Writing VBKs to tape - new repository considerations

[orangep7]

Currently using Server 2003 for repository storage and NTBackup to commit the VBKs to tape. We'll soon be upgrading to Server 2012 R2 which means we either switch from NTBackup to Windows Server Backup, or we instead use a licensed backup solution like Symantec etc.

Due to cost I'd prefer to use native backup but is it practical using Windows Server Backup on Server 2012 R2 to commit VBKs to tape or are there any gotchas which didn't exist in NTBackup?

Cheers.

[veremin]

Since you have VB&R already in place, why not to use its tape capabilities and have all-in-one solution, instead of multiple ones? Thanks.

[orangep7]

Because we run Veeam on a VM and Veeam to tape only works if it's installed on a physical machine.

[veremin]

Not necessarily. For now you can expose a device connected to physical machine via ISCSI protocol. Otherwise, wait till v8 is released to general public, and use tape proxy functionality. Thanks.

[orangep7]

Exposing a device via iSCSI protocol isn't fully supported so it's no use to me in a Production environment which is a shame.

I'm not finding any details on v8 Tape Repositories, do you have any?

v8 Tape Repositories sound great and may be the solution here, so long as it's fully supported and documented...

[orangep7]

Correction, the last post should have said "v8 Tape Proxies sound great and may be the solution here, so long as it's fully supported and documented"

[veremin]

Can you elaborate on "unsupported" portion? We don't state anywhere that we don't support such deployment. Thanks.

[orangep7]

OK when v7 was initially released tape worked OK on physical Veeam installations but if Veeam was virtual then a 3rd party *unsupported* tape-redirector was required. If this changed in later revisions of v7 then great, but at the moment I'm still unclear on this or on what features the forthcoming v8 Tape Proxy will bring?

[foggy]

It will allow to attach tape library to any physical server (while now you can have it attached to the Veeam B&R server itself only).

[orangep7]

That's great news, I look forward to v8.

Thanks

[veremin]

You can subscribe to notifications on our web site and stay informed on Veeam V8 availability. Thanks.

[Michal2K]

Not necessarily. For now you can expose a device connected to physical machine via ISCSI protocol. Otherwise, wait till v8 is released to general public, and use tape proxy functionality. Thanks.

Color me the disgruntled one of the bunch... To be fair, Neither VMware nor Dell will support our iSCSI tape configuration.

We are 100% virtualized, our VEEAM B&R server(s) is virtual, our VEEAM proxies are all virtual. We are using a DELL TL4000 tape deck attached to our VEEAM B&R server vm and our VEEAM proxy server vm by MS iSCSI initiators. ESXi does not know the tape deck even exists. We know that ESXi does not support directly attached tape drives and did not bother attempting it.

We are having extremely bad luck backing up to Tape. When we were on Vers. 7 Veeam support stated that the amount of effort required to make our backups to tape work would too great, so they suggested we wait for Vers 8. We have been on version 8 for some time now, and we have yet to have a successful backup to tape. Veeam refuses to make this a priority 1 service request because we have several Disk to Disk jobs working (but not all). The fact that Veeam REQUIRES that all backups must go to disk prior to tape; it therefore should not be considered redundant. 

This Tape issue has been open for 6 months (SR: 00611805 & 00681130) with no less than a dozen different support engineers from Veeam webex-ing into our servers and coming away with no solution, only befuddlement. My manager has stated we will not be putting in a physical server just for backup. We had successes with Backup Exec installed on a vm and attached to the iSCSI tape deck, but we abandoned BE because we were told VEEAM now supported backup to tape.

I would like to ask if anyone else is in a 100% virtualized environment and have successful backups? if so what backup software/hardware are you using with iSCSI.

[veremin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, you're currently on version 8, the tape device is connected to virtual backup server via ISCSI, and aren't able to make backup server work with such deployment? Can you describe in few words the typical problems you're experiencing? Specific errors, warnings, etc. Thanks.

