"Standard" File-to-Tape best practices

[Novox]

I only have a VBR "Standard" license which means my shiny new Quantum LTO-8 drive and tapes can't barely do anything since file-to-tape is the only supported tape backup method.

Therefore, what are the best practices to integrate a tape solution into an existing backup infrastructure with only file-to-tape functionality? It seems I need to add my VBR backup repository again as a "file share" and then back that up to get Veeam backup files on tape.

Originally, I was hoping to be able to put in one tape each day of the week (or even GFS), and file-to-tape can do incremental backups, however, with this rotation, I'll have incremental .vib files all over the place and a restore could be a nightmare. I may have a .vbk file here and there based on how the original backup job runs.

Additionally, when it comes time to overwrite a tape, if I overwrite the wrong tape, the whole backup chain could be lost if any required vbk or vib is erased.

Aside from upgrading to "Enterprise" for Veeam integrated backup-to-tape functionality, what are my options? I really don't want to have to manage my tapes "out of band" like this :/

I guess I'm hoping Veeam has some sort of write up on how to minimally introduce a tape infrastructure like this.

Thank you!

[HannesK]

Hello,

it seems I need to add my VBR backup repository again as a "file share"

I don't know what your backup repository is, but in general: no. You can choose every managed server as source. If your backup repository is an SMB / NFS share, then yes, add it as a file share.

Originally, I was hoping to be able to put in one tape each day of the week

that should be no problem if you have configured the standard backup mode (forward incremental with synthetic full or active full).

if I overwrite the wrong tape

that should not happen, if you configure the retention of the tape according to your requirements

Aside from upgrading to "Enterprise"

upgrade to universal licensing? (that's Enterprise Plus in the end, but depending on how many VMs you have, it still might be cheaper than upgrading sockets)

Best regards,
Hannes

[Novox]

Thank you, Hannes.

Re:

that should be no problem if you have configured the standard backup mode (forward incremental with synthetic full or active full).

It seems I would need daily VBK files to back them up to tape daily (and have each tape exist and be readable independent of other tapes). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I could do this with reverse-incremental jobs, which generates .vbk files at the END of the chain (i.e. most recent backup is injected into the .vbk), then with file inclusions/exclusions, only include *.vbk. This would flood my tapes with vbk's, but it seems necessary since I don't want to manage Veeam backup chains myself.

Is that the other way to do it?

If I leave them as forward incremental, I assume this would backup the last .vib during an incremental backup and the vbk at the start of the chain (potentially very old) would also be merged and appear as a changed file. This would flood my tapes with old vbk's, new vib's, and nothing in between to complete the chain.

For these reasons, I am definitely contemplating upgrading to "Veeam Backup Essentials" which includes "Enterprise Plus" functionality, but universal instance licensing (I have 5 VM's to protect). Do all these concerns go away with backup-to-tape jobs (Veeam fully manages where everything is on tape, "oh, you want to restore this file? Insert tape XYZ!")?

Thank you!

[HannesK]

Hello,
you asked for incremental backups to tape... they are possible in the forward with synthetic / active full.

If you want full backup to tape every day, then reverse incremental is the way to go. The tape job simply copies the file. Actually it makes everything very easy and solves all your requests if that's fine for you.

For forward incremental: you need the full chain. If one increment is missing in the chain, then all newer increments are useless.

If you are really worried about inserting tapes, then I would think about object storage. I always say that I'm too young for tape. I already wanted to suggest it yesterday, but object storage is also an Enterprise Edition feature.

Best regards,
Hannes