Backup software recommendation for a tape library IBM TS2900

cr0zzb0w · February 15, 2020

Hey all.

I have managed to get hold of an IBM TS2900 tape library and want to see if I can all this ass a secondary backup solution for the place where I work (We are a small team of VFX artists working on TV commercials),

Can anyone recommend me a software (and operating system) that I should be able to communicate with the tape library? At the moment I am using a Windows 2012 server with something called Quest NetVault backup, which works fine, but it is damn expensive! (Am using a trial of windows server 2016 and the quest software as well).

I would love it if I can find something that would run on BSD (FreeNAS) or Linux (But not MacOS). For the moment our storage is on a big NAS running FreeNAS so something that can run in a Jail or Docker container would be amazing!

Please share your visdom.

leadeater · February 15, 2020

Most good backup software is expensive, you'll have to explore your options and find the one with the best license type/terms that fits you the best. Commvault, Veeam, Veritas, IBM, Dell EMC all come to mind.

Also it's not a good idea to go with a 'janky' solution, if you can't be confident you can get the data back if and when you need it then there is no point backing it up in the first place. It's because of this backup software companies have you over a barrel.