[Michal2K]

One we are getting a lot of is:

"12/22/2014 12:10:54 PM :: Failed to prepare to start new tape session: StartSessionTape failed
StartSessionTape failed Tape positioning error: An attempt to access data before the beginning-of-medium marker failed"

Code: Select all

12/19/2014 12:53:06 PM          Processing started at Friday, December 19, 2014 12:53:05 PM
12/19/2014 12:53:28 PM          Erasing tape 000005L4
12/19/2014 12:53:48 PM          Loading tape 000001L4 from Slot 4096 to Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2)
12/19/2014 12:54:12 PM          Erasing tape 000001L4
12/19/2014 12:54:35 PM          Unloading tape 000005L4 from Drive 257 (Drive ID: Tape3) to Slot 4100
12/19/2014 12:54:12 PM          Moving tape 000001L4 to media pool Free
12/19/2014 12:55:12 PM          Loading tape 000003L4 from Slot 4098 to Drive 257 (Drive ID: Tape3)
12/19/2014 12:55:37 PM          Erasing tape 000003L4
12/19/2014 12:55:59 PM          Unloading tape 000001L4 from Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2) to Slot 4096
12/19/2014 12:55:37 PM          Moving tape 000003L4 to media pool Free
12/19/2014 12:56:40 PM          Loading tape 000038L4 from Slot 4117 to Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2)
12/19/2014 12:57:06 PM          Erasing tape 000038L4
12/19/2014 12:57:26 PM          Unloading tape 000003L4 from Drive 257 (Drive ID: Tape3) to Slot 4098
12/19/2014 12:58:07 PM          Loading tape 000042L4 from Slot 4108 to Drive 257 (Drive ID: Tape3)
12/19/2014 12:58:32 PM          Erasing tape 000042L4
12/19/2014 12:58:53 PM          Unloading tape 000038L4 from Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2) to Slot 4117
12/19/2014 12:59:33 PM          Loading tape 000045L4 from Slot 4112 to Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2)
12/19/2014 12:59:56 PM          Erasing tape 000045L4
12/19/2014 1:00:29 PM          Unloading tape 000042L4 from Drive 257 (Drive ID: Tape3) to Slot 4108
12/19/2014 1:01:11 PM          Loading tape 000056L4 from Slot 4116 to Drive 257 (Drive ID: Tape3)
12/19/2014 1:01:36 PM          Erasing tape 000056L4
12/19/2014 1:01:56 PM          Unloading tape 000045L4 from Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2) to Slot 4112
12/19/2014 1:02:35 PM          Loading tape 000100L2 from Slot 4097 to Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2)
12/19/2014 1:03:00 PM          Erasing tape 000100L2
12/19/2014 1:03:00 PM          Completed successfully at Friday, December 19, 2014 1:03:00 PM

On the surface that just seems to be tape, and we have erased and re-erased these tapes (short erase) Some were brand new, some were Backup Execs that the data reached its expiration date.
but all were erased.

The only operations that do seem to work in Veeam is the Eject, Load, Erase, and Library Discovery. (However if the Erase function is giving us false successes then all bets are off...)

Inventory of tapes always fails:

Code: Select all

"12/18/2014 11:05:11 PM          Processing started at Thursday, December 18, 2014 11:05:10 PM
12/18/2014 11:05:13 PM          Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2) locked successfully
12/18/2014 11:07:02 PM          Loading tape 000001L4 from Slot 4096 to Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2)
12/18/2014 11:07:09 PM          Performing inventory for tape in Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2)
12/18/2014 11:08:24 PM          Unloading tape 000001L4 from Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2) to Slot 4096
12/18/2014 11:09:50 PM          Loading tape 000003L4 from Slot 4098 to Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2)
12/18/2014 11:09:55 PM          Performing inventory for tape in Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape2)
12/18/2014 11:27:18 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000005L4 Error: Node "Changer" does not exist.
12/18/2014 11:44:55 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000038L4 Error: Node "Changer" does not exist.
12/18/2014 11:44:55 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000042L4 Error: Node "Changer" does not exist.
12/18/2014 11:44:55 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000045L4 Error: Tape 000045L4 is used by another job.
12/18/2014 11:44:55 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000056L4 Error: Node "Changer" does not exist.
12/18/2014 11:44:55 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000100L2 Error: Node "Changer" does not exist.
12/18/2014 11:44:55 PM Error    Completed with error at Thursday, December 18, 2014 11:44:55 PM"

iSCSI attached Drives and Library is confirmed. Devices are showing up in the Device Manager. Veeam is stating that the Library and drives are there in the Tape Infrastructure... but it is like the changer controller or iSCSI bridge will not respond as expected and it is confusing the application.

