Best practice for large tape archive job

[bdoe]

We have several 19TB virtual file servers, each dedicated to a specific project. When a project is completed, cancelled, or merged into a new one, we will take a full tape backup (two copies, actually) on LTO-6 media and remove the data from the servers. Additionally, users generally are provided external hard drives in order to backup their own data. Historically, we've used Bacula for this, but are slowly moving over to Veeam. I need to do another of these jobs this week, and wanted to see what the best approach with Veeam would be, or if there even is one.

I've often needed to restore individual files from these jobs, so I need to retain that ability. From what I can tell, this means I can only do a File to Tape job, not a backup job. Is this correct? Can I add the Windows VM as a managed server without affecting my regular backups?

Now for the fun part: the drive is nearly full at 18.9TB, and contains 8.7 million files. With Bacula, I usually had to break jobs like this into around three jobs, or it'd run the risk of stalling. Should I do the same with Veeam, and is there any easy way to do so?

Also, I saw that v8 has several improvements to tape, especially concerning file to tape. Unfortunately, I tried upgrading yesterday, but the upgrade wound up breaking the installation. I was told it's a known issue, so for the moment I can't upgrade. The case number is 00675154 if anyone from Veeam wants it.

[veremin]

Is this correct?

Correct.

Can I add the Windows VM as a managed server without affecting my regular backups?

Yes.

Should I do the same with Veeam, and is there any easy way to do so?

You can create either one or multiple jobs. It's up to you. Either way the provided directory should be backed up to tapes successfully.

Thanks.

[foggy]

Also, I saw that v8 has several improvements to tape, especially concerning file to tape. Unfortunately, I tried upgrading yesterday, but the upgrade wound up breaking the installation. I was told it's a known issue, so for the moment I can't upgrade. The case number is 00675154 if anyone from Veeam wants it.

Yes, file to tape jobs performance was significantly improved comparing to v7.

[bdoe]

Yes, file to tape jobs performance was significantly improved comparing to v7.

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed the upgrade failed for me. I saw somewhere in the documentation yesterday that it was recommended to keep v7 jobs to 10,000 (or 100,000, I don't recall exactly) files. With such a large number of files, and being stuck with 7 for now, I'm leaning towards letting my Bacula server do this job instead. Out of curiosity, would a job this large be in the realm of possibility for v8?

[Dima P.]

bdoe,
Honestly, we do not have a limit for now in v8 as we tested file to tape job in really crazy configurations to gather as much performance output as we could. I hope improved performance made possible to test and decide which configuration suites your needs the best. Thank you.

[bdoe]

bdoe,
Honestly, we do not have a limit for now in v8 as we tested file to tape job in really crazy configurations to gather as much performance output as we could. I hope improved performance made possible to test and decide which configuration suites your needs the best. Thank you.

I know v7 was the first with tape, so I was hoping to hear v8 would improve a lot. I'm really hoping there's a fix for the issue I had soon, I'm looking forward to going all-in on Veeam soon. Thanks!