Backing Up XP Clients 1

[JohnnyCarnage]

Hello,
I oversee 10-15 windows xp systems and currently we have scheduled tasks set up on each system to backup their data to a network share, that share resides on the SBS 2003 server and the server is backed up every night.

Can someone suggest a better way to perform our nightly client backups with out involving 3rd party software if possible? Their has to be someone better than depending on scheduled tasks. There are times where the user will log off at night and the task will not run. Then we run into problems because the backups are dated.

I would appreciate any help.

 

[markdmac]

Eliminate all the info on the local machines all together. Use folder redirection to move the users My Docs to the server then you only need to backup the server data.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

 

[jpm121]

I agree with Mark. Another option is, if you already license Veritas Backup Exec for your server, you can install the XP agent for free and back them up over the network. Shouldn't take too long for docs only on 10-15 machines with a fast LAN.

 

[JohnnyCarnage]

I see where we're going...

Say I move all of the data from the clients to the server, what can I do about automating the backup for the client system state information?

 

[markdmac]

Why even bother? Do you change the software every day? There should be no changes to the system state unless you are installing new software on the PC.

Even so, unless you have a backup of the entire OS then what good is the system state to you? Get yourself a copy of ghost if you are really concerned with restoring client PCs.

A single client PC being down is not critical compared to a server.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

 

[JohnnyCarnage]

Thanks Gang.
I appreciate the quick responses and awesome suggestions.

 

[Clarksville]

To take Mark's good advice one step further:

Marks Advice-"Eliminate all the info on the local machines all together. Use folder redirection to move the users My Docs to the server then you only need to backup the server data."

That's what I do, but also set up off-line file synchronization so that user's still have access to their files even when the server is down. That feature really saved me when a server crashed (badly) and I was 1000 miles away.

P.S. that server crash that I refer to was backed up with Veritas Backup Exec v10. I had current "successful" backup logs. After replacing the failed hard drive, I attempted 6 times to do a full system restore from Veritas, got a "successful" restore log each time. Then upon rebooting, the server failed with hex type error messages. Paid $250 to talk to Veritas tech support on weekend. They were unable to resolve the problem. I finally had to reinstall from server from scratch. (domain controller, exchange, group policies, applications, etc.) Was able to recover the data files from Veritas.

Words cannot describe how irrate I was after 60 hours invested in this recovery. I have moved every server I have off of Veritas.

 

[markdmac]

NT Backups ERD is the way to go for the crash scenario. It will allow you to quickly restore a server without first having to reinstall the OS.

Also, it is a great idea to use ShadowCopy to handle day to day restore needs without ever needing to go to tape.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark