One Stop Virtualization Shop StarWind Virtual SAN Virtual Tape Library used with Veeam Backup & Replication JUNE 2017 TECHNICAL PAPER
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. In 2016, Gartner named StarWind Cool Vendor for Compute Platforms. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. 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 2009-2017 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
Contents Introduction... 4 Simple configuration diagram... 5 Creating a Virtual Tape Library... 6 Mounting the VTL on the backup server... 13 Installing tape library drivers... 16 Working with Veeam Backup & Replication... 18 Conclusion... 31 Contacts... 32 TECHNICAL PAPER 3
Introduction Some companies have to adhere to regulatory requirements for tape vaulting, and at the same time, the backup process requires a smaller backup window. This technical paper provides information on how to deploy StarWind Virtual Tape Library (VTL) and add it to Veeam Backup & Replication to accelerate the backup process. StarWind Virtual Tape Library (VTL) is a feature of StarWind Virtual SAN that eliminates the need for the physical tape by emulating industry-standard tape hardware and keeping all data on inexpensive, fast, and high-capacity spinning disks. It is designed for SMBs and Enterprises that either look to get rid of physical tapes completely or are willing to accelerate the backup process and add an extra level of protection. Even with explosive data growth, StarWind VTL fits the backup job into a reasonable time-frame by accelerating it, so the process does not overlap with the production time. This guide is intended for experienced StarWind users, Windows system administrators, and IT professionals who would like to configure StarWind Virtual Tape Library (VTL). It provides step-bystep guidance on how to create a VTL device that will run on top of Windows Server 2016. 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
Simple configuration diagram This guide assumes that StarWind Virtual Tape Library (VTL) and Veeam Backup & Replication are installed on the same server. Alternatively, StarWind Virtual Tape Library (VTL) and Veeam Backup & Replication can be installed on different servers which are connected directly, but it is possible to wire them through switches as an option. TECHNICAL PAPER 5
Creating a Virtual Tape Library Launch the StarWind Management Console: double-click the StarWind tray icon. NOTE: If StarWind Service and Management Console are installed on the same server, the Management Console will automatically add the local StarWind instance to the Console tree after the first launch. Then, the Management Console automatically connects to it using the default credentials. To add remote StarWind servers to the console, use the Add Server button on the control panel. StarWind Management console will ask you to specify the default storage pool on the server you are connecting to for the first time. Please, configure the default storage pool to use one of the volumes you have prepared as a StarWind storage earlier. All the devices created through the Add Device wizard will be stored on that storage pool by default. Should you decide to use an alternative storage path for your StarWind virtual disks, please use the Add Device (advanced) menu item. Press Yes button to configure the storage pool. Should you require to change the storage pool destination, press Choose path and point the browser to the necessary disk. Select the StarWind server where you wish to create the device. Press the Add Device (advanced) button on the toolbar. Add Device Wizard will appear. TECHNICAL PAPER 6
Select Tape Device. Click Next to continue. Select the Virtual Tape item. Click Next to continue. TECHNICAL PAPER 7
Specify the Virtual Tape Library location. Select the Device Model from a drop-down list. You can also fill all slots in the newly created Tape Library with empty tapes. Click Next to continue. TECHNICAL PAPER 8
Then, provide Target Alias or choose the default one. Click Next to continue. Click Create button and view the creation progress. TECHNICAL PAPER 9
Once the creation is completed, click Close. Next, create the tape. To do this, click on the created VTL device and click Create Tape. The new Wizard window appears. TECHNICAL PAPER 10
Enter the path to the tape files location if needed. Click Next to continue. Specify the Number of Tapes, Tape Type, and other parameters. Click Create button. TECHNICAL PAPER 11
The newly created tape appears in the first slot of the VTL device in the StarWind Management Console. TECHNICAL PAPER 12
