Transitioning from BE for tape backup to VEEAM 7

[cffit]

We've been using VEEAM for our backups for over a year now and then using BE to backup the VEEAM files to tape. Our BE server and VEEAM server are two different physical servers. I'm now in the process of migrating my tape backup from BE to VEEAM. I'd like to be able to keep my BE tape backups going while I take some time to test out the VEEAM backup to tape, but I only have one tape library/drive to use, an Overland NEO 200.

Can I just swap the SAS cable between our BE server and VEEAM server and have each of them use their own partitions? I'm unsure if the partitioning is done on the library/autoloader side or if it's done on the server/software end.

Has the backup to tape option in VEEAM been very solid for most? Is there an update coming out soon that might address some tape issues that I should wait for before I make this transition?

I'm sure others have had to do this. Does anyone have any advice on how to go about this?

[Dima P.]

Hello Christensen,

Can I just swap the SAS cable between our BE server and VEEAM server and have each of them use their own partitions? I'm unsure if the partitioning is done on the library/autoloader side or if it's done on the server/software end.

Partitioning is performed on the tape media library end thru the library control panel. According to users reports it works with Veeam B&R with no issues, however I would like to double check your scenario with our QA just to make sure.

Has the backup to tape option in VEEAM been very solid for most? Is there an update coming out soon that might address some tape issues that I should wait for before I make this transition?

We already released patch 1 and patch 2 is coming, so we address all the problems or improvements requested by users, so I can say that tape feature is pretty solid.

I'm sure others have had to do this. Does anyone have any advice on how to go about this?

Recently many users switched to Veeam tape functionality - you can search across Tape forum, the feedback is very positive .

The main problem reported during migration from BE to our tape functionality is the drivers issue. In order to use VBR tape functionality you need to install original tape library nonexclusive drivers. That would not be a case if you are running VBR and BE on separate servers, but it is good to keep it in mind.

Will update this thread as soon as get any update regarding the first question – stay tuned.

[cffit]

Thank you for the response. Just to clarify, if I have a server with BE and have a 12-slot tape library partitioned into 3 partitions, when I unplug the library from our BE server and plug it into the VEEAM server, it will show up with the same partitioning most likely? And if I experiment around during the day with the library connected to the VEEAM server, then plug it back into the BE server at the end of the day, it should work fine to do regular, scheduled backups with BE?

I don't expect any support with BE or the tape library, but I was mostly wondering if the concept that I'm explaining would likely work.

Also, will the tape library appear when I connect the library to the VEEAM server, then disappear when I move it back to the BE server? Or will it show up "offline" or something once it's initially showing up?

Thanks!

[veremin]

Actually, the current version has been tested with partitioned libraries, and everything seems to be working ok, apart from import/export slots that not always are properly recognized. However, this problem should be fixed in the upcoming patch#2.

The library that goes offline will be marked as “Offline”.

Thanks.

[cffit]

I was able to get everything working so far. Thank you!

I did have the autoloader partitioned in 3 partitions when I set it up with Backup Exec. When I connect it to VEEAM, I don't see any partitions. I don't even know where I would see them? Just curious how this should look in VEEAM.

Also, is there an "overwrite" or "append" option? If I have a tape that I backup with today, in a week when the retention runs out, will a the next job overwrite I assume? So all tapes are appendable until they are overwriteable at which point they will overwrite instead of append?

Lastly, when I do a job to backup "Backups to Tape", and I specify by repository, is that only an option to backup everything in full? Or can you do an incremental somehow in this option?

[veremin]

Also, is there an "overwrite" or "append" option? If I have a tape that I backup with today, in a week when the retention runs out, will a the next job overwrite I assume? So all tapes are appendable until they are overwriteable at which point they will overwrite instead of append?

These options are configurable via Media Pool settings (Media Set, Retention). The following combination of settings seems to answer your requirements:

• Media Set creation -> Don’t create, always continue using current media set
• Retention -> Protect data for X days (specify here whatever value you want to)

This way, the data will keep being appended, until the retention period is exceeded.

Lastly, when I do a job to backup "Backups to Tape", and I specify by repository, is that only an option to backup everything in full? Or can you do an incremental somehow in this option?

It depends on backup mode being used. In case of forward incremental, the backup to tape job pointed to repository should process .vbk, as well as, .vib files. In case of reversed, only .vbk files will be processed, meanwhile, vrb files will be skipped.

Thanks.

[cffit]

Sorry, I'm getting a little confused now..

I get it now that with the "Backups to Tape" then if I for instance did forward incrementals and I had a full on Sunday, then incrementals on M,Tu,W,Th,F, my Friday night backup would inclue the the full from Sunday and all the incrementals since then on the backup? The way I've been doing it with Symantec is that Sunday's backup backs up the full backup, Monday's backup ONLY backs up Monday's incremental backup file, Tuesday's backup only backs up Tuesday's incremental backup file, etc, so that each day's backup only backs up the prior day's single backup file whether that be a full backup file or just an incremental file. I guess if I wanted to continue this route I'd need to backup my VEEAM backups as "files" and not "backups" correct? So VEEAM's thinking of backing up "Backups to Tape" is to have every single tape include everything you'd need to restore a full backup?

How does this work if you keep multiple week's worth of backups in the repository? Does it backup 2 or 3 week's worth if you keep that many? Or does it just backup the latest full and incremental backups to tape?

In Backup Exec, you specified within a job whether you wanted that job to "overwrite" or "append". So the first job that ran for the night would "overwrite", then the additional jobs that ran after that would "append". You didn't want the jobs that ran after the initial job to "overwrite" because you would lose your initial backup job's files. I'm kind of confused how VEEAM is doing this.

Also, does VEEAM see library partitions? If so, where can I see them?