Code: Select all

12/17/2014 2:30:16 PM          Processing started at Wednesday, December 17, 2014 2:30:15 PM
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000001L4 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000003L4 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000003L2 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000031L4 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000050L4 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000051L4 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000052L4 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000054L4 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000055L4 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000057L4 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000084L2 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000085L2 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000086L2 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Failed to inventory tape 000099L2 Error: Library does not contain any enabled tape drive.
12/17/2014 2:30:19 PM Error    Completed with error at Wednesday, December 17, 2014 2:30:19 PM

12/17/2014 12:43:02 PM          Processing started at Wednesday, December 17, 2014 12:43:01 PM
12/17/2014 12:44:01 PM          Loading tape 000003L2 from Slot 4108 to Drive 256 (Drive ID: Tape1)
12/17/2014 12:44:27 PM          Erasing tape 000003L2
12/17/2014 12:44:27 PM          Completed successfully at Wednesday, December 17, 2014 12:44:27 PM

Sorry about all the redundant log entries, but I am certain you can now see that there is a pattern to our attempts.
If you are with Veeam you may be able to review the WireShark logs that were placed up in Veeam's FTP site.
SR: 00681130

[Dima P.]

Hello Michal2K,
I am aware of your issues (it seems to be environment specific), and can assure you our QA and DEV teams are doing their best to get it fixed. I’ll let you know if I get any update ASAP. Thank you for your patience and sorry for any inconvenience caused.

[Dima P.]

Hello Michal2K,
A short update: Our team is working with DELL to investigate your issue. I’ll keep you posted on the results. Merry Christmas!

[farhansheikh86]

Did you find any resolution to this issue ? I am running veeam 8 with update 2 installed, but facing the same issue.

[Dima P.]

Hello Farhan,

EDIT: It seems that the described issue was resolved but the resolution was not ever confirmed via support team and we have not heard back from the topic starter here at the forums. I need to ask you to open a support case and post the case ID in this thread – support and QA team would like to check you application logs. Thank you.

[MarkLomas]

I too am having the problem of the 'node changer does not exist' error during inventory operations.

Did any progress occur with the cases? Is there a known fix for this?

--
Mark Lomas

[veremin]

Hi, Mark,

The situation has not changed since the Dmitry's reply.

Kindly, open a ticket with our support team and provide its number here.

Thanks.

[MarkLomas]

Hi there.

I have opened a case. Ticket ID is: 01069640

Many thanks
--
Mark Lomas
Probrand

[tehinternet]

Hi,

Here's my scenario. Aside from our normal backups, every 6 months we need to run a file-to-tape job to backup a directory of ours to tape. Then next 6 months later we need to write that same directory to the same tape, without overwriting the existing data. We could probably make it some kind of incremental job, but that's opposite of what we want to do. We want completely separate copies of this directory on tape each at a different restore point every 6 months.

Ultimately, when going to restore I'd like to see different restore points on the tape, each one containing this directory I wrote from that point in time.

I've tried different media pool settings for this. For the Media Set I've had it on "Do not create, always continue using current media set". For retention, I tried using "Do not protect data" but it appears to overwrite the data right away, not after filling the tape first as I was expecting. When I change retention to "Never overwrite data" when I try to write subsequent jobs I get these errors:

Tape positioning error: An attempt to access data before the beginning-of-medium marker failed Tape positioning error: An attempt to access data before the beginning-of-medium marker failed Tape positioning error: An attempt to access data before the beginning-of-medium marker failed
0 folders and 0 files backed up
Error: Tape positioning error: An attempt to access data before the beginning-of-medium marker failed
Job finished with error at 8/10/2020 1:51:09 PM

Those errors seem to be related to the 'never overwrite data' setting.

What what I am trying to do possible? If so, what kind of settings do I need to use for this.

Thanks.

[soncscy]

Heya Mike,

I think with file to tape, what you want is to just to Full each time. You'll set your media pool to "Do not create, always continue" and "never overwrite". No idea what the error there means, but I don't think it's about the media pool settings.

Basically, by configuring only full runs for your file to tape job, you'll get a full copy of the directory every time with convenient date timestamps during restores. Restoring the directory is as simple as start a restore and I think there's a Points button or something like that.

[Natalia Lupacheva]

Hi folks,

I've moved your posts to the existing topic with the similar issues.
Harvey, thank you for the details on media pool configuration!

Mike, as about the error you get, could you please open a support ticket and share its ID? It's always mandatory when you post a technical issue.
Support would be able to dig into your logs and clarify the situation.

Thank you!