OT: Backup Solutions
- From: "Rob Moore" <RMoore@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "[ISAserver.org Discussion List]" <isalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 09:09:16 -0500
Hello everyone--
This is off topic, but I'm asking because I figure a lot of you are
involved in backing up servers. Hope you don't mind. (Considering all
the "test" emails that go over the list, people ought to be used to a
little OT noise! ;-)
Anyhow, my boss is keen to ditch tape backups all together, and I agree
with him. We have multiple servers in remote locations that all get
backed up to tape (when the remote people remember to put them in). We
have multiple local servers that get backed up to tape, but due to the
number of them and the amount of data getting backed up, the backup
process is getting progressively more complicated. So I'm looking for a
solution that would initially allow me to backup the remote servers to
some non-tape media, probably located here in our home office. Over
time, I would probably want to move the local servers to the same, or at
least a similar, backup scheme.
So far I have looked in depth at two solutions, neither of which is
perfect for us. One is Veritas Storage Replicator. Basically, it makes
an exact copy of a server (or whatever parts of that server you tell it
to copy), onto another hard drive somewhere else, and then keeps it up
to date. This works well over our wire to the remote offices. The
problem with this approach is that you can't go "back in time" with it.
Suppose, for example, that a person deletes half the content of a Word
doc on Wednesday. Then on Friday she finds that the deletion was a
mistake. The replicated data will only have a copy of the current file,
which has been half deleted. The way around this, of course, would be to
backup the replica copy, either to tape or to another hard drive. (This
is what Veritas recommends.) But then I'm probably going back to tape
again, and the job just got more complicated. I'm trying to ditch tapes
and keep it as simple as possible. Oh, and keep the job as cheap as
possible, too!
A second solution I've looked at is using a third party service. This
solution is pretty ideal except for a couple of things. First, I'd have
to rely on someone else to do an error-free job. Second, I'd have to pay
on a monthly basis by the GB stored. Even with the significant up front
costs of the first solution, it would pay for itself in a couple of
years (or less) versus paying by the month.
So, I'm interested in any non-tape solutions that anyone else is using.
What are the pluses and minuses? What's the software package? Etc. We
are a mainly MS shop, so would prefer a Windows-based solution. But we
would be willing to consider an open source solution.
Thanks for any input,
Rob
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Rob Moore, MCSE
Network Manager
American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102
RMoore@xxxxxxxx
Phone: 215-241-7870
Fax: 215-241-7204
Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising every time we
fall.
--Confucius
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