Using IBM Library with Veeam

In this blog post, we shall discuss the steps in using IBM Library with Veeam. If you’ve ever worked with tape backups, you probably know that setting up a tape library with Veeam can seem a bit complicated at first. However, once you understand how everything fits together and follow the correct steps, the whole process becomes much more manageable. Please, see How to Fix Microsoft Outlook Not Syncing Issue, and how to “Install Workstation Pro 17: Fix failed to initialise library for mounting and unmounting virtual disks“.

I’d like to share my hands-on experience with this integration, from detecting the library, configuring the environment, creating tape jobs.

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Installing the Medium Changer Driver

Before anything else, it’s important that Veeam correctly detects both the tape library and the tape drives. After connecting the device via SAS or FC through the HBA, installing the correct drivers is a critical step.

Go to IBM Fix Central and download the drivers for the library and your LTO drive models.

On Windows, make sure the Medium Changer is listed as IBM 3573-TLMedium Changer. If it shows up as Unknown Medium Changer, Veeam might not be able to identify it correctly.

Also, verify that the LTO drives are using the proper drivers, no yellow exclamation marks in Device Manager.

Configuring the Control Path

Within the web interface of the IBM TS4300 library, you can define which drive will act as the Control Path.

This is the drive responsible for managing the communication between the library and the backup software (in this case, Veeam).

The Control Path is essentially the channel through which commands like tape loading, unloading, inventory, and library status are sent.

Without a properly configured Control Path, the backup software may not be able to interact with the tape library at all.

In libraries with multiple tape drives, it’s important to ensure that at least one drive is designated as the Control Path, and that the connection to it is stable. Misconfiguring this setting can lead to issues such as the library not being recognized or tape jobs failing to start.

A good practice is to double-check the Control Path assignment after installation, especially if you’re working in an environment with dual drives or more, to make sure everything is communicating properly.

Auto Clean: Let the Library Handle Drive Cleaning

Tape drives, just like any other hardware with moving parts, require regular maintenance to function properly and one of the most important tasks is cleaning the drive’s read/write heads.

Over time, dust and magnetic particles from the tapes can accumulate on the heads, leading to read/write errors or degraded performance.

Fortunately, the IBM TS4300 tape library supports an Auto Clean feature, which allows the library to handle this maintenance automatically, without user intervention.

Here’s how it works:

• First, insert a cleaning tape into one of the library’s available slots.
• Then, go into the library’s web interface and mark that slot as a “Cleaning Slot.”
• Finally, enable the Auto Clean option.

Once configured, the library will monitor the status of each drive and automatically run a cleaning cycle whenever it detects that a drive needs maintenance, based on internal thresholds or SCSI error signals. This eliminates the need for manual tracking and ensures your drives remain in good condition over time.

Using Auto Clean is especially useful in environments where the tape library is not always physically accessible, or where backup jobs run unattended outside business hours.

Cleaning tapes are specifically designed to remove debris and buildup from the read/write heads of the tape drives. However, unlike regular data tapes, they have a limited number of uses, typically around 50 cleaning cycles.

The library keeps track of how many times the cleaning tape has been used. Once it reaches the end of its life cycle, it should be replaced to ensure effective maintenance. Using an expired cleaning tape can result in ineffective cleaning or even damage to the drive heads.

For best results, always use cleaning tapes recommended by the tape drive manufacturer and store them properly to avoid contamination or wear before use.

LTO Versions and Compatibility

The TS4300 supports multiple LTO versions: LTO-6, 7, 8, 9…

A quick compatibility rule:

• An LTO-8 drive, for example, can read LTO-6 and both read/write LTO-7 and LTO-8.
• Always double-check compatibility before purchasing new tapes, especially in mixed-drive environments.

Adding the Library to Veeam

In the Veeam console, go to Tape Infrastructure and add the server with access to the tape. If the drivers are installed correctly, Veeam will automatically detect the drives and slots.

Organizing Tapes with Media Pools

Media Pools in Veeam help you organize your tapes:

• You can create pools based on data type, retention policies, or usage.
• For long-term archiving, you can configure GFS Media Pools (for weekly, monthly, yearly retention).

Media pools also let you set overwrite protection, encryption, and how long to keep catalog information.

Once your tape library is properly integrated and recognized by Veeam, the next step is to configure tape backup jobs. This process is key to ensuring your data is archived correctly and that you have full control over how long it’s retained and how media is managed.

When creating a tape job, one of the first settings you’ll encounter is the option to define how media sets are handled. A media set is a logical grouping of tape media that belong to a particular backup chain.

Veeam gives you flexibility here:

• You can create a new media set for every session, which is useful for keeping backups isolated and easy to track by date.
• Or, you can choose to append to an existingmedia set, allowing you to reuse tapes until they are full. This is efficient in environments with limited tape rotation.

There’s also an option to protect the media set, preventing other jobs from overwriting it during a defined protection period.

Retention is another critical piece of the puzzle. In tape jobs, Veeam uses the concept of “Protection Period” to determine how long a tape is locked before it becomes available for reuse.

For example:

• If you set a protection period of 30 days, Veeam will not overwrite or reuse the tape until those 30 days have passed.
• This is especially useful for compliance, long-term storage, and when you need to retain backups monthly or yearly.

