Backup solution comprising of 3 NAS and Windows SBS 2008

[Goz2K]

Hi there,

I am installing a new IT network using Windows SBS 2008 and would like to use 3 NAS to house the data for the different areas of our business. The SBS Box will essentially be handling email (exchange), remote web workspace, VPN and MS SQL Server.

What we'd like to be able to do is backup the data from the server to the 3 NAS devices, daily (retention 1 week), weekly (retention 1 month), monthly (retention 3 months), yearly (retention 1 year). To ensure that we have redundancy also for our NAS devices we'd like to be able perform an identical backup regime NAS 1 to NAS 2, NAS 2 to NAS 3 and NAS 3 to NAS 1. Each NAS will be housed within seperate buildings.

As yet we have still to purchase any backup software and NAS. I know backup exec is market leader for backup software so it's most likely that this could be performed using backup exec, I'm just unsure of what NAS are supported e.g. Dell Windows WSS that I have considered or perhaps cheaper solutions are available and the agents that could be used.

You're help is very much appreciated.

Goz

[CraigV]

Hi Goz,

First thing you need to do is check the BE 2010 R2 HCL and see if the NAS you're looking for is on it. If not, it doesn't mean it WON'T work, but you'll be running an unsupported.

The link to the HCL is below:

 ftp://ftp.entsupport.symantec.com/pub/support/products/Backup_Exec_for_WindowsNT/329256.pdf

Thanks!

[pkh]

To ensure that we have redundancy also for our NAS devices we'd like to be able perform an identical backup regime NAS 1 to NAS 2, NAS 2 to NAS 3 and NAS 3 to NAS 1. Each NAS will be housed within seperate buildings

Unless your WAN link is very stable and has a lot of bandwidth, this kind of backups are likely to fail.  If you are using BE to do the above backup, then note that the data will have to flow from the NAS being backed up to the media server where BE is installed and then out to the target NAS.  This will be quite a load on your WAN>

[Goz2K]

Unless your WAN link is very stable and has a lot of bandwidth, this kind of backups are likely to fail.  If you are using BE to do the above backup, then note that the data will have to flow from the NAS being backed up to the media server where BE is installed and then out to the target NAS.  This will be quite a load on your WAN>

Using a WAN will not really be a concern as the buildings are not that far apart from one another, less than 100 meters in fact so this can all be done over the copper LAN infrastructure we have.

Admittedly yes this is a lot of data to move and will need to be carried out outwith office hours. Would I be likely to encounter issues over LAN (I'm thinking not) but please if you have had any experience of problems with this then please let me know. It's best to prepare in advance :)

As far as hardware is concerned I'm now looking at the NETGEAR ReadyNas NV+ with 2 x 2TB drives (RAID 1). This leaves us with 2 spare bays for further storage later on.

With regards to the agents as previously mentioned we'll be using exchange and SQL Server (later on). I remember from my initial experience in IT (a few moons ago may I add) there was a bolt on called open file manager as well. If you can think of any other agents we're likely to need or potential scenario's where we may need additional agents then certainly I'd like to take these into consideration.

Thanks again.

Goz