[foggy]

I get it now that with the "Backups to Tape" then if I for instance did forward incrementals and I had a full on Sunday, then incrementals on M,Tu,W,Th,F, my Friday night backup would inclue the the full from Sunday and all the incrementals since then on the backup? The way I've been doing it with Symantec is that Sunday's backup backs up the full backup, Monday's backup ONLY backs up Monday's incremental backup file, Tuesday's backup only backs up Tuesday's incremental backup file, etc, so that each day's backup only backs up the prior day's single backup file whether that be a full backup file or just an incremental file.

No, it's the way you describe it for BE, only files that were not previously copied to tape will be copied.

In Backup Exec, you specified within a job whether you wanted that job to "overwrite" or "append". So the first job that ran for the night would "overwrite", then the additional jobs that ran after that would "append". You didn't want the jobs that ran after the initial job to "overwrite" because you would lose your initial backup job's files. I'm kind of confused how VEEAM is doing this.

The media pool settings provided above allow to implement the same behavior.

[Dima P.]

Christensen,

VBR should perfectly work with library logical partitions, displaying them in the console as three separate libraries. I would recommend you to check windows device manager and see what number of tape devices is identified by windows. Possibly some logical devices are not recognized and in this case drivers should be installed.

[veremin]

I did have the autoloader partitioned in 3 partitions when I set it up with Backup Exec. When I connect it to VEEAM, I don't see any partitions. I don't even know where I would see them? Just curious how this should look in VEEAM.

I'm wondering how you partitioned a corresponding library. Using its native built-in mechanism (hardware level) or using Backup Exec (software level), instead? Thanks.

[cffit]

I'm guessing the library is partitioned with BE so it probably won't show in VEEAM. Thanks

As for media pools being used to set overwriting and appending... If you have a media pool set to append and be protected for 13 days, and on day one you backup to a tape in this media pool, can you append to that tape for days 2-12 as long as there is room on it? If you append to it on day 12, does that re-set the 13 day protection or does the protection start from the day the tape is first written to?

Sorry for the continued confusion. I think we are about done. Thanks again all.

[veremin]

If you have a media pool set to append and be protected for 13 days, and on day one you backup to a tape in this media pool, can you append to that tape for days 2-12 as long as there is room on it

As long as option “Always continue current media set” is selected and there is a space on a given medium, the data should be appended to it.

If you append to it on day 12, does that re-set the 13 day protection or does the protection start from the day the tape is first written to?

Protection period is related to interval during which archives on tapes should be preserved. Once the period is exceeded, data will be overwritten, starting with the cassette that has the oldest archive.

In case of one tape hosting several backup cycles, the data will be overwritten only when the latest-written cycle (12th one) will fall out of the specified retention period.

Thanks.

[cffit]

Thanks that clears this up for me. Can you explain a situation where you'd want to create media sets for each individual backup? In the past I've always just had one media set for weekday backups and one for weekend backups, and they never changed.

[veremin]

It depends solely on customer needs and desires. Some of them might prefer to have one independent full backup per mediaset, so, they use reversed incremental mode in conjunction with daily media-set. In general, this scenario might be implemented when the size of backup perfectly fits into one cassette. Should any disaster happen, you would be able to restore full backup, using just one tape.

Thanks.

[cffit]

I noticed earlier in this thread you commented on some issues with VEEAM recognizing the import/export slot. When I try to do an import I get "No I/E ports found" error. I know that patch 2 is coming out anyday now, but is there a workaround to this? I have an Overland NEO 200s library and it is listed on the tested and compatible list in these forums.

[veremin]

According to QA team, issues with unrecognized/wrongly recognized ports of portioned library should be fixed in the upcoming V7 R2 (previously-known as patch#2).

Anyway, in order to understand whether your issue is a similar to the ones fixed in R2, you might want open a ticket with our support team and let them investigate it directly.

Thanks.

[cffit]

Is the R2 patch set to be released today or tomorrow? Or when is it slated for release?

[veremin]

It's already released. So, you can test it and see whether the issue is solved or not. Thanks.

[cffit]

It's still not able to find the import/export slot after patch 2. I have a case open with support, but I don't get the feeling that support is very strong on tape issues from all my calls about backup to tape so far. My only way to get tapes in the library is to plug our library into our BE server, import the tapes, then unplug the libarary and plug it into the VEEAM server and from there I can backup and even export tapes.

Patch 2 also caused my tape drive to show up as offline even after a reboot. I had to remove all my tapes in inventory and then the drive magically came online. I could never do this if this was my production backup to tape solution right now, but since I'm just testing it was ok. Makes me very nervous to cut over to VEEAM as my backup to tape solution even though I've been dying to do this for two years now.

[veremin]

Could you provide your ticket number, please, and after the weekend I will ask the QA team to take a look at your issues with partitioning library and missing tape medias? Thanks.

[cffit]

My ticket number is 00478111. The ticket was originally opened because my tape drive/library shows up offline after the patch 2 install, and even rebooting didn't help. Then once I got the tape drive to show up after deleting all the media, I tried to import a tape and I just get an error "No I/E ports found". This is for a tape library that is listed in the forums as tested and working, an Overland NEO 200s. Thank you.

[Dima P.]

Hello Christensen,

Thank you for the case ID! One small question - are you using barcode reader functionality with your tape device, or running it as a blind library?

[cffit]

We put barcodes on all our tapes yes.

[Dima P.]

Christensen,

Thank you for the heads-up. I forwarded your case to our QA team; together with support team they would help you to fix this problem. Cheers!

[cffit]

Thank you for your help.

[Dima P.]

Hello Christensen,

Support team indicated that issue should be resolved by now. Please let us know if you still have any questions or issues that need to be assisted. Thank you.