Backup with DAT

[gico]

Hi all,
I'm using with satisfacion some instances of Veeam in VMware enviroment and I always use NAS or disk array in phisical server as target backup.
Now I have a simple infrastructure (few VM in SBS2008 HyperV host, BBRRR!!! ) made by the previous IT staff wich needs to be efficiently backed up.
I'm wondering if would be better to convert all in VMware system or not, but the real issue is that I have found an unboxed DAT 4 800GB ad 21 cassettes.
For me, a lot of money a lot of money thrown in the garbage...

At this point, I would kindly ask you if Veeam can manage DAT backups and (if the answer is yes) what could be the "less-worse" way to use it.

Thank you very much in advance,
Kind Regards.
Giulio

[foggy]

Giulio, tape support is coming in the next major Veeam B&R release (though I cannot say for sure that this type of devices will be natively supported - this is the question of corresponding drivers availability). But even that said, you will have to backup your VMs to some local backup repository first, prior to offloading backups to tapes. Currently, this can be done with the help of third-party solutions.

[gico]

Hi Foggy,
thanks for your kind reply!
So, If I have correctly understood, i could arrange a phisical server (maybe I can use it as vcenter server with Veeam B&R installed), this will be the main repository for the VM's backup, connect the DAT by external SAS on it and move the veeam files on tape using a third-party software (i.e. Symantec BE 2012 that arrived with the DAT)... it could work?
Which kind of backup strategy would be better to periodically move on tape?
I suppose that Veeam will not be happy to lose its backup files from one day to another..
Sorry if my question is silly but I really never used a tape... and I hoped never have to use it!

Thanks for the information!
Giulio

[foggy]

So, If I have correctly understood, i could arrange a phisical server (maybe I can use it as vcenter server with Veeam B&R installed), this will be the main repository for the VM's backup, connect the DAT by external SAS on it and move the veeam files on tape using a third-party software (i.e. Symantec BE 2012 that arrived with the DAT)... it could work?

Definitely.

Which kind of backup strategy would be better to periodically move on tape?

Though backup strategy is completely up to your specific requirements, you can search this forum for what others do - there are a lot of posts from other customers describing their backup plans that could probably give you some hints.

I suppose that Veeam will not be happy to lose its backup files from one day to another..

There is absolutely no need to remove offloaded to tape backups from disk (if that is what you meant here). Moreover, they will allow you to quickly restore in case of minor failure (while tapes sent offsite will allow to recover from a global disaster).

[dellock6]

Giulio,
my first doubt is about the media: DAT is a small tape solution (biggest one is DAT320 with a native capacity of 160Gb, and Veeam backups cannot be further compressed), usually Veeam backups are offloaded using larger solution like LTO.
If the backups fit into the DAT, I would not move veeam files to tape, but simply copy them, and let Veeam use its retention rules to delete them from disk.

Luca.

[gico]

Thanks a lot for the advice!
I'll have a look on other posts about the backup plan. I suppose that daily revense incremental (kept on hard disk) and weekly full (moved on tape) could be a chance...

Luca, yes I made a miskate.. the tape unit is a LTO 4 800GB (uncompressed) so a single cassette can accomodate the full backups of all the VM's (300GB max) and some incremental files.
Your idea is to copy a full bk and the following incremental files on tape, so as I can extend the restore point time range?

Thanks again,
have a nice day!

[dellock6]

Yes, it could be an option, it really comes down to time constraints, space on tape, will to save the same backup files as stored on disk. Usually there are two ways:
- save everyday the new incremental file to tape, so you have an exact copy of Veeam backups even on tape
- save only the vbk once per week for historical purposes, ideally without the vib you can save more vbk on the tape library thus extending the retention

Luca.