FAQ — Tape as a Service¶
Below you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions about Cloud4You Tape as a Service.
What is Tape as a Service?¶
Tape as a Service is a service that allows backups stored in the Cloud4You Veeam Cloud Repository to be written to physical tape media.
Technically, Cloud4You uses the:
mechanism available in Veeam Cloud Connect.
Flow:
The customer does not need their own tape library or Tape Server.
Do I need my own tape drive or tape library?¶
No.
The tape infrastructure is operated on the Cloud4You side.
Cloud4You is responsible for:
- the Tape Server,
- the library and drives,
- Media Pools,
- GFS Media Pools,
- job configuration,
- media handling.
Is the backup written directly from my machine to tape?¶
No.
Backup to Tape in Veeam is a copy of an existing backup.
Typical flow:
In this scenario, tape is not a direct target for the production machine.
Which backups can be written to tape?¶
Cloud4You can archive tenant backups stored in the Cloud Repository.
This may include, among other things:
- virtual machine backups,
- Veeam Agent backups,
- backups created by Backup Copy Job.
Before service activation, Cloud4You may verify whether a specific dataset is compatible with Tenant Backup to Tape.
Can I request a one-time backup?¶
Yes.
You can order a one-time write of a selected backup to tape.
Typical use cases:
- before migration,
- before a major update,
- when decommissioning a system,
- after project completion,
- for long-term archiving.
More information:
Can tape backup run on a recurring basis?¶
Yes.
Available options include:
More information:
What is GFS?¶
GFS — Grandfather-Father-Son is a multi-level retention mechanism.
For tape, Veeam supports:
Example:
Each level can have its own retention period.
More information:
Do I have to use every GFS level?¶
No.
You can use only the levels you need.
For example:
or:
There is no requirement to enable Daily, Quarterly, or Yearly.
Does Veeam support quarterly retention?¶
Yes — in GFS for tape, the following level is available:
For example:
may correspond to:
Is quarterly retention the same as GFS in Backup Copy Job?¶
No.
These are two different mechanisms.
For a Backup Copy Job on a disk repository, the commonly used GFS levels are:
A GFS Media Pool for tape supports:
How long can a backup be stored on tape?¶
The retention period is agreed according to the service option.
For example:
Weekly:
4 / 8 / 12 weeks
Monthly:
6 / 12 / 24 months
Quarterly:
24 / 36 / 60 months
Yearly:
5 / 10 years
A custom policy is also possible.
More information:
What does tape retention mean?¶
Retention is the period during which the medium is protected from reuse according to the Media Pool policy.
Example:
means that data in this monthly set is protected for the configured period.
After retention expires, the medium may be reused.
Does retention expiration mean that data is deleted immediately?¶
No.
Retention expiration means that the medium may be reused.
The data is physically lost only when the tape is written again or otherwise handled according to the service policy.
Can the tape be removed from the library after writing?¶
Yes.
Veeam supports:
and:
of media after a job completes.
This allows the tape to be stored outside the active library.
Can tape be stored offline?¶
Yes.
After physical removal from the library, tape can be stored offline.
Flow:
Until the medium is loaded back into a drive or library, it is not actively available to the Veeam infrastructure.
Is this an air gap?¶
A physically removed tape can provide a very strong form of separation from active infrastructure.
In practice:
Only media physically removed from the active infrastructure is truly separated from the backup system.
What is Media Vault?¶
Media Vault is a logical Veeam mechanism used to track media located outside the library.
A Vault can represent, for example:
Media Vault is not a physical storage facility — it is a record of media locations in Veeam.
Can tapes be encrypted?¶
Yes.
Veeam supports:
and:
Encryption can be configured at the Media Pool level.
Does Veeam support KMS for tape?¶
Yes.
In Veeam Backup & Replication 13, tape encryption can use:
or:
that is, an external Key Management Server.
What happens if I lose the encryption key?¶
It may become impossible to restore the data.
Encryption keys or passwords should therefore be:
- stored securely,
- protected against loss,
- included in the Disaster Recovery procedure,
- periodically verified through restore testing.
Can a specific tape be protected from overwrite?¶
Yes.
Veeam allows a tape to be marked as:
which corresponds to:
Veeam will not reuse that tape until an administrator deliberately removes the protection.
