StarWind Virtual Tape Library Used with Veritas Backup Exec

Transcription

1 One Stop Virtualization Shop StarWind Virtual Tape Library SEPTEMBER 2018 TECHNICAL PAPER

2 Trademarks StarWind, StarWind Software and the StarWind and the StarWind Software logos are registered trademarks of StarWind Software. StarWind LSFS is a trademark of StarWind Software which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners. Changes The material in this document is for information only and is subject to change without notice. While reasonable efforts have been made in the preparation of this document to assure its accuracy, StarWind Software assumes no liability resulting from errors or omissions in this document, or from the use of the information contained herein. StarWind Software reserves the right to make changes in the product design without reservation and without notification to its users. Technical Support and Services If you have questions about installing or using this software, check this and other documents first - you will find answers to most of your questions on the Technical Papers webpage or in StarWind Forum. If you need further assistance, please contact us. About StarWind StarWind is a pioneer in virtualization and a company that participated in the development of this technology from its earliest days. Now the company is among the leading vendors of software and hardware hyper-converged solutions. The company s core product is the years-proven StarWind Virtual SAN, which allows SMB and ROBO to benefit from cost-efficient hyperconverged IT infrastructure. Having earned a reputation of reliability, StarWind created a hardware product line and is actively tapping into hyperconverged and storage appliances market. In 2016, Gartner named StarWind Cool Vendor for Compute Platforms following the success and popularity of StarWind HyperConverged Appliance. StarWind partners with world-known companies: Microsoft, VMware, Veeam, Intel, Dell, Mellanox, Citrix, Western Digital, etc. Copyright StarWind Software Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of StarWind Software. TECHNICAL PAPER 2

3 Contents Introduction... 4 Simple configuration diagram... 5 Creating a Virtual Tape Library... 6 Mounting the VTL on the backup server Installing tape library drivers Adding StarWind VTL device to Veritas Backup Exec Configuring Backup to Tape job in Veritas Backup Exec Restore data from in Veritas Backup Exec Conclusion Contacts TECHNICAL PAPER 3

4 Introduction Backup process is an inevitable part of the disaster recovery plan in any company that complies with regulatory data archival and retention requirements. In traditional infrastructures, critical data is transported off-site using removable storage media such as magnetic tapes. In the virtualized infrastructures, backup is possible with the virtual tapes and specific backup software. This technical paper provides the detailed instructions on how to deploy StarWind Virtual Tape Library (VTL), the data storage virtualization technology that emulates industry-standard tape hardware, together with Veritas Backup Exec to manage and accelerate the backup process. StarWind VTL eliminates any need in physical tapes and guarantees the data protection as the virtual tapes are ransomware-resilient. Therefore, this technology would be the right choice for SMBs and Enterprises that plan to shift from the physical tapes and get to the next level of the data protection. StarWind VTL would be ideal for those who want to accelerate the backup process. When the backup window must be shrunk to avoid the production time overlap, StarWind VTL together with Veritas Backup Exec comes as the solution that speeds up the backup process. This guide is intended for the experienced StarWind users, system administrators, and IT professionals who would like to configure StarWind VTL. This technical paper provides the detailed information on how to deploy StarWind VTL, create VTL devices that will run on top of Windows Server 2016 and add them to Veritas Backup Exec to accelerate the backup process. A full set of up-to-date technical documentation can always be found here, or by pressing the Help button in the StarWind Management Console. For any technical inquiries please visit our online community, Frequently Asked Questions page, or use the support form to contact our technical support department. TECHNICAL PAPER 4

5 Simple configuration diagram This guide assumes that StarWind Virtual Tape Library (VTL) and Veritas Backup Exec are installed on different servers which are connected to the same network ( x). It is recommended to configure a separate dedicated network channel for backups to achieve the required performance. As an option, both applications can be installed on the same server. TECHNICAL PAPER 5

6 Creating a Virtual Tape Library Install StarWind VSAN on the server by following the steps specified in this guide: Launch StarWind Management Console by double-clicking on the corresponding icon in the tray. NOTE: To add StarWind server to the console, use the Add Server button on the control panel. StarWind Management Console will ask to specify the default storage pool on the server. Please, configure the default storage pool to use one of the volumes previously prepared as a StarWind storage. All the devices will be stored on that storage pool by default. Click Yes to configure the storage pool. Click Choose path to change the storage pool destination. TECHNICAL PAPER 6

7 Select the StarWind server where the device will be created, then click Add VTL Device on the toolbar. TECHNICAL PAPER 7

8 In the Add Device Wizard window, specify Name and Location of the new Virtual Tape Library. Click Next to continue. TECHNICAL PAPER 8

9 Select Device Model from the drop-down list. In this document, HP MSL8096 device is used. By default, the newly created Tape Library has slots filled by empty tapes. To create a Tape Library without tapes, tick the appropriate checkbox. Click Next to continue. NOTE: Tapes could be added manually later after the creation of Virtual Tape Library. TECHNICAL PAPER 9

10 Specify Target Alias or select the default one, uncheck Allow multiple iscsi connections and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 10

11 Click Create to start the creation process. Once the creation is completed, click Close. TECHNICAL PAPER 11

12 Once the VTL device is created, the tapes can be added. To do this, select VTL device and click Create Tape in the Tapes section. TECHNICAL PAPER 12

