Recurring Backup¶
A recurring backup within Cloud4You Tape as a Service allows backups from the Cloud Repository to be written regularly to physical tape media according to an agreed schedule and retention policy.
The service is intended for customers who want to maintain an additional tape-copy layer automatically without building their own tape infrastructure.
Typical flow:
Customer backup
│
▼
Cloud4You Cloud Repository
│
▼
Tenant Backup to Tape
│
▼
GFS Media Pool
│
▼
Tapes
│
▼
Retention / storage
Managed by Cloud4You
The schedule, Media Pool, retention, and media handling are managed by Cloud4You. The customer does not need their own Tape Server, library, or tape drives.
Available options¶
Recurring backup can be provided, among other options, as:
For more advanced requirements, a GFS — Grandfather-Father-Son policy is used.
Veeam Tape GFS supports the following cycles:
Not all levels have to be enabled.
Weekly backup¶
In the weekly option, Cloud4You writes the selected backup to tape once per week.
Example:
Flow:
Week 1 → tape / weekly set
Week 2 → tape / weekly set
Week 3 → tape / weekly set
Week 4 → tape / weekly set
After retention expires, the oldest media may be reused according to the service policy.
Example — 8 weeks¶
This allows approximately two months of weekly archive points to be retained.
Monthly backup¶
In the monthly option, a copy is written once per month.
Example:
Flow:
This model is useful for longer-term archiving without retaining many weekly copies.
Weekly + Monthly backup¶
A commonly used option combines:
Example:
This provides:
- current weekly copies for a short period,
- selected monthly copies retained for longer.
Flow:
Weekly
├── week 1
├── week 2
├── week 3
└── week 4
Monthly
├── month 1
├── month 2
├── ...
└── month 12
Weekly + Monthly + Quarterly backup¶
For a longer history, an additional level can be used:
Example:
In this option, the customer has:
Yearly backup¶
If data must be retained for many years, the policy can be extended with:
Example:
Info
The values above are examples. The schedule and retention period are selected according to customer requirements.
How does the GFS schedule work?¶
For Tenant Backup to Tape, Veeam uses:
In the job wizard, Cloud4You defines the days for individual media sets and the time when restore-point scanning starts.
Veeam allows independent configuration of:
and:
By default, GFS scanning starts at:
on the selected day.
What happens during a recurring job?¶
On each run, Veeam:
- checks the Backup Catalog,
- finds backups matching the job criteria,
- selects the correct restore point for the current GFS cycle,
- starts data transfer,
- writes data to tape,
- updates the Backup Catalog and Tape Catalog,
- applies the retention appropriate for the media set.
Flow:
GFS schedule priority¶
If several GFS cycles fall on the same day, Veeam does not create a separate copy for every level.
The following hierarchy applies:
Example:
If the same day is simultaneously:
Veeam creates a:
copy and skips the remaining levels for that day.
Note
This behavior reduces unnecessary duplication of full copies on tape.
Retention for each cycle¶
Each media set can have its own retention policy.
Example:
Veeam protects the data from overwrite according to the configured period.
After the period expires, the medium may be reused if permitted by the Media Pool configuration.
More information:
Tape export and offline storage¶
For recurring jobs, Cloud4You can configure automatic export of selected media sets after the job completes.
Veeam allows the following to be selected for export:
Example:
Weekly:
remains in the library
Monthly:
export after completion
Quarterly:
export after completion
Yearly:
export after completion
This makes it possible to keep short-term operational retention in the active library while physically taking longer-term copies offline.
Flow:
Policy example 1 — weekly¶
For an environment that needs a simple recurring tape copy.
Policy example 2 — monthly¶
For long-term storage of monthly points.
Policy example 3 — Weekly + Monthly¶
A good option for organizations that need both current history and longer-term archiving.
Policy example 4 — Weekly + Monthly + Quarterly¶
Quarterly copies can be exported from the library after writing and retained offline for the entire retention period.
Policy example 5 — full GFS¶
This model provides several independent history levels and can be used for data requiring long retention.
What happens if the source backup starts during a tape write?¶
For Tenant Backup to Tape, Veeam protects the running tape job from interruption by a source backup job by default.
For tenant-to-tape, the option:
is enabled by default and cannot be disabled.
This means that if the source job is scheduled to start while a tape job is still active, it may wait until the tape operation finishes.
Warning
The tape backup schedule should be planned with primary backup windows in mind to reduce mutual delays.
How much data is written to tape?¶
The amount of data depends on:
- backup size,
- available restore points,
- GFS configuration,
- which GFS level is being processed,
- backup structure,
- data changes.
Recurring tape backup should not be treated as a simple copy of all backup files on every run.
Veeam selects the data required to create the appropriate archive point.
How many tapes are required?¶
The number of media depends on:
- amount of data,
- LTO generation,
- GFS set size,
- compressibility of the data,
- append / overwrite policy,
- retention,
- number of simultaneously retained periods.
For example:
may require significantly more media than a simple:
option.
Before service activation, Cloud4You can estimate the required tape set based on data size and selected retention.
What is agreed before activation?¶
Before starting recurring backup, we define:
1. Data scope
2. Backup frequency
3. Backup day
4. Weekly retention
5. Monthly retention
6. Quarterly retention
7. Yearly retention
8. Media export rules
9. Storage method
10. Handling after retention expires
Not every element has to be used.
How to order recurring backup¶
In the request, provide:
Service:
Tape as a Service - recurring backup
Cloud Repository:
[name]
Scope:
[backups / systems]
Size:
[approximate amount of data]
Schedule:
weekly / monthly / GFS
Retention:
Weekly:
Monthly:
Quarterly:
Yearly:
Tape export:
YES / NO / to be agreed
Example:
Cloud Repository:
CLOUD4YOU-REPO-01
Scope:
all production backups
Weekly:
4 weeks
Monthly:
12 months
Quarterly:
8 quarters
Export:
Monthly + Quarterly
Based on this information, Cloud4You will select the schedule and the required number of media.
Best practices¶
When designing recurring archive retention, we recommend:
- not setting retention without analyzing the required capacity,
- using different retention levels for different periods,
- considering physical off-site storage for long retention,
- separating tape-job schedules from the most important backup windows,
- regularly checking successful job execution,
- periodically testing restores from tape,
- documenting media location and retention periods.
Important
Tape archiving should be tested periodically through an actual data restore. A Success job status does not replace restore testing.
Summary¶
Recurring backup can be configured as a simple schedule:
or:
or as a multi-level policy:
Each level can have its own retention period as well as its own media export and storage rules.
Related guides¶
- About Tape as a Service
- One-time Backup
- GFS Retention
- Available Retention Options
- Restoring Data from Tape
- Tape Security and Storage
- Ordering the Service