Is Ghost good for backups??

[ChrisCW]

We have a v.small network (4 users) with complex laptop setups (each running Oracle servers.

A 'standard' backup is not suitable as it would take forever to reinstall the OS, and then database server etc. and then restore files - WE NEED AN IMAGE OF THE OS TO MAKE RESTORING SIMPLE!!

Is Norton Ghost a good option for this?? ChrisCW

** Helen Waite is now in charge of all rush orders. If you are in a hurry, just go to Helen Waite.

 

[qzq]

try acronis, If you like it go to

http://www.idealstor.com,

you can get a better deal from them Vs. buying from Acronis web site.

 

[RSeymour]

Ghost is excellent for taking complete image backups of machines, particularly for those machines that would be a nightmare to rebuild back to the point of being able to restore the data.

I use Ghost for exactly this on the developer machines I have looked after over the years (as well as my own machine) and have never had a problem.

A word of warning though - keep the image backup as current as possible otherwise your normal backup routine may not want to talk to the restored machine.

 

[gwichman]

Couple potential problems with it..

1. You'll need to halt the oracle DB before taking an image of the laptop.

2. If the person in question breaks his laptop (spills coffee on it or something), and you replace his laptop, it must have the same exact hardware configuration as the previous one or you won't be able to restore that image. I'm not sure how useful the image will be if your intent is to recover to differing hardware. Far as i know it's not possible and the image is essentially useless.

3. The fact that you're taking an image of the laptop means you'll ALWAYS be doing "full" backups. Perhaps this is acceptable.. perhaps not.

If you can work with the above 3, then perhaps it's for you.