Monthly GFS Backup to Tape

[PValsecchi]

Hello everyone... I have a dilemma I’d like to run by you.

• I created a GFS Monthly Media Pool (configured only for the monthly portion).

• I have a Backup Copy job containing the VMs I need to put on tape. This job pulls data from the production repository and copies the backups to a DR repository (they wanted the tape drive in DR...).

• The Backup Copy job, which serves as the source for the Backup to Tape, performs a GFS Synthetic Full on the last Saturday of the month.

• I have a Backup to Tape Job using that Backup Copy as the source, which I need to schedule for the monthly tape out.

Everything is fine so far... but there is one part that isn't clear to me.

If the Monthly GFS Full is created on the 27th on the repository, and I start the tape vaulting (Monthly GFS) on the 31st of the SAME MONTH, I expect that only the Monthly Full created on the 27th will be moved to tape (or at least the most recent GFS Monthly created that month).

However, if I start the Backup to Tape Job (Monthly GFS) on the 1st day of the following month, does the system perform a synthetic full by merging the Full created on the 27th plus the incrementals up until the execution date of the tape job? This would mean a single Full ends up on tape, including the Monthly Full from the 27th plus the incrementals from the 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st.

Is that how it works?
Thanks for your help

[david.domask]

Hi Paolo,

Not quite -- Tape GFS works independent of the source backup that is being taped-out; on the scheduled Tape GFS day, the GFS tape job will look for candidates from the added source jobs that best match the Tape GFS scheduled day -- so if the current day is a Tape GFS Monthly day, the tape job will


[1] Check the backups for added jobs
[2] Find the restore point that best matches the GFS Monthly period you configured
[3] Queue that backup for tape-out, and mark it as Monthly GFS


So in your scenario, if the Tape GFS job is configured with a Monthly on the 1st, it will look on the repository, find the restore point that best matches the GFS period (in this case, the increment from the 31st), and create a Virtual Full from that restore point directly on tape. The Virtual Full backup will represent the state of the machine as of the 31st.

[PValsecchi]

Thanks David.
If I understand correctly, when I run a GFS Monthly Backup to Tape job on a specific date, Veeam selects the most recent restore point and behaves in one of two ways:

- If the latest restore point on the repository is a Full Backup: Veeam simply copies this existing Full backup to the tape.
- If the latest restore point is an Incremental Backup: Veeam creates a Virtual Full as of that date by synthesizing the data from the previous Full and the subsequent Incremental chain directly onto the tape.

For example:
Latest Full Backup: 27th
Latest Incremental: 30th

Running the GFS Monthly Backup to tape job on the 28th: Veeam will simply copy the Full backup from the 27th to the tape.

Running the GFS Monthly Backup to tape job on the 31st: Veeam will create a Virtual Full using the restore point from the 30th. This means the tape will contain a complete Full backup representing the state of the machine on the 30th.

Is this correct?

[david.domask]

You have it mostly correct, yes.

I will make a minor correction though:

when I run a GFS Monthly Backup to Tape job on a specific date, Veeam selects the most recent restore point and behaves in one of two ways:

This is not quite correct but in practice it often works like that.

Tape GFS job "knows" the dates it needs GFS points for and tries to find a restore point on repository that best matches those dates.

So for example, If you had
- Monthly GFS configured for the 3rd day of the month
- source job is running daily increments so new VIB file every day
- Tape GFS job next run is on the 5th day after the source job runs (so we have increments for 3rd, 4th, and 5th)

On the 5th day, the Tape job will check the repository and find the best candidate to meet the Monthly GFS period; if an increment from the 3rd day exists, that increment from the 3rd will be picked for the Monthly GFS point as it best matches your GFS requirement.

So it's not always most recent, the Tape GFS job will find the best candidate to match the needed GFS periods it must fill.

[PValsecchi]

Thanks David.