Can LTO7 and LTO8 in same media pool to backup?

[j2wong]

My customer asked me if they can buy LTO8 tape and mix use with LTO7 in same media pool in Veeam, they are currently using LTO7 tape, i would like to ask if it is possible because i have no tape lib and lto8 lto7 tape for testing..., assume customer tape library is using LTO8.

Many thanks.

[nikolaj]

Hi Joe,

Yes, mixing and matching LT07 and LT08 tapes is possible as long as your drive is of LT08 type (i.e. only backward compatibility is supported).

Thanks.

[Mildur]

And if you have two drives, the tapes amd the different drive generations needs to be in different partitions in the tape library.

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110

Within a library partition, only one generation of LTO drives are supported.

[Teerakiat K]

Hello I have similar question if customer want to create media pool of LTO 8 x2 drives and LTO7 x1 drive is it supported? The tape cartridge is LTO 7 to use for both drives.


Thank you a lot
TK

[soncscy]

Hi Teerakiat K,

It's about individual libraries as I understand it; multi-generation libraries can't be supported as there's no guarantee the right tape is inserted into the right drive (barcodes are not guarantees).

If these are all independent libraries and they are controlled to ensure exclusive matches to the correct generation, should work.

Kind of fun to answer a Veeam Employee about their own product

[Dima P.]

It's about individual libraries as I understand it; multi-generation libraries can't be supported as there's no guarantee the right tape is inserted into the right drive (barcodes are not guarantees).

Absolutely correct. There is no way to guarantee that LTO8 tape will be selected by the tape library logic and will land the LTO7 drive. We got plans to enhance the error handling but looks like the better idea is to keep different generations within it's own library partition.

Kind of fun to answer a Veeam Employee about their own product

[cmaier]

Sorry guys, I don't understand Veeam's position here. I have been asking the same question since years and absolutely nothing happens.

multi-generation libraries can't be supported as there's no guarantee the right tape is inserted into the right drive (barcodes are not guarantees).

Really? This point of view is really annoying. It sounds like a perfect excuse for me not to implement a working barcode system. I'm working with another Backup software for 15 years and it has ALWAYS worked perfectly with barcodes. Sure, some idiots may stick wrong labels on their cartridges but that can't be your problem as a software developer. Yes, this great working Backup software is THE Backup Exec. I really hate it but I have to use it because of your really bad tape implementation that hasn't made any significant progress in years.

Different partitions in one library are always crap. You have to choose special slots for every partition and if my vacation replacement puts the cartridges into the wrong slots, the whole backup does not work. This is much more likely than having the wrong label on a cartridge.

[Dima P.]

Christian,

Really, there is no code in the product to handle this behavior. Unfortunately we receive only a few requests for cross generation support competed to other functionality, so this feature was postponed, but I'll add your vote this feature request. Thank you for honest feedback!

[KNOPAG]

Hi Dima,

there are always migration scenarios. Nobody can stay with the same technology forever. This is exactly why the library manufacturers recommend that different or outdated drives can and should be operated temporarily in the new libraries. Veeam should support that and not just take requests from the biggest users. Even if you only get a few inquiries about this issue, this cannot be taken as evidence that customers do not need it. Most hope that others will drive the development forward. I too had considered not writing anything about it. But since I've seen that Veeam has been promising a solution for years but doesn't implement it, I decided to get in touch anyway.

But: Even if Veeam would solve the problem in one of the future releases, that wouldn't help me now. And in a few months I won't care again. Until the next technological leap is due in a few years.

I would be happy if Veeam also responded to customer requirements, which apparently not many customers ask for, but which bring considerable advantages when using the software. It's not nice for Veeam either when customers write that other products have been supporting such a simple requirement for years - and not without reason.

Greetings, Juergen.