Retention can be aligned with your organization’s backup policy like GFS strategies, for managing weekly, monthly, and yearly archives effectively.

However, it’s important to be cautious with short retention periods. Imagine a scenario where your full backup is written to tape, and the protection period is set to just 30 days.

If that tape is reused or overwritten after the protection expires, and you don’t have another full backup on another tape set, you may lose the only valid restore point for that period.

To avoid this, make sure your retention policy matches your restore requirements. For example:

• Always ensure that at least one full backup remains protected and available for as long as needed.
• Combine proper scheduling with GFS (Grandfather-Father-Son) strategies to keep weekly, monthly, and yearly full backups safe from premature reuse.
• Consider using separate media pools for different retention classes (e.g., weekly vs. monthly) to avoid overlaps.

Planning your tape rotation carefully and monitoring the expiration of protection periods helps ensure you’re never caught without a reliable restore point when you need it most.

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Creating Tape Jobs in Veeam

When setting up tape jobs in Veeam, understanding the types and behaviour of each job is essential to designing an efficient and reliable backup-to-tape strategy.

Veeam offers two primary types of tape jobs:

• Backups to Tape
  This type copies existing backup files from a backup repository to tape. It’s typically used for long-term storage or offsite archiving of backups that are already stored on disk.
• File to Tape
  This job type is designed to copy individual files or entire folders directly from a file system to tape. It’s ideal for archiving static data, large file shares, or folders outside Veeam’s regular backup structure.

Choosing between the two depends on your use case, use “Backups to Tape” for Veeam-managed backups, and “File to Tape” for traditional file-level archiving.

Backup Chain and Synthetic Fulls

This part is critical, especially when using “Backups to Tape” jobs.

• If your backup job on disk is using a Forever Forward Incremental method, Veeam can create synthetic fulls on tape. This means it will reconstruct a full backup from the existing incremental chain without needing a new full backup on disk .
• If you’re using Forward Incremental, however, Veeam will only copy the actual full backup file from the repository to tape. In this case, no synthetic full will be created on tape.

Important Note: The “Full backups only” option in the tape job works only with Forever Forward Incremental chains. Otherwise, Veeam won’t be able to synthesize a full on tape, and your job may fail or copy incrementals alone.

Retention and Protection Period

Tape retention in Veeam is controlled by the Protection Period setting, the time during which a tape cannot be reused or overwritten.

• For example, if you set a protection period of 30 days, Veeam will keep the tape locked for that duration after the job completes.
• This is crucial in environments using GFS (Grandfather-Father-Son) strategies, where you retain full backups weekly, monthly, or yearly. You can configure specific media pools for each GFS tier and apply custom protection periods accordingly.

Important: Be careful with short retention periods. If a tape holding a full backup expires too early, you might be left with only incrementals, making full recovery impossible. Always align your retention with restore requirements and compliance policies.

Job Options and Best Practices

When creating a tape job, Veeam offers several advanced options to help manage the tape process effectively:

Eject tape after job:The library will automatically move the tape to the I/E station.

Export tapes: Works together with the I/E slots to automate the movement of tapes once a job is complete.

Vaults: sLogical groupings that help organize tapes based on retention purpose (e.g., Monthly, Quarterly).

Parallel processing: Enables faster tape throughput by using multiple drives simultaneously.

Tape Out and Tape In

Managing the physical tape lifecycle is a crucial part of working with tape libraries, especially in offsite backup strategies. This is where the concepts of Tape Out and Tape In come into play:

• Tape Out

The term “Tape Out” refers to the process of preparing tapes to be moved to offsite storage. Once the job completes and the tape is ready to be removed:

• Veeam can automatically move the tape to the I/E Station (Import/Export) of the tape library, if available.
• To do this, right-click on the tape in Tape Infrastructure > Export.
• Afterward, you can physically remove the tape safely and transport it to a secure location, such as a vault or offsite storage facility outside the data center.

• Tape In

When tapes are returned, they need to be reimported into Veeam’s inventory to be reused:

• Insert the tape into the I/O Station.
• In the Veeam console, go to Tape Infrastructure > right-click > Import Tapes.
• Veeam will read the contents of the tape, update the catalog, and make the tape available for new jobs or restores.

This practice ensures that the tape lifecycle is properly managed, helping maintain an organized backup environment and preventing tapes that are outside the inventory from being accidentally reused.

Important Considerations and Variations

While the information provided here is accurate and based on typical scenarios. It’s important to keep in mind that specific configurations and behaviors can vary depending on your environment and software versions. Here are some key factors to consider:

• Veeam Version
  Veeam frequently releases updates that may introduce interface changes, additional features, or improvements in tape job handling. Always consult the official documentation for the version you are using.
• Tape Library Firmware
  The behavior of your tape library — including auto-cleaning, tape handling, and I/E station integration — can vary depending on the firmware version. Ensure your tape library and drives have up-to-date firmware, especially when troubleshooting or configuring advanced options.
• Infrastructure Specifics
  Elements like network bandwidth, storage performance, server hardware, and even antivirus exclusions can affect the performance and reliability of tape jobs.
  For example:
  • A slow repository or congested network link might cause timeouts during backup to tape.
  • Incompatibilities between SCSI drivers and the OS can prevent the tape library from being detected properly.

I hope you found this article very useful on using IBM Library with Veeam. Please, feel free to leave a comment below.