V8 Tape confusion

[pufferdude]

Can someone set me straight on how a NEW INSTALL (not upgrade) of VB&R V8 works with tape hardware? In reading the User Guide (rev 3) I came across these passages:

page 230: "If you deploy Veeam Backup & Replication anew, you must connect the tape device via the tape server."

page 230: "If you upgrade Veeam Backup & Replication to version 8, you can connect the tape device via the tape server or use a direct connection."

page 701: "Choose a machine that will act as the tape server. The tape server must be a dedicated Microsoft Windows server, physical or virtual, accessible by Veeam Backup & Replication."

My interpretation of these pages is that if you intall a NEW instance of VB&R V8, you can no longer attach tape hardware directly to the VB&R server, but must use a "dedicated" Windows server with the Tape Server role to connect the physical tape hardware... but if you UPGRADE from V7 with existing tape hardware connected to the VB&R box, you can continue to use it that way.

Am I interpreting this correctly? My confusion stems from asking this question via Twitter and getting responses from Veeam that yes, you CAN connect tape hardware directly to a NEW V8 install... but that seems to contradict the user guide, unless I'm just mis-interpreting everything on those pages.

Can someone confirm that a NEW INSTALL of V8 can have tape hardware attached to it, or if in fact I DO need a dedicated, separate Windows box on which to attach the tape hardware and run the Tape Server role?

Thanks.

[chrisdearden]

where is your tape drive currently connected? I think this is just a matter of the guides wording. The tape server role can be installed on the backup server, its just not done as part of a fresh install.

[GeoffB]

Agreed. Recently did an install with a physical tape library connected to the backup server, and had a backup to tape working very quickly.

[pufferdude]

Thanks for the confirmation. My tape drive is currently not connected anywhere, as it's not here yet I'm getting a new physical Veeam server and was planning on attaching a new tape loader to it, but then when I read the docs (especially "The tape server must be a *dedicated Microsoft Windows server*, physical or virtual, accessible by Veeam Backup & Replication") I got concerned that my plan wasn't going to work and that I'd need another server to host the tape hardware. Looks like that's not the case, though the statement above from the docs is now even more perplexing

Thanks again.

[seadave]

Thanks for the confirmation. My tape drive is currently not connected anywhere, as it's not here yet I'm getting a new physical Veeam server and was planning on attaching a new tape loader to it, but then when I read the docs (especially "The tape server must be a *dedicated Microsoft Windows server*, physical or virtual, accessible by Veeam Backup & Replication") I got concerned that my plan wasn't going to work and that I'd need another server to host the tape hardware. Looks like that's not the case, though the statement above from the docs is now even more perplexing

Thanks again.

Make sure your new server has an HBA that works with your tape drive. We ordered a new Dell server and didn't dig deep enough. Came with a super fast new HBA. Turns out it won't support the older tape library we are still using. We have one that will on order now.

[gparker]

Hi, for a new B&R v8 deployment, can the tape server role run on the Veeam B&R server, or must it be located on a separate Windows server? I want to connect my tape library directly to my B&R server. The "&R v8 for VMware" users guide seems to say that the tape server role can only exist on the B&R server if B&R is being upgraded from v7? Is that right?

Regards,
George.

[veremin]

Hi, George,

You can assign role of tape server to your backup server. No issues with that.

Thanks.

[gparker]

Ok great, thanks very much

Regards,
George.

[veremin]

You're welcome. Don't hesitate to ask additional questions, should need be. Thanks.