Backup Exec 12.5

[Mark_d1]

I have had this product for over a year so the subscription for support has worn out. 

I have the product configured very poorly and would like to get things in better shape.  I have found the sample profiles Duplicate Media Backups and Media Rotation.

Is there a way that I can use either of these profiles to create this backup scenario?

• Daily backup of files that have changed to a hard disk on the computer
• Monthly backup of the entire system on a removable hard drive that I would bring in and remove once the backup is complete.

This is a hugly powerful program that I am almost completly lost in.  Any help would be amazing.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[pkh]

I would suggest that you read the Admin Guide first.  This document can be found in the installation directory of BE.

[Mark_d1]

Thank you for the reply pkh.

I have done some reading and I know that I have a long way to go but would someone tell me what they think about this setup?

Right now we do not have the ability to complete tape backups so working with what we have this is what I have been thinking.

Backup of the file server

Initial full backup to a seperate hard drive on the server. Approx 80 GB of data to backup.

Daily backups to the other hard drive located in the server.  These would be either incrimental or diferential but would be kept for a period of 9 days.

Full weekly backups to a networked hard drive located in another office.  These would be kept for 6 weeks then allowed to be overwritten

Full monthly backups to a networked hard drive.  Those would be kept for a time of 6 months before being allowed to be overwritten.

Full monthly backups to a removable hard drive that would be brought in from off site.  These backups would be kept forever to keep a monthly record of the goings on for years.

Let me know what you think.  I am trying to create a backup plan that will be solid and complete if I leave the company.

Thanks in advance for the help and advice.

Mark

[pkh]

It is a do-able plan, but you do have to watch out for the following:

Full weekly backups to a networked hard drive located in another office

If this is connected using a WAN connection, then it would probably not work as the WAN connection would not have sufficient bandwidth to handle the backup.

Full monthly backups to a removable hard drive

BE 12.5 does not handle removable hard drive very well.  You would have to ensure that it is mounted to the same drive letter each time you re-connect the drive to the media server and that is is on-line before the backup begins.

When the disk is full, you would have to re-create the B2D folder on a new disk.

For each of your various retention periods you would have to create a different media set.

[Mark_d1]

What do you recommend as a backup media?

Are tapes the best option that you have seen?

I will continue to read and try things out.

Thank you

[pkh]

I don't have any specific preference.  With cheaper disk prices, a lot of people are moving to them, but for big backups, probably tapes are a better option.

[Mark_d1]

At this time we have some hard drives in hand so I think that is the way we will go.

As to the question if the hard drive in another office will be on a WAN, I do not think so.  There is an additional Eithernet port on the back of the server that I would run directly to a hard drive.

Would that be enough bandwidth?

Thank you again for all your help.

[Hywel_Mallett]

I think a combination of big disks and tape is still the way to go. Disk has an advantage for restore speed, particulalry if you need to use the granular restore features of Backup Exec.

People have been saying tape is dead for ages, but I still think it's the best option for off-site backups.

[pkh]

LAN speed should be sufficient for BE.