Assistance with SBS 03 backup software

[VanCity]

Using SBS 2003 SP2 (I think) - littel to no clue about Windows backup.

Trying to get a "normal" backup once every week
And would like to make a schedule to backup mod files everyday.

Whats the best/easiest way, I am not doing total system backups for the normal, just a file and colder pick and choose.

Anyway I can view this normal and make sure that the same files can backed up only if they are modified, and ensure any new files in any of the current backed up folders are also backed up?

One other thing I need is a Log File, detailing what was backed up, date and original files size.

Thank you

 

[LeeMason]

If I were you just starting out on backups I would look at an online backup facility. This will automate everything and will backup offsite so that you have a copy in case of disasters. There are many providers out there who can do this for you. If you are running SBS look for someone who provides proper backup agents for MS-Exchange (including mailbox level backups) and MS-SQLServer if you use it.


Lee Mason
Optimal Projects Ltd

http://www.opl.co.uk

http://www.backupsanywhere.com

 

[LWComputingMVP]

Is there a reason you're not using the built in backup application?

-Lee

Those who ask why, learn

http://www.lwcomputing.com

 

[LeeMason]

The built in NT backup facilities is fine and will do the job but it's not exactly friendly in terms of scheduling, notification (success/failure), or logging of backups. And finding files for restore (if you needed to go back to a specific date) is something or a chore. Also it will only backup to disk (although this could be on another machine via a network share). Good Disaster Recovery Planning means that having offsite backups (by using an online backup provider or taking tapes of disks offsite) is essential.


Lee Mason
Optimal Projects Ltd

http://www.opl.co.uk

http://www.backupsanywhere.com

 

[VanCity]

Thank you for the replies. Off site backup was cost prohibitive so we moved to taking it off site ourself, via LaCie 2TB network drive.

As you note with the built in backup - it is crap, but it's what I am using for the time being.

Ideally I would like to get some inexpensive program that is a little better at the points you mention - scheduling and logging being the key points.

 

[mofusjtf]

LW is right. I have a number SBS servers that I use the built-in SBS backup. If you use the SBS Server managment console it is much easier to view logs, restore files, etc. than simply using NT Backup. And the scheduling works just fine. Unfortunatly, it is not easy to use the SBS backup to do a differential or increimental backup. If you have the space, ideally a full backup each night would be best. That combined with Shadow Copy makes for a pretty good backup. You still would need to store your offline media off-site.

Lee Mason, can you explain to me how online backups work with Exchange and SQL and other database applications? For example, to my knowledge you cannot do a differntial backup of the Information Store. So if I have a 30 GB information store, how on earth would you back that up online? We are having some discussions about online backups here at my office and I've always been of the opinion that it is not viable simpleply due to bandwidth limitations. Can you please clarify for me. I would like to explore the option if it is a viable solution.

 

[VanCity]

Offline costs were high ($400+/mth), so we got away from it.

I'm bakcing up 10 workstations to a drive on the server, daily incrementals & weekly totals plus the server itself. Then drag & drop the .bkf on the external drive and it leaves every the site every evening.

Please, if someone can suggest a better way, do tell!
Thank you

 

[LWComputingMVP]

Backing up Workstations doesn't make sense when you have a server. In a proper configuration, you would backup ONLY the server because all user data would live on the server. The workstations wouldn't matter - if something happened to one, you'd reinstall it without thinking twice.

As for NTBackup/the SBS backup. If you use the wizards that are included with SBS, it should work fine. IF you don't, it's not rocket science - It's my PREFERRED backup software because I find it gets the job done. Doing a FULL SERVER restore could be time consuming... but that's not something likely to happen... not likely enough to be worth spending $500+ now on software that makes it easier to restore. For individual file restores, it's easy...

NTBackup is also very scriptable for backups. I never touch it - I have a script kick off from a scheduled task to backup my systems directly to an external drive.

If you WANT to spend the money, spend it... but make sure it makes economic sense to do so.

-Lee

Those who ask why, learn

http://www.lwcomputing.com

 

[mofusjtf]

Why are you backing up your workstations? If you redirect the users My Docs and desktop through group policy to the users shared folder on the server, all you need to do is backup your server to a removable media. You caan reload an XP or Vista PC in just a few hours.

And I am not a fan of incrementals. If you have to do a total restore; you will need to restore your last successful full back and then each incremental in order. I typically recommend a full backup each night.

Dell makes a great removable disk called the RD1000. The media is a little pricy but you can get up to 750 GB native storage on one disk. Typically I get my customers to purchase 5 disks and we just rotate them like tapes M-F. They store the offline disks offsite.

Also make sure you are using Shadow Copy on your network shares and user shared folders. This will really help with quickly restoring a file that is inadvertantly deleted or overwritten.