Running Symantec Backup Exec 2010 from within a hyper V virtual machine?

[boe1]

Hello,

Before I get started I thought I'd find out if anyone has ever created a virtual machine that will have Backup Exec running on it?   My big question is, will it be able to access my external tape drive that is connected to the physical machine that the virtual machine running Backup Exec is running on.   It is a Dell LTO3 tape drive.

I normally set up dedicated backup devices but if I could run it in a hyper V environment I would get much faster backups and save money on hardware without having it technically running on a production server.

Thanks

[teiva-boy]

Yes I've virtualized BE within a virtual guest.

However, you CANNOT access the tape drive...

This is a limitation to virtualization technologies today that do not support tape devices and such well.  Though VMware does it better than most, even though their compatibility list is a bit restricted.

[pkh · Accepted solution]

You should read the discussion below especially Colin Weaver's comment about it being an alternative configuration.  Although it is for VMware, the comments are equally valid for Hyper-V.

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/backup-exec-2010-r3-installed-vmware-vsphere-4-esxi-4...

The conclusion:  You should use a physical machine especially if you want to access an external device like a tape drive or RDX drive.  In your case, you should run BE on the host, unless it is running the Core edition.

[boe1]

Thanks - I heard that tape drives might not be accessible but I thought I'd verify.   I was hoping by 2008 R2 SP1 they might be able to be used.   I guess I'll set up a Vostro as a BE server.   I never think running BE on production box is a good idea - particularly if you need to restore quickly to the device that may have an issue.