13 Enter the path to the tape files location if required and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 13

14 Specify the Number of Tapes, Tape Type, and other parameters. Click Create to proceed. NOTE: It is possible to select LTO-4 (800GB) or LTO-5 (1500GB) tape as an option. Also, it is possible to customize the tape size according to the environment needs. TECHNICAL PAPER 14

15 The newly created tape appears in the first slot of the VTL device in StarWind Management Console. TECHNICAL PAPER 15

16 Mounting VTL on the backup server To pass the VTL device to the Veritas Backup Exec server, the corresponding VTL iscsi target should be discovered and connected first. In this document, Veritas Backup Exec server has IP address, while the server with StarWind VTL device has IP address. Open Microsoft iscsi Initiator on the Veritas Backup Exec server, navigate to the Discovery tab, and click Discover Portal. Enter the IP address of StarWind VTL server ( ) and click Advanced. TECHNICAL PAPER 16

17 Select Microsoft iscsi Initiator in the Local adapter drop-down list, specify the Initiator IP address (Veritas Backup Exec IP address) and press OK twice to complete the discovery. The newly added Discovery Portal must appear in the list. TECHNICAL PAPER 17

18 Navigate to the Targets tab, find the iscsi target which corresponds to the StarWind VTL device, click Connect. TECHNICAL PAPER 18

19 Uncheck Enable multi-path option and click on the Advanced button. TECHNICAL PAPER 19

20 Set the Local adapter as Microsoft iscsi Initiator, specify the Initiator IP address (Veritas Backup Exec address) and the Target portal IP address (StarWind VTL server address). Click OK twice to complete the connection. TECHNICAL PAPER 20

21 VTL iscsi target should be in Connected status as shown in the screenshot below. Click OK to continue. TECHNICAL PAPER 21

22 Installing tape library drivers It is recommended to install the latest update driver from HP. The driver for HP MSL8096 can be downloaded here: HPE StoreEver Tape Drivers for Microsoft Windows. The current version that supports Windows Server 2016 is HP drivers must be installed on the host where the StarWind VTL device is mounted via iscsi. In this document - on Veritas Backup Exec server. Extract the downloaded driver and launch cpqsetup.exe. Click Install. TECHNICAL PAPER 22

23 Select all drivers types. Click Install. TECHNICAL PAPER 23

24 Once the drivers are installed, Medium Changer device will be shown as Hewlett Packard MSL G3 Series library (x64 based). Now, the tape library can be added to Veritas Backup Exec. TECHNICAL PAPER 24

25 Adding StarWind VTL device to Veritas Backup Exec Install Veritas Backup Exec by following the instructions provided in Veritas Backup Exec Administrator's guide: Open Veritas Backup Exec. In the Storage tab, click Configure Storage in the Configure group. TECHNICAL PAPER 25

26 In the opened window, select Tape storage and click Next. Select Run the Hot-swappable Device Wizard and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 26

27 Follow the steps suggested by Hot-Swappable Device Wizard by clicking Next several times. TECHNICAL PAPER 27

28 NOTE: If the tape device has not appeared in the Storage tab, initiate restart of the server. TECHNICAL PAPER 28

29 Double-click Slots to scan, erase, inventory and catalog the tapes. Choose the tape and perform the necessary operations. Confirm the data erasure when requested. TECHNICAL PAPER 29

30 The prepared tape should look like in the screenshot below. TECHNICAL PAPER 30

31 Configuring Backup to Tape job in Veritas Backup Exec In this document, the backup/restore process of the folder is shown as an example. In the Backups group, click on the Backup and Restore tab. Click Backup and select Back Up to Tape. TECHNICAL PAPER 31

32 Configure the Backup settings and click OK. TECHNICAL PAPER 32

33 Once the job is configured, click on the appropriate button to start it. Click Yes to confirm the job start. TECHNICAL PAPER 33

34 When the backup process starts, the progress is shown in the Status section. Double-click on the server to see the details. TECHNICAL PAPER 34

35 The changes in occupied storage space are displayed in the Capacity section. TECHNICAL PAPER 35

36 Restore data from Veritas Backup Exec To restore data, click Restore in the Backup and Restore tab. TECHNICAL PAPER 36

37 Select the type of data to restore and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 37

38 Select the appropriate restore option and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 38

39 Select files and folders to restore. Click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 39

40 In the Browse for Folder window, specify the destination folder for the restored data and click OK. Then click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 40

41 Confirm the restore location and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 41

42 Select the settings for file integrity, hierarchy, and security for the restored data and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 42

43 Select options for restoring operating system features and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 43

44 Specify additional tasks to perform before and/or after a restore. Click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 44

45 Specify the restore job Name, Storage and Schedule. Click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 45

46 Check and confirm the summary. Click Finish to complete the restore job. TECHNICAL PAPER 46

47 The job progress can be checked in the Backup and Restore tab. To see the restoring details, double-click on the server. TECHNICAL PAPER 47

48 The files are restored to the specified folder. TECHNICAL PAPER 48

49 Conclusion StarWind VTL seamlessly integrates into the existing infrastructure and brings the backup process to the next level, providing the enhanced data safety. VTL used together with Veritas Backup Exec speeds up the backup process significantly. As the result, less time is needed to restore, backup costs are reduced, system performance and stability are maintained. TECHNICAL PAPER 49

50 Contacts US Headquarters EMEA and APAC (UK) (Spain and Portugal) Customer Support Portal: Support Forum: Sales: General Information: StarWind Software, Inc. 35 Village Rd., Suite 100, Middleton, MA USA , StarWind Software Inc. All rights reserved. TECHNICAL PAPER 50