Backup to Tape vs Files to tape for large NAS share

[evander]

Hi. I have read through all the Veeam documentation plus any other internet info I can find and I confess I am still confused regarding "Backups to tape" and "Files to tape" and which is the best option for my use case. Please provide some guidance.

I am trying to backup a large'ish NAS (Dell Powerstore) SMB share. Well a few different shares in reality.

I have successfully got the SMB share backup to disk working. Now I want to push those same backups to tape.

One SMB share is about 40+TB is size with millions of files and growing fast.

Which would be the better option (both from a backup and restore perspective) to send this to tape. Should I use Backup to Tape or File to Tape?
I have tested Backup to Tape with a smaller SMB share and it works well and performance is good but the restore does not allow me to restore individual files or folders.

If I use "Files to Tape" option instead, will this allow me to choose individual files and folders to restore from Tape? And if so, will it be able to successfully backup millions of files and many TBs of data at the same performance as the Backup to Tape option? My gut says no but I havent been able to find any definitive best practice suggestions on this use case.

Would be very happy to take any suggestions.

Edit: Changed the post title to be a bit more descriptive.

[Dima P.]

Hello evander,

Which would be the better option (both from a backup and restore perspective) to send this to tape. Should I use Backup to Tape or File to Tape?

File to tape will cost your license the same amount of licenses NAS backup has already consumed as primary jobs are licensed independently.

but the restore does not allow me to restore individual files or folders.

Both NAS backup to tape and File to tape have ability to restore single files from tape because with both methods you store files in native format on the tape media. Are you sure you've used correct options in the UI (you need to go to File catalog to view files on tape)?

Thank you!

[evander]

Thank you Dima, I think I have figured it out following you feedback. Still busy testing because I have to wait a long time for some of these multi-TB tape jobs to complete but I think things are now on track.

Appreciate the help.

[MartinO]

Backup To Tape allows you to do a file-level restore, once you've restored the entire backup file to a staging area - normally the primary repository. It does mean you require plenty of disk space to do this though!

[Dima P.]

Martin,

Luckily for NAS backups to tape staging repo is not required because we store the data in native format and you can do file level recovery directly from tape. Thanks!