Posted: 2/4/2009 1:56:59 PM EDT
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I need a commercial product for a client that is VERY paranoid, obsessive about data backups.
I am 'picking up the pieces' fom a previous contractor that glued everything together with bubblegum and duct tape. The former consultant convinced the owner to buy a Dell Small Business server 2900, which includes an operating system that is NOT compatible with the Genie Backup Software. I found that outthe hardway after the software failed. It had been stable for a few days (weks) but now it has crashed the software, and refuses to load back up on the server. I am downloading the 30 Day Trial versioon of the Genie Backup for Servers v 8.0, and that gives me time to explore other software that might be out there. They are insistent on backing up to a tape backup system, and they also insist on seperate backups for other PCs. Advice? I need the backup the Dell Server to the tape, I can use some SeaGate drives for the remote workstations, but I need to find a product that is affordable and reliable ASAP. I am trying to keep the billing as fair as possible for the owner, the previous guy was less than open/honest aboutwhat he has been doing around here. I feel like I am just the bearer of bad news so far. New Server (didn't need it, but could not return it) Migrated Software (yup but now Quickbooks is not compatible, upgrade from Intuit 1800+) Tape backup System installed on new server (but now your backup software is not compatible ... 200.00) An Albatross around their neck with their technology. TRG |
Mutually exclusive condition.|
For 80% of my clients they are using BackupExec by Symantec, the other 20% are on a NAS backup solution that we are a reseller for. Those using BackupExec mostly use a tape backup on a 2 or 3 week rotation. Although some do use external hard drives, but I've seen a lot of issues doing it this way.
If you want cheap, use NTbackup. It is on the servers already and can more than likely use the tape drive. Scalable? Not really. Good? eh, it lacks reporting and such. But it does get the job done in a pinch. I'd go check out BackupExec and get a quote on it. Easy to use (for me at least) and can do reports, logs, etc, etc. -d |
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while tape is a pain in the ass, it definitely does have a place in a big-boy backup strategy. tape is more a DR solution than backup/recovery solution for my clients. it is also important for archival purposes. i sleep better knowing that ALL of the data is on tape at iron mountain.
disk-to-disk backup to a NAS/SAN is also very useful, good for quick restores and "small/localized" failures/disasters. disk space is cheap. i also use rsync.net to maintain a failsafe offsite backup via the internet. i do the encryption on my end, so i feel pretty confident in the security. i use commvault galaxy at my day job, but thats probably outside the price range here. like the others said, backupexec would be an option. NTbackup is also effective, but it lacks the bells and whistles of the other packages. i've heard people having luck with amanda, open source tape backup software, but i haven't ever implemented it. what is said client looking for? do they want to get a copy of sally's word document from 3 days ago, do they want to recover from the office burning down, do they want to recover if local telecom IP communication is FUBAR, do they want to recover if the city is nuked, or do they want to recover from a fileserver/nas/san taking a crap? |
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what is said client looking for? do they want to get a copy of sally's word document from 3 days ago, do they want to recover from the office burning down, do they want to recover if local telecom IP communication is FUBAR, do they want to recover if the city is nuked, or do they want to recover from a fileserver/nas/san taking a crap? They are concerned about a total loss of data from a server failure. They had a server fail in the fall, the previous contractor had been using the tape backup system and was unable to recover 4-5 months of daily entries in the company's main database. That meant 2 months of daily re-entry by employees from paper copies. Obviously, this makes the owner even more paranoid since the money spent in the past on both equipment, software and computer/tech expertise was clearly wasted. I spoke w the owner last night about re-evaluating their entire system. I am trying to implement a system that does not meet their needs and it is a blackhole of mistakes right now. The owner is also concerened about data access or deletion by spiteful employees, however, their file/server system is so haphazard that trying to implement any security policies, even passwords, has been a futile effort on my part. Nicest people in the world, but they have been using baling wire for too long. TRG PS. Did I mention that their primary point of sale software is a MS Access 97 database? |
