Best backup utility for servers?

By Tech Freak
in Microsoft (Windows)

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Tech Freak

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Hi all,

I hope this is the right part of the forum to ask this.

I am reviewing several backup tools for server OSs (2000, 2003, SBS 2003) and I was hoping some of you would have a couple of thoughts to share. Do you know of GOOD software backup utils to be used on servers, that will do backup:

- System State (AD etc)

- Files/Folders

- DBs (such as the Exchange DB Store, SQL, etc).

There's Veritas (now Symantec), Acronis, and a host of other tools but each one seems to suffer from its own shortcomings. For example, Acronis is an excellent, simple programme for backing up servers but it won't "see" USB devices such as HDDs etc. Veritas Backup (when I tested it, it was still called Veritas) was TOO complicated for its own good.

So if you could suggest a good all-round backup tool it would be much appreciated.

Also, how trustworthy is Windows Backup?

Many thanks!

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Grand Master

MazX_Napalm

Posted
Posted (edited)

CA ArcServe. This does all three on your list. The great thing about the Exchange backup is it does both the DB and document level backup. This allows for recovery of individual items from Exchange (ie a single email or calendar event)

One thing you didn't mention was the media you will be backing up to, the amount of data and what time frame you have to complete your backups, number of servers,........

Be careful of the software that comes with tape drives. Some only allow local server backups and not UNC paths. You need a license for each server (HP Storage Works!)

Windows Backup - Make one big globe of what it backs up and can't be run from Scheduled Tasks (even though you can make the entry)

One thing you could consider is off site backup solutions. Some allow for bare-metal restore, versioning,......

Oh almost forgot. Hard drives are getting dirt cheap, so consider Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager.

Edited by MazX_Napalm
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Tech Freak

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Hm.. thanx Napalm! I'll review the ArcServer you mentioned.

You're right I did not mention amount, media etc. I would really like to think of "any" scenario. By that I mean I need a good solution that will happily backup to/retrieve from optical discs (DVDs, BLU-Rays...soon), IDE/RAID/SCSI/USB HDDs and all that. Something "universal". I can't stand things like Acronis that does pretty much everything, lets you back stuff up on USB HDDs, and then funnily enough won't let u restore FROM USB. The boot util simply won't see USB devices. Making it practically useless.

Not sure what you meant by your Windows Backup comment.

Bare-metal restore is quite exciting (Acronis Enterprise does it) but in practice it can give poor results. Haven't worked with it so far.

I'll check the MS thing out, too.

Thanks!

Rookie

slimboy76

Posted
Posted

I work in one of the biggest Bank in Indonesia as one of the tech support..

Our Company uses several type of backup (so we have different type backup of the same data)

We use:

1. HP Data Protector Software combines with HP StorageWorks MSL6000 Tape Libraries (for Automatic Backup)

2. Overview Storage Mirroring from HP (not exactly backup but replication)

3. The good ol' Windows Backup as manual backup just in case the automatic backup or the hp ovsm failed.

Up untill now, we can face any kind of dissaster quite find....

Grand Master

MazX_Napalm

Posted
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  bobbba said:
CA arcserve is a pretty poor excuse for a backup solution, it has the looks of user friendly software but it just isn't reliable enough

Been using it for years now. Every time I have had to restore something it worked 100%. 2 and a half years ago we migrated 500Gb of data from one server to another without a problem.

Veteran

bobbba

Posted
Posted

We frequently find that Arcserve fails to restore system state backups when we are doing disaster recovery testing. The product also seems to struggle in larger environments (SAN, Tape Library etc). The licensing setup is not great either so I would very much advise against it except for very small/basic environments.

Grand Master

MazX_Napalm

Posted
Posted
  Tech Freak said:
Does it do Restore of individual e-mail folders for Exchange? (I'll check their website as well of course)

The backup does Exchange twice, Mailbox Store and Document level. You can restore:

Complete Mailbox store

Single or multiple mailboxes

Single or multiple items from mailbox/s (ie calendar event, email, contact)

BTW I run it with a 1/8 HP autoloader and Ultrium II tapes. 4 tapes for weekly/monthly backup (700Gb) and 1 tape for daily differential backups (100Gb average) Monday - Thursday.

