How to backup to tape in a hyper-V world

[NickC_UK]

Are there any network attached tape devices available to allow us to get data from a server 2012 R2 VM on hyper-V backed-up onto tape?


First problem is that server 2012 doesn't support backup to tape, but that can be solved with a 3rd party tape backup solution.


Second problem is how to get the virtual machine, server 2012 R2, to somehow communicate with the tape drive, hyper-V does not support USB passthrough.


How is everyone else getting their data written to tape in the hyper-v world?

 

[thecoolnessrune]

There's a lot of products out there, but, in my opinion, the best options are IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for VM-level backups, or the host level using Veeam. Veeam, again in my opinion, is absolutely fantastic in its ability to run on the host, and backup, dedup, and compress to almost any storage media, including tapes (as long as the tape drive is viewable in Device Manager on Hyper-V, it can be used by Veeam). And given what things usually cost in the enterprise world, it's actually surprisingly cheap.

 

[Phynaz]

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

This x 10. Of course I don't know if you were looking to pay the kind of money that IBM charges. I am assuming this is for business and not personal backup?

 

[NickC_UK]

There's a lot of products out there, but, in my opinion, the best options are IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for VM-level backups, or the host level using Veeam. Veeam, again in my opinion, is absolutely fantastic in its ability to run on the host, and backup, dedup, and compress to almost any storage media, including tapes (as long as the tape drive is viewable in Device Manager on Hyper-V, it can be used by Veeam). And given what things usually cost in the enterprise world, it's actually surprisingly cheap.

Problem is data we are backing up is in virtual disks which are open by the VM. Very inefficient to backup the whole virtual disk so just want to backup files within it, therefore backup software needs to actually run on the VM not the host.

 

[Gunbuster]

System Center Data Protection Manager? You backup to a disk array but can then dump it over to tapes.

 

[Jeff7181]

To clarify, your Hyper-V server is standalone with internal storage?

 

[NickC_UK]

To clarify, your Hyper-V server is standalone with internal storage?

Yes, single hyper-v server with integral Raid array. Disks with data on are virtual disks currently open by one of the server 2012 R2 virtual machines.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Problem is data we are backing up is in virtual disks which are open by the VM. Very inefficient to backup the whole virtual disk so just want to backup files within it, therefore backup software needs to actually run on the VM not the host.

Can't you just use Windows Server Backup within the VM and back the files up to a network share, which is then backed up to tape as part of your larger backup strategy?

 

[imagoon]

Veeam handles all of that. Open files, VHD restore, file level etc. 7 also support tape.

 

[Jeff7181]

Maybe this will work for you?
http://www.send4help.net/full-backups-of-running-hyper-v-guests-309

I understand that won't get them onto tape, but that will get them to another location that you can back up to tape.

 

[Emulex]

stick with veeam mate.

 

[Gunbuster]

stick with veeam mate.

Or DPM if you need to be a little cheaper. (And a lot cheaper if you have a Microsoft contract like the Action Pack)