Hello,
Well, it's not a wall of text, it's actually a very useful reference architecture example. I believe we can split it into four parts:
1. Plug-in backup to tape
This is an important request that is relevant to all plug-ins, not just SQL. We have been working on it, but I cannot share an ETA at this time.
Please note that file to tape job is not supported for plug-in backups, and we cannot guarantee a successful restore or stable operation in this scenario. Furthermore, technical support will not address issues related to file-to-tape functionality when plug-in backups are processed this way. However, I can suggest two workarounds:
A) Use periodic image-level backups, including SQL data, with Copy-only mode enabled, and send these backups to tape.
B) Use an application backup copy job to copy backups to tape when the job is disabled.
2. Overall opinion about the setup
The setup looks good, and aside from the file-to-tape issue mentioned above, I don’t see any problems. By the way, nightly Dev/Test restores are quite common, I have seen other customers use a similar approach.
3. SQL Plug-in centralized management
You mentioned that it would be nice to have it. This feature will be available soon in the upcoming version 13.0.1. At a high level, it will be similar to our application policy for RMAN or SAP HANA: a Protection Group is used to roll out plug-ins, a policy allows you to protect SQL Server workloads with defined settings, and two recovery options via Explorer or standalone plug-in will be available. Additionally, you will no longer need to configure SQL Server Agent jobs on each node, it will be sufficient to add Always On databases to a policy once, and we will automatically detect the preferred replica for backup.
4. Error messages
I would recommend checking if these messages persist after the file-to-tape job is disabled. If they do, the best approach is to open a support case and share the case ID with us. I don’t think we can effectively troubleshoot these issues via forum posts.
Thanks!
Well, it's not a wall of text, it's actually a very useful reference architecture example. I believe we can split it into four parts:
1. Plug-in backup to tape
This is an important request that is relevant to all plug-ins, not just SQL. We have been working on it, but I cannot share an ETA at this time.
Please note that file to tape job is not supported for plug-in backups, and we cannot guarantee a successful restore or stable operation in this scenario. Furthermore, technical support will not address issues related to file-to-tape functionality when plug-in backups are processed this way. However, I can suggest two workarounds:
A) Use periodic image-level backups, including SQL data, with Copy-only mode enabled, and send these backups to tape.
B) Use an application backup copy job to copy backups to tape when the job is disabled.
2. Overall opinion about the setup
The setup looks good, and aside from the file-to-tape issue mentioned above, I don’t see any problems. By the way, nightly Dev/Test restores are quite common, I have seen other customers use a similar approach.
3. SQL Plug-in centralized management
You mentioned that it would be nice to have it. This feature will be available soon in the upcoming version 13.0.1. At a high level, it will be similar to our application policy for RMAN or SAP HANA: a Protection Group is used to roll out plug-ins, a policy allows you to protect SQL Server workloads with defined settings, and two recovery options via Explorer or standalone plug-in will be available. Additionally, you will no longer need to configure SQL Server Agent jobs on each node, it will be sufficient to add Always On databases to a policy once, and we will automatically detect the preferred replica for backup.
4. Error messages
I would recommend checking if these messages persist after the file-to-tape job is disabled. If they do, the best approach is to open a support case and share the case ID with us. I don’t think we can effectively troubleshoot these issues via forum posts.
Thanks!
Statistics: Posted by PetrM — Oct 15, 2025 4:11 pm