Are WORM tapes supported?¶
Veeam supports:
as well as dedicated:
and:
Availability of WORM within the Cloud4You service should be agreed with the sales team before service activation.
Does tape backup replace the Cloud Repository?¶
No.
Tape as a Service is an additional layer.
Example:
We do not recommend treating tape as the only data copy.
Does tape backup help implement the 3-2-1 rule?¶
It can be one element of such a strategy.
Veeam describes Backup to Tape as a secondary backup, meaning an additional copy of an existing backup on another media type.
Whether the environment as a whole complies with a specific 3-2-1 model depends on the customer's complete backup architecture.
How many tapes will be required?¶
It depends on:
- amount of data,
- LTO generation,
- backup size,
- data compressibility,
- selected retention,
- number of active GFS levels,
- media usage model.
Do not assume:
A single archive point may require several media.
Is data on tape compressed?¶
Compression availability and effectiveness depend on the data type, Veeam configuration, and tape hardware capabilities.
Do not estimate the required number of media only from the advertised compressed LTO capacity.
Data that is already compressed or encrypted may compress very poorly.
How long does writing to tape take?¶
It depends on:
- amount of data,
- drive speed,
- LTO generation,
- Cloud Repository performance,
- Veeam infrastructure performance,
- number of available drives,
- current environment load.
Before a larger archive operation, Cloud4You can estimate the expected duration.
Can I recover data from tape?¶
Yes.
Cloud4You can restore a tenant backup stored on tape.
Veeam allows restore:
or:
The backup can also be recovered to a repository on the Service Provider infrastructure.
More information:
Can I recover a backup from several months ago?¶
Yes, provided that the required restore point is still present on tape and its retention has not expired.
Example:
A backup from 6 months ago may no longer be available online, but it may still be stored on tape.
Can a backup be restored to another repository?¶
Yes.
Veeam allows the Service Provider to restore tenant data:
or:
Restore to a new location is a good choice for:
- testing,
- analysis of historical data,
- ransomware incidents,
- situations where the current backup should not be overwritten.
Can a restore to the original repository overwrite data?¶
Yes.
When restoring to the original Cloud Repository, existing backups may be replaced by the recovered data.
For this reason, such an operation is performed deliberately after the scope has been confirmed.
Can I recover a single file directly from tape?¶
For a VM backup, the backup is normally first restored from tape to a repository.
Then perform:
Flow:
Can I recover an entire machine?¶
Yes.
First, the backup is restored from tape to a repository, and then you can perform:
How long does restore from tape take?¶
Usually longer than restore from an active Cloud Repository.
RTO is affected by:
- physical tape location,
- time required to prepare the media,
- number of tapes required,
- data size,
- drive speed,
- target repository performance.
Therefore, RTO requirements for Tape as a Service should be defined separately from online backup.
Does Cloud4You test recoverability?¶
Service configuration alone should not replace regular restore testing.
If formal or recurring recoverability verification is required, the test scope should be agreed with Cloud4You.
A good test can include:
Can Weekly stay online while Monthly is stored offline?¶
Yes.
Example model:
Weekly
├── 4 weeks
└── remains in active rotation
Monthly
├── 12 months
└── Export / Offline
Quarterly
├── 24 months
└── Export / Offline
The exact model is agreed according to the purchased service option.
What happens after retention expires?¶
After retention expires, a standard tape may be reused.
Depending on the agreement, it may be:
- rewritten,
- kept in the archive,
- handled according to an individual policy.
Can I change retention later?¶
Yes, but the policy change should be analyzed first.
Take into account:
- existing tapes,
- current media sets,
- data already written,
- availability of additional media,
- impact on the future schedule.
Changing the settings does not immediately change the contents of all existing tapes.
How do I order Tape as a Service?¶
Contact the Cloud4You sales team:
It is useful to include:
More information:
Which option should I choose?¶
Simple examples:
Details:
Still have questions?¶
If you did not find the answer about Tape as a Service configuration or scope, contact Cloud4You.
For sales enquiries:
Related guides¶
- About Tape as a Service
- One-time Backup
- Recurring Backup
- GFS Retention
- Available Retention Options
- Restoring Data from Tape
- Tape Security and Storage
- Ordering the Service