartridge and you can run it with a post job script.

I do not know if this is possible "though" ESXi USB3 passthrough but this is more of a question for Tandberg.
I think tandberg referenced usually to the freeject tool.

[Andreas Neufert]

Looks like there are many tools out there that can eject a specific changeable media drive letter if you google.
For example: https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewt ... 83&t=94113

[OXFR42]

We are indeed talking about an ejection of the RDX TAPE and not the disk (disk drive with TAPE inside?) all this from a virtual machine.
TAPE = RDX 4TO SSD

[Andreas Neufert]

Hi,

I am not sure if I understand your last comment correctly.

RDX USB3 Quickstor is a one drive environment that can host cartridges (SSD, Disks) that are recognized by the operating system as changeable media (disks). You format it and you get a drive letter. So operating system tools that can handle ejection of changeable medias could work with the RDX Quickstors as well. Maybe these ejection commands are not forwarded through the ESXi USB pass through, but this question is more for Tandberg.


If you use the VTL option of the bigger Quickstation (iSCSI) with Veeam Backup 2 Tape (or File 2 Tape) jobs, then you can eject the media in the Job (checkbox) or place in the IO slot. This should eject as well the media from Quickstation. Again Tandberg need to guide you on the exact setup as we do not know form our software side how the VTL part interprets general tape operations (eject, place in IO slots).

[Andreas Neufert]

I wrote as well to one of my Tandberg contacts, so that Tandberg could comment here as well.

[Christian Fuhrmann]

Hi OXFR42,

Tandberg RDX QuikStor drives have been classified as supported by VMware. This applies to internal and external USB 3 drives as well as the internal SATA III drive. The corresponding VMware KB article is unfortunately no longer available, it has been replaced by a very general one.
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1021345
Here is described how to pass device into a VM:
https://docs.vmware.com/de/VMware-vSphe ... 98A29.html

Since Veeam does not offer an eject for disk devices and therefore of course also not for removable media, you have to help yourself with a script at this point.
Tandberg generally recommends installing the RDX Manager, also to ensure that an eject is carried out correctly. After installing the RDX Manager, you will find rdxcmdline.exe in the installation path. Example:
{InstallPath}\RDXManager\Manager\RDXCmdLine.exe
Default path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Overland-Tandberg\RDXManager\Manager\RDXCmdLine.exe

An eject can be triggered with RDXCmdLine.exe -e {drive letter} (as a post script).
The drive letter must be lower case and no colon must be added. If the RDX has the drive letter R:, for example "RDXCmdLine.exe -e r".

It is important to ensure that no other processes are accessing the volume when an attempt is made to eject it. Protection programs such as antivirus, ransomware protection or similar can also prevent an eject.

If a pass-through to a virtual machine is not successful or a non-compatible or unsupported controller is used, or generally when using Hyper-V, the use of a so-called USB device server is recommended. The Silex DS-600 and the SEH myUTN-2500 are tested and compatible with RDX. This allows the drive to be connected via LAN. For larger installations, we recommend the use of an RDX QuikStation, which communicates via iSCSI protocol.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Tandberg Support at any time.

Best Regards

Christian

[Andreas Neufert]

Hi Christian, thanks for the official comment from Tandberg.

[OXFR42]

Thank you for your comments, I will hasten to test your recommendations.
Nice community