Backup Exec 2010 - backup to disk, then duplicate to swappable hard disk?

[Kremlar]

We are sick of tape drives/tapes on each of our servers and are looking for a way to backup our data reliably to disk.

Our current thought is to create a dedicated backup server running Backup Exec 2010.  All servers will have Backup Exec 2010 Remote Agents installed.  We'd like to backup all servers to the backup server's fixed disk via a nightly backup job (a separate Backup To Disk Folder for each night most likely).  We'd then like to have the nightly backup job duplicate itself to a Removable Backup To Disk Folder located on a hard disk in a hot-swap carrier on the backup server.  We would then swap out that removable drive daily, rotating between 2 drives, so we could take 1 drive off-site with us.

Is this a feasible solution?  Are there any issues with swapping between 2 hard disks with Backup Exec for the duplicate job?

What are other people doing?

Thanks in advance!

[pkh · Accepted solution]

If you are not on BE 2010 R2, then you should upgrade to it because it has a lot of improvement in the handling of USB drives.

With BE 2010 R2, what you need to do is

1) create B2D folders (normal ones, not removable) on each of your USB drives.

2) create a device pool and put all the above folders in it.

3) target your duplicate job to this device pool.

When you plug in any one of your USB drives, it will be on-line and will be used.

[Colin_Weaver]

OK You mentioned Disk in a Hot Swap Carrier - do you mean something like RDX or Iomega? as that might be best suited for a Removable Backup to Disk instead of a standard B2D - suggest you check the Hardware Comaptibility List for the Removable Backup to Disk Support section - if you device is on that list (or is obviously from a family of drives that is on that list) then use Removable B2D. If the drive is not on the list that might be best to use standard B2D.

Other than this one comment PKH's answer about device pools etc is the method.

[Kremlar]

Thanks for the replies. 

Note that I did not mention USB drives in my post - the drives are not USB, though it is great to hear that Symantec has finally fixed that issue!

The hot-swap carrier I am using is a generic SATA hot-swap (manufactured by Icy Dock), not a RDX or Iomega.

Thanks again!