guys 'n gals,

at the moment i have a lan with about 5-6 pc's and they backup nightly onto a server (i.e. another machines harddrive) using a simple DOS batch file which copies all the contents of various folders (if the content has been updated).

now, if this backup hdd fails, the premises burn down etc there would be trouble. currently the backup data is about 2-3 gig and will slowly grow over time.

so, what's the best way to do this? get a tape drive? which one, there are all different shapes and sizes. or, buy a DVD+RW drive (could i treat this as a HDD and use my batch file?)

silly question, but for these double sided DVD's to get the 9 gig does that mean u have to take the disc out and turn it over or is there a head on both sides?

cheers
steven

Steven,

We are using an Apple iPod as our backup device.
It appears as an extra drive in My Computer.
We bought the 20 Gb model for IIRC £350 from Apple themselves.
They've just launched a new range, which is thinner and has a new control layout.
Oh, it also stores and plays MP3shttp://www.stupid-boy.com/smilies/otn/wink/smily012.gif

It may not be quick enough for you though, although it does use firewire.

Steve Wardle

cheers steve - but it's all IBM (PC :p) stuff we have, not mac stuff.

Steven,
So is ours, the iPod comes in a mac or pc version.
The new one can do both, our "old" one is pc only.

Steve

i got dds tape drives in both my servers (pdc and fileserver/mailserver)
and back up something like 26gb in about 4hrs or so.

with veritas backup exec, software.

they are relatively cheap (compared with losing data) so go and get one. (10 tapes were about £40) or so.

BB:)

thanks for the info guys.

was kind of hoping someone would say go for the DVD+RW just so i can have a new toy :D

Go for the DVD+RW

LOLhttp://mysmilies.creativesell.net/cwm/cwm/rotate.gif

Doesn't sound like you have a policy in place. First get a backup policy, your business should be able to tell you how much their data is worth to them, then yo can decide on whether something like an iPod will do (most businesses just wouldn't accept that) or whether you can raise a PO for something a bit more robust like a DLT drive, and do it properly :)

I have various backups in my bu strategy, but the best daily one for me is my external HDD. Maxtor 5000LE USB2 hard drive, with 80gb capacity.

It includes Dantz Retrospect software, and a funky button on the front of the unit which you can configure. I have it set to copy my Documents folder, so you just press the button and it backs everything up in one go.

Cost £140 from Dabs, and it also looks great. USB2 has a high transfer rate as well.

I then have dual sets of CDR backups as well, one on site, one off site.

Do you have a permanent internet connection / broardband etc? If so why not consider an on-line backup? There are a couple of companies that offer this and they can be quite cost effective as you don't have to worry about replacing tapes and off-site storage.

Basically they'll visit your office and take a copy of your data using a portable harddrive. Then every night any files that you have modified will be automatically uploaded to their servers. (It's all encrypted / compressed etc)

If you need to restore an individual file you can simply download it, or if you have a catastrophic failure they will bring all your data back on another portable drive and load it back to your new server.

Cheers.

Steve.

What ever method you go for (DLT, DVD, HDD) remember to either take a copy off premesis or store them in a fire proof safe. No good having a backup if it's lost in a fire along with the original :(

I use DLT IV's which are stored under Halon/Inergen onsite.

Steve,

What backup service do you use? We currently use DLTs but I am currently looking at an online service for our backup storage.

Not sure I am convinced about using incremental backups though, what are other peoples thoughts on the subject?

Cheers

Gary

Gary,

I use Datafort as they are reasonably priced and seam to offer a good service. I looked at a couple of the high-end solutions (VBAK) but couldn't justify the price as I wanted to run the on-line backups in parallel with tapes for a year or so.

I had a few reservations about incremental backups but I'm just going to see how we get on. I also do a full backup to SDLT's using a different tape everynight for 2 weeks and send weekly tapes off-site. The on-line system allows me to restore from up to 3 versions of a particular file without having to faff around finding the right tape.

I think it'll be a little while before I would be confident relying entirely on the on-line system, but it does compliment the tapes quite well. You can't be too carefull, especially if it's your neck on the line if anything goes wrong.

Thanks.

Steve.

If you have anyone like our account department, then you need to take different backups each night.

eg. monday DAT#1, tues DAT#2, etc...

that way they can rollback to whatever day they fu**ed up, instead of just having yesterday's backup available, if you see what I mean ?

Also, at least one of the tapes is offsite at any one time, in case of fire, etc...

[Edited by DazV - 6/11/2003 6:25:38 PM]