Tape Backup Issue

[sac9829]

Hi

I have been using a tape backup solution which runs overnight.

The issue I'm having is that the data is now just over 60Gb but my tape drive and tapes are only 20/40Gb.

THe question I have is should I spend the money to get a larger backup solution or should I simply remove items from the nightly backup? If so what can I remove that will not effect me trying to restore the server?

 

[ShackDaddy]

1) It's highly unlikely that you will be able to back up even 40gb of data, because you won't be able to achieve the peak compression levels that the tape drive is capable of.

2) You probably can't afford to remove 30gb of data from your current 60gb backup and still be able to do a complete recover of your server.

Final analysis: your tape drive is not sufficient to provide disaster recovery for your server.

Unless you are taking your tapes off-site between backups, there's no reason why a single external USB-drive with the capacity to hold multiple full backups wouldn't be a much better solution for you.

The best solution would be to spend $400 on two such drives and set your server to run a full backup to the external drives at least times a week. Rotate which drive is off-site each week. Use the native SBS Backup to do your backups, since using it, you are less likely to improperly backup you Exchange data.

Use of tape is on the decline for a lot of reasons, and you are experiencing some of them.

Dave Shackelford
MCSE, CCNA, Microsoft MVP: Exchange
Shackelford Consulting

 

[sac9829]

Yes I do think I have to find a different solution like you mentioned.

The issue is that the data is taken offsite (Every Day) so I would want something like a tape but can hold at least the size of the hard drive (80GB) so their is room for future growth.

 

[sac9829]

Yes I do think I have to find a different solution like you mentioned.

The issue is that the data is taken offsite (Every Day) so I would want something like a tape but can hold at least the size of the hard drive (80GB) so their is room for future growth.

Any suggestions?

 

[ShackDaddy]

Well, if you haven't been able to make a full backup, taking tapes off-site daily wouldn't help...

Look into Dell's RD1000 backup device. I've deployed several of them, and they make it easy to take things off-site. It's basically a multi-cartridege USB disk backup with five removable drives.

Dave Shackelford
MCSE, CCNA, Microsoft MVP: Exchange
Shackelford Consulting

 

[sac9829]

Sounds like my best option is a few external 2.5" Hard Drives as they are the cheapest option and would still be easy to remove offsite every day.

 

[ShackDaddy]

Yep, that would be a good solution. USB would be fine.

Dave Shackelford
MCSE, CCNA, Microsoft MVP: Exchange
Shackelford Consulting

 

[sac9829]

Thanks for confirming