Max Wanadoo
max.wanadoo at gmail.com
Tue Jan 12 11:19:24 CST 2010
I use Acronis for that. Max -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Steve Erbach Sent: 12 January 2010 17:04 To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Once and for all time: server backups Max, Well, the whole idea of using a clone/image-type backup is that the backup drive is bootable. THAT'S the potential huge time-saver here. XCOPY doesn't do that. Steve Erbach On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 10:46 AM, Max Wanadoo <max.wanadoo at gmail.com> wrote: > Steve, > > DOS XCopy32 will do it all - with switches for incremental backup. > You can also schedule it from windows scheduler. > > Max > > > -----Original Message----- > From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Steve Erbach > Sent: 12 January 2010 16:13 > To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues > Subject: [dba-Tech] Once and for all time: server backups > > Dear Group, > > My wife, Janet, wrote a while back asking for advice on server backups. > She's the *de facto* system administrator where she works, a retail > high-end natural food supplement store with a large Internet presence [ > www.naturalhealthyconcepts.com]. I said "de facto" because she really has > no experience with hardware or networking. Databases, queries, a little > web > design, sure. Trouble-shooting network and backup issues? Yuck! > > Anyway, I've been, of course, privy to her continued struggles with the > backup issues she's been having. This all started when Janet's boss had a > new server installed. It's a Windows Small Business Server 2008 system. > That's a hybrid of Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2005. > > The company that installed the server had never installed Small Business > Server 2008 before...but the co-owner of the computer company is a roommate > of one of the boss's employees...so, lets give the kid a chance, eh? > > Well, they haven't been much help. Shortly after the server was installed, > I persuaded the network administrator of the place I had just been > downsized > from to come in on a weekend and take a look at the server and speed it up > and offer suggestions. He had recommended a backup system based on a > Thermaltake BlacX eSATA and USB docking station. Janet's boss purchased a > couple 500 GB Seagate drives to cycle in the docking station. For backup > software, the network admin recommended Casper. He didn't specify which > edition of Casper to use...so Janet's boss authorized the purchase of the > personal edition since it was only $50. > > Janet was able to get successful backups with Casper a few times...but she > was continually frustrated because NOTHING seemed to work with respect to > setting up a schedule for unattended backups. > > Lately she became a beta tester for the Casper Tech Edition, normally about > $550. As a "reward" for being a beta tester, her company got a free copy > of > the new version. This has also been a spotty performer. Casper sometimes > took over 12 hours to make a complete backup. > > She also tried Acronis Backup and Recovery 10 Server. There was a 15-day > trial edition. That installation exacerbated her problems. Apparently, > Acronis replaces the Windows Volume Shadow Copy with its own version. When > she went to un-install Acronis, the Volume Shadow Copy service was disabled > somehow and now Casper has even more problems since it relies on VSS. > She's > been trying to re-enable the Volume Shadow Copy service so that Casper Tech > Edition will work properly. > > One more thing: the server has a 70 GB SAS RAID 5 array and a 500 GB data > drive. Janet has attempted to backup both of these drives to one of the > 500 > TB drives in the docking station since ALL the space on those two > production > drives isn't used up. Acronis would often say that there wasn't enough > room > on the backup drive and abort. Another little "feature" of Acronis, > apparently, is that it makes a temporary image during backup and needs > extra > drive space...at least that's my (limited) understanding. > > Janet's boss has purchased a couple more 500 GB drives to use for backups > and Janet is juggling those as best she can with the limited knowledge she > has of the way these image backup programs work. > > So, here are the questions: > > 1. what do you think of using an external docking station to plug in > backup drives? > 2. what do you think of the cloning-type backup solutions that are > SUPPOSED to make bootable backups of a server? > 3. what do YOU use to backup your servers? > 4. what positive/negative experiences have you had with > Acronis/Casper/Ghost/etc.? > 5. should Janet recommend buying 1 TB drives for backups instead of > cramming two drives onto a 500 GB backup drive? > > > That'll do for now! This has been 9 or 10 months of struggling and praying > that the hardware doesn't fail. > > Regards, > > Steve Erbach > _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com