Symantec Desktop & Laptop Option ?

[G_R]

Hello everyone,

Our organization have 40 desktops, now my boss want to backup files and folders (mostly MS Office file) on those desktops to a NAS on the system. I want to ask if Symantec Desktop & Laptop Option can do this ? Can it schedule backup tasks like Monday it will do Full Backup and from Tuesday to Sunday it will do Incremental Backup ? Can it do Granular Recovery file and folder on each desktop ? If it not, what Symantec Solutions can do this ?

Thank you & Best regards.

[VJware]

SDLO can do this. It backups just user-data and not any system files though and it can be set to either run on a schedule or a continuous basis.

You can schedule the backups from Mon- Fri, however you can't specify if they would be full or incremental. This being said, the first backup would be always full and the subsequent backups would transfer across only the changes.

Since it backs up only files & folders, it's already performing a GRT level backup & the concept of GRT restore doesn't really apply here. (It would apply for an egs, if you backup an Exchange IS and then recover individual mails)

Apart from SDLO, there are other options such as Backup Exec, System Recovery which are more of a full-fledged backup software meant for complete system protection.

[G_R]

Thank you for your answer.

If I understand it right, SDLO is a stand-alone solution, it uses a per user licensing model. So do I have to buy anything else for Central Management and Backup Server ? And System Recovery 2013 Desktop Ed can do what SDLO do, including backup system files ?

Thanks & Best regards.

[VJware]

Yes, SDLO is a standalone product. It includes a central administration console and the sdlo client software which is licensed per user basis. No licenses are required for the backup destination either.

System Recovery backs up sectors and is more of an image-based backup software. Yes, it can backup individual files/folders and the complete system as well. It's especially beneficial in terms of bare metal recovery and that too to dissimilar hardware.

In a nutshell, SDLO is recommended if the requirement is of a continuous backup protection of the user's data whereas if you are looking for a complete system recovery as well, then System Recovery and/or Backup Exec are better suited.

[G_R]

I have another problem. Let's say I have a client desktop and on this desktop, the D:\ drive store all the files and documents like Office files, Images, Musics and the E:\ drive store only Office files. And now I want to backup only Office files on both drives. Can SDLO do this ? And if it can do this, who will be the one config the policy, the user or the admin ?

Thanks & Best Regards.

[VJware]

Yes, this is possible. You can set various types of file/directory exclusions and inclusions. The Administrator defines the backup selections, however it is possible to allow the end-user to also make custom backup selections.

[G_R]

Hi VJware,

From what i understand in these links:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/system-recovery-2013-desktop-edition-file-and-folder-backup-query

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/symantec-system-recovery-2013-desktop-edition-0

Symantec System Recovery 2013 Desktop Ed only do full backup and what changed since the last full backup. It can't do Incremental Backup right ? So I want to ask if it can restore individual file and folder in the full backup ?

Thanks & Best regards.

[VJware]

SSR gives couple of backup options. One is the complete volume backup and the other is "files & folders" backup.

If you opt for Files & Folders backup, it doesn't do "incrementals" per se. It backs up the complete file when it changes and maintains a set of revisions. During restore, you have the ability to restore individual files though not individual folders.