Only problem I have ever had was when I upgraded from IE6 to IE7. One file had to be removed from the app. That's all.

With the system state I have 3 backups of it:

1 - On CD, kept in safe with the DR diskette

2 - Normal backup with ArcServe

3 - Regular backup (when I remember) with MS Backup

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Tech Freak

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Posted

Thanks for your comments everyone.

I'll be checking all of these tools out if possible. So far, Acronis Enterprise Server seems to do the job, however I find its inability to "see" USB-attached devices disappointing. And it doesn't do granular restore (I think).

It looks like Arcserve and Symantec Backup Exec are an option here.

  • 2 weeks later...
Grand Master

MazX_Napalm

Posted
Posted
  Garry said:
BackupExec is really 'the' tool that large businesses use.

And Norton is the AV, Ghost is the imaging software, Dell is the pc, Nestle is the coffee.

  Garry said:
If you ever plan to change job, BackupExec is the product that will look best on your CV.

[cough]bs[/cough] You CV should never contain just one solution. Employers are not looking just at what you have actually used, they want to know that you have had exposure to similar products. I know, I'm busy recruiting my replacement.

Grand Master

.Kompressor

Posted
Posted

we use Arcserve also.

I like the Exchange Bricklayer backup of individual mailboxes. You can restore just 1 email if you need too.

Is there any other solution with that capability? I would like to know so I can give them a review.

Grand Master

Garry

Posted
Posted
  MazX_Napalm said:
And Norton is the AV, Ghost is the imaging software, Dell is the pc, Nestle is the coffee.

[cough]bs[/cough] You CV should never contain just one solution. Employers are not looking just at what you have actually used, they want to know that you have had exposure to similar products. I know, I'm busy recruiting my replacement.

Please don't patronise me. I know what I was saying and so do you. By exposing yourself to the most popular software in any particular area you maximise your chances. By using the most popular software and more, you increase your chances further - but that wasn't was this was about.

  • 2 weeks later...
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Tech Freak

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Well, I think I'll agree that BackupExec is "the dog's bol****s" of backup, so if you master that you're already on your way to a good CV. But then I agree with Napalm in that you should be flexible and know at least a handful of solutions out there.

Besides, BackupExec is so complicated you need to spend many many hours to figure it out (if you don't have previous experience). The 1630-page manual of version 11d tell you exactly that. Also, while it is perfect for the enterprise sector, SOHO/SMB will most probably not afford it, as it's very expensive when you include all the various agents.

In any case, somebody in here asked about individual mail etc, BackupExec does that quite nicely: see attached image as an example.

I can't say I have figured this prog out yet; it will take hours of reading before I can properly use it.

As for Acronis TrueImage Server, I couldn't find the "DB backup" option anywhere and when I enquired with Acronis they responded "you just have to backup the DB file from the disk". Well.. thanx very much.

ArcServe I haven't tested yet.

post-174941-1179164719_thumb.jpg

Rising Star

berz

Posted
Posted

Most of our deployments these days seem to be Backup Exec, as opposed to being almost exclusively ArcServe several years back. Thankfully, Symantec hasn't ruined it (yet).

Though it's been a while since I tinkered with it, my main gripe with Backup Exec is its sheer size and its reliance on a full-blown SQL database - though I suppose this is to ensure reliability of cataloging data in the long term. Make no mistake about it though, the program is a resource hog. That being said, our senior systems engineers sing its praises in terms of reliability. The remote agents, however, are another story altogether...especially the Mac one.

  • 4 months later...
Enthusiast

zeroomegazx

Posted
Posted

I've used NTBackup with Windows 2003 server quite frequently now for backing up/restoring test and production machines. It works quite well, much better than I expected. If you do not have a large network, and are only backing up a few servers you should give it a try. Only downside I've come across so far is that for a restore you must reinstall the OS and Service pack level that you were at when the backup you wish to restore needs to be restored. This really isn't an issue and takes what an hour tops to get W2k3 installed and SP1/2 installed? Other than that its free, can backup to devices and image files, and can be scheduled.

I've also worked with Backup exec for a number of years. Its great for large scale backups and keeping your backups organized. It really depends on what you wanna do and how much you have to manage.

  • 2 weeks later...
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