Do I need Symantec Backup Exec? please help

[Ike12]

Hi all

I have a small office network that was already setup when i was hired,  with Two Domain Controllers (2 domains that do share some info, such as printers etc) 1 is Win 2k8 Server R2 the other is Win 2k3 R2

There is only 1 ISP coming into the building and two unmanaged switches with one linksys/cisco wireless router controlling everyting.(i want to change this very soon)

Since each domain is running on just one server with no failover servers in place as of now, I really feel it would be best to implement some sort of "backup solution" this way If something was to happen to either server and it had to be rebuilt, I could just "restore" the needed info.

Now would I use something like a "full disk" backup or does Symantec Backup Excec satsify my needs? Sorry i just dont know as I have never used it. I am worried about losing info such as Domain settings, Active Directory settings, and especially the "shared" folders for the two domain users.. approx 25 users between the two DC's.

I would like to set something up so it backs it up to "tapes" so i can store them offsite too. Can anyone recommend a fairly cheap tape system that would allow this? or should I just use a Buffalo Terrastation in RAID1 ?

Also, In the scenerio I described, what version of Backup Excec would I need and how many licence? Thanks

thank you ALL for your time, i do apprecite it.

[Ken_Putnam]

Backup Exec is a file level backup solution.  If the entire server dies, restoring to different hardware can be a real bear, but is usually possible.  If you have users that tend to delete stuff they shouldn't, or other reasons to restore individual files/folders it works very well.

Backup Exec System Recovery is a block level backup solution, and can be used for bare-metal restores to different hardware.

if the budget permits, you can use both on the same server(s)