Question about bakup to tape job

[verre]

Hi, I've a question about the process of sending backup to tape. If I have a VBK file containing many machines, can vbr extract only one (or a few) machine from VBK file and put it on tape?
Another question: as I have understood, I can collect files from a physical or virtual machine only if they are connected directly to vbr server (not proxy!) and only if the vbr-server sends that files directly to tape....and in the same way vbr-server can restore that files from tape to physical/virtual machines (again, only if they are directly connected to vbr-server).... is it correct?
Thank you

[Shestakov]

Hi Valentino,

If I have a VBK file containing many machines, can vbr extract only one (or a few) machine from VBK file and put it on tape?

No, for "to-tape" job types you can`t backup VMs from the .vbk file. I suggest to create a new backup-to-tape job for VMs you are interested to be copied.
FYI in an upcoming VBR v8 will be an option to specify backup copy job as a source for the backup to tape job.

as I have understood, I can collect files from a physical or virtual machine...

Correct for file-to-tape jobs.

...only if they(VMs) are connected directly to vbr server (not proxy!)

Not really, you just need a connection between VBR and vSphere/SCVMM/etc.

...and only if the vbr-server sends that files directly to tape....

VBR works with tape devices that are directly attached to the physical Veeam backup server. Tapes can be connected over Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), SCSI. Please read Prerequisites for Tapes.

...and in the same way vbr-server can restore that files from tape to physical/virtual machines (again, only if they are directly connected to vbr-server).... is it correct?

You can Restore Backups from Tape to a repository or a folder on disk, Restore VMs from Tape to Virtual Infrastructure or just Restore Specific Files from Tape.

This link can also be helpful.

If you have additional questions, feel free to ask. Thank you.

[verre]

Thank you very much for your quick answer. Therefore in V7 I can only send to tape an entire vbk (or vib/vbr) but not use the backup-copy-job which could permit to extract only one machine from it ...but I'll can do it in V8 great!!!
Why do you suggest me to create a new backup-to-tape job for only the single vm I want to send to tape? I know that I can't backup a vm to tape, but I have to backup in a standard repository and in a second time send it to tape (2 stages)....
Do you mean to remove that vm from my backup job (whose target is local repository) and create another backup job for only that vm?

Thank you for all other answer and links.

[Shestakov]

Valentino,

Therefore in V7 I can only send to tape an entire vbk (or vib/vbr)

You can backup to tape .vbk or .vib(stands for Veeam Incremental Backup) files. .vrb(stands for Veeam Reversed incremental Backup) files are not suitable for tapes.

Why do you suggest me to create a new backup-to-tape job for only the single vm I want to send to tape?

Actually I wrote: "I suggest to create a new backup-to-tape job for VMs you are interested to be copied".
So, yes, you can add to a backup-to-tape job as many VMs as you need.

I know that I can't backup a vm to tape, but I have to backup in a standard repository and in a second time send it to tape (2 stages)....

You can backup vms to tape.

Do you mean to remove that vm from my backup job (whose target is local repository) and create another backup job for only that vm?

Not really. From your first post I understood that you had a backup-to-disk job and you wanted to copy backups of some vms of the job to a tape. In this case you can leave the backup-to-disk job working(if you need it) and just create a new backup-to-tape job.
Thank you.

[foggy]

Therefore in V7 I can only send to tape an entire vbk (or vib/vbr) but not use the backup-copy-job which could permit to extract only one machine from it

Actually, you can, with the help of a dummy backup job.

[verre]

You can backup vms to tape.

Ehm... sorry...be patient
I call "VM" a folder containing one vmdk and other vm's files stored in a VMFS/NFS Datastore. I call "backup" a VBK file containing one or more compressed/deduplicated vms.
Having said that, the link describes the vm-to-tape backup, but I see that (as it is well described in step 3 "The source transport gets data from the backup repository and target transport service controls recording to tape.") I cannot get a vmdk from VMFS datastore but it looks to get the data from a backup repository....and in a backup repository I put backups (vbk) and not vms (vmdk). Therefore in order to send a backup to tape I have first to backup a vm from VMFS to Veeam Backup Repository and then take it from Backup Repository to Tape. Do I have forget something?

[Shestakov]

Valentino,

You are correct. I meant to say that you can keep on a tape not just files, but full VMs as well(which were backed up to a repository).
When you create backup to tape job, you can choose only from backup jobs and backup repositories.

Thanks.

[verre]

Thank you again!