Mounting the VTL on the backup server To pass the VTL device to the Veeam Backup & Replication Server, we need to mount the corresponding VTL iscsi target first. Since all components (Veeam Backup & Replication Server and StarWind VTL) are deployed and configured within a standalone server, the tape library in this example will be mounted locally as well. Open Microsoft iscsi Initiator, navigate to Discovery tab, and press the Discover Portal button. TECHNICAL PAPER 13
Enter the localhost address (127.0.0.1) and press Advanced button. Select Microsoft iscsi Initiator from the Local Adapter drop-down list and press OK button. You should notice the newly added Discovery Portal in the list. TECHNICAL PAPER 14
Navigate to Targets tab, find the iscsi target which corresponds to StarWind VTL device, and press Connect button. Uncheck Enable Multipath option and press Advanced button. Set Local adapter as Microsoft iscsi Initiator, specify 127.0.0.1 / 3260 as Target portal IP, and press OK button. You should notice that the VTL iscsi target is shown as Connected in the list. TECHNICAL PAPER 15
Installing tape library drivers It s 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 4.2.0.0. HP drivers must be installed on the host where the StarWind VTL device is mounted via iscsi, in our example, this is a localhost. Extract the driver downloaded in Step 4 and launch cpqsetup.exe TECHNICAL PAPER 16
Check Select All and click Install. Once the drivers are installed, you can see that the Medium Changer device is shown as Hewlett Packard MSL G3 Series library (x64 based). Now, everything is ready for adding the tape library to Veeam Backup & Replication. TECHNICAL PAPER 17
Working with Veeam Backup & Replication Open Veeam Backup & Replication. Open Tape Infrastructure tab. Open the Add Tape Server wizard. Choose the local server and press Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 18
Complete the wizard and press Finish button. After Tape Inventory job is finished, you will notice the newly added tape library device. TECHNICAL PAPER 19
To erase Inventory and Catalog tapes, click Media and right-click on the required tape. Before using the new tape, erase it. After this operation, the tape should be loaded into Drive. TECHNICAL PAPER 20
Click Tape Job on the Home tab and select Files to run the File to Tape Job wizard. Specify the job name and description. TECHNICAL PAPER 21
Specify the files and folders to be backed up. For Full Backup, set the schedule if necessary. Choose media pool or add a new pool. TECHNICAL PAPER 22
By clicking Add New, you will open the additional media pool creation wizard. Enter a name and description. Add tapes to the media pool and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 23
Enter a media set name and specify automatic creation settings if necessary. Specify the tape retention settings. TECHNICAL PAPER 24
Complete the wizard, check summary, and click Finish to continue job configuration. Select the media pool for Full Backup and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 25
Set the schedule for Incremental Backup if necessary. Choose the media pool or add a new pool for incremental backup. Set backup options and click Apply. TECHNICAL PAPER 26
Check the summary. For immediate execution, select Run the job when I click Finish and click Finish. You can see the job status and progress in the History tab. TECHNICAL PAPER 27
To Restore data, click Restore Files button. Specify files and folders to restore and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 28
Specify where to restore the selected object and click Next. Select automatic conflict resolution options and click Next. TECHNICAL PAPER 29
Check the summary and click Finish. You will see the restoration progress in the window that pops up or in the History tab. TECHNICAL PAPER 30
Conclusion StarWind VTL seamlessly integrates into the existing infrastructure and allows the backup process to fit into the backup window. As the result, it creates an additional snapshot copy, meets regulatory requirements, significantly decreases backup cost, and keeps the performance of the system stable by increasing the speed of the backup process. It works great with Veeam Backup & Replication and other backup solutions. TECHNICAL PAPER 31
Contacts US Headquarters EMEA and APAC 1-617-449-77 17 1-617-507-58 45 1-866-790-26 46 +44 203 769 18 57 (UK) +34 629 03 07 17 (Spain and Portugal) Customer Support Portal: Support Forum: Sales: General Information: https://www.starwind.com/support https://www.starwind.com/forums sales@starwind.com info@starwind.com StarWind Software, Inc. 35 Village Rd., Suite 100, Middleton, MA 01949 USA www.starwind.com 2017, StarWind Software Inc. All rights reserved. TECHNICAL PAPER 32