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Quoted: I spoke w the owner last night about re-evaluating their entire system. I am trying to implement a system that does not meet their needs and it is a blackhole of mistakes right now. I will never trust you. Ever. Edit: what OS they running and what hardware and software is already had? |
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I spoke w the owner last night about re-evaluating their entire system. I am trying to implement a system that does not meet their needs and it is a blackhole of mistakes right now. I will never trust you. Ever. Edit: what OS they running and what hardware and software is already had? What I meant is that they purchased hardware (based on the previous It consultant) and when they hired me to replace the other guy, they wanted to install the hardware that was still sitting in a box (5000.00). The tape drive is no longer responding (they have spent over 2000.00 for both the hardware, tapes, and the previous consultant's fees). It shows up in the scsi list, and the hardware manager, but will not respond to the backup software (Genie). They have only about 10GB of data to be backed up. They are investing more in my time, than a simple online backup would cost them annually. About to meet with them to try and sway thier opinion, and go a different direction with what they are trying to accomplish. TRG |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I spoke w the owner last night about re-evaluating their entire system. I am trying to implement a system that does not meet their needs and it is a blackhole of mistakes right now. I will never trust you. Ever. Edit: what OS they running and what hardware and software is already had? What I meant is that they purchased hardware (based on the previous It consultant) and when they hired me to replace the other guy, they wanted to install the hardware that was still sitting in a box (5000.00). The tape drive is no longer responding (they have spent over 2000.00 for both the hardware, tapes, and the previous consultant's fees). It shows up in the scsi list, and the hardware manager, but will not respond to the backup software (Genie). They have only about 10GB of data to be backed up. They are investing more in my time, than a simple online backup would cost them annually. About to meet with them to try and sway thier opinion, and go a different direction with what they are trying to accomplish. TRG what hardware are we talking about here? dell/hp/ibm server/business class hardware? if its not working, there should be some logical way to resolve it- bad hardware., get it replaced under warranty/service contract (they DO have a service contract, right?) or bring in the vendor's professional services consulting group to figure out and remedy the misconfiguration. just looked at this "genie" product- throw this in the trash and use NTbackup. seriously. 
online backup is a good idea, but has its downsides. how quickly are you going to be able to download 10GB of data? what happens when the internet connection is down? what happens if this company goes under? |
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I'm a Network Engineer, but we sell and service both Symantec NetBackUp and IBM TSM. From the two different groups, I'd say that you're looking more at TSM. My understanding, it's not an easy product to setup correctly, but its pretty rock-solid. My company has done the Ford Motor Company backups and they run TSM. That's about the extent of my knowledge <shrug>, but it's a thread to pull I guess.
TSM |
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Download a trial of BackupExec and give it a go to see if it meets your needs.
Download here, look for link on right labled "Trialware" -d |
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I used and was very happy with AMANDA for more than a decade. It may or may not be suitable for your environment, but it works and it's free, leaving the development budget for better things.
ETA: went back and saw your 10GB dataset size statement. For 10 GB, I dunno that I'd be wanting to turn someone into a tape monkey, swapping tapes daily. RAID-backed rsync solution? That would also give you the option of easily moving the data offsite, so that it would take a REALLY BIG asteroid to kill both copies (and at that point, who cares). |
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Backup Exec easily fills the void, but, it does require some "care and feeding".
All DR solutions require some maintenance once in a while. BE, CommVault, ...etc. all support the idea of backing up to disk. Honestly, I would avoid tape if at all possible and just use a stack of SATA drives or quality USB external drives. If your going to dump everything onto a big fat filesystem, by all means, get Symantec's Storage Foundation Basic. 2 "sockets" and 4 volumes, $90/yr for maint. ZERO LICENSE FEES!!! Lets you manage all those big nasty drives and split off the ones you plan to rotate for offsite purposes. (split the mirror) |