Did some testing today with a Windows 2003 server running VMware Server and a Linux (Ubuntu) guest.  The Linux guest already had tape backup software installed (BackupEdge) and needed to be able to access the tape drive (400GB LTO) on the Windows host.  I knew this should work in theory but had never tried to do it before.

Installed the relevant drivers so the Windows host could see the tape drive, powered down the Linux guest and opened it’s settings in the VMware console. Added a generic SCSI device using Tape0 (see screenshot).  Rebooted Linux guest and the backup software saw the tape drive straight away, tried test backup and verify all OK, can’t believe it was so easy to setup, had a Linux guru with me expecting us to spend hours trying to get it to work.

vmware-server-tape-drive1