backup software for windows server 2003

[Gabornski]

Bought an HP media vault to use for backups here at work. The backup software that came with it is not supported on this OS. I can get it to work but they say the way to test it is to restore it which I am not going to take the chance it will screw something up on the servers. We were using veritas backup exec before but only on one server. Now looking at backing up three so I think that would get pretty spendy. Looking for advice for other backup software for use on servers. Have googled it and found a couple but it appears all I have looked at have some kind of issue. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[RebateMonger]

Choice of backup software depends on your finances and the speed of backup and restore that you expect. Also, it depends on what features are important to you.

Nearly all of my Windows Server 2003 installations use the built-in NTBackup. But it can be slow, both for backups and for restores, and requires that the OS be re-installed before doing a full restore. But I've found NTBackup to be reliable, it works directly with VSS, I understand it well, and it's free.

If you do choose NTBackup, I strongly suggest running a third-party server monitoring program that will detect if NTBackup was successful and email you if there's a problem. NTBackup has no built-in notification feature, which is a significant flaw.

If you need high-speed and hardware-independent restores, then some of the newer software (like ShadowProtect Server) are the ticket. I use those for very large installations (500GB or more of data). With this software, I've seen entire (small) servers restored in a few minutes.

 

[Drakkon]

http://www.ilopia.com/Articles...Server2003/Backup.aspx - use the built in application?

 

[Gabornski]

I read about some of those monitoring programs so will take a closer look. Thanks for the input.

 

[Gabornski]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
http://www.ilopia.com/Articles...Server2003/Backup.aspx - use the built in application?

Thanks for the link. Some good step by step info there.

 

[AnnonUSA]

Backup Exec, Hands down the best. Not cheap, but easy to use and administrate.

 

[jcmuse]

acronis true image for servers is what i use. works quite well and w/ universal restore you can restore to different hardware.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: AnnonUSA
Backup Exec, Hands down the best. Not cheap, but easy to use and administrate.

Backup Exec is ten-year-old technology, doesn't know anything about hardware-independent restores or virtual servers, and costs the same as more modern software.

Plus, it's now owned by Symantec, who screws up every product they acquire.

Just my opinion.....

 

[SoulAssassin]

Disclaimer: I do enterprise backups/data protection. I've been certified with Netbackup since 2003 and I've done consulting work at the 3rd largest NBU environment in the world and various other companies across the country primarily as a subcontractor for Symantec Consulting.

Stick with Backup Exec. You don't need the full blown server edition for each box, you just need want the remote agent and do the backup across the network. It's maybe a couple hundred bucks for the remote agent.

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: AnnonUSA
Backup Exec, Hands down the best. Not cheap, but easy to use and administrate.

Backup Exec is ten-year-old technology, doesn't know anything about hardware-independent restores or virtual servers, and costs the same as more modern software.

Backup Exec has supported BMR since 10d. If your environment is big enough to necessitate snapshot backups of VM servers then you're probably a Netbackup candidate else you can always load the agent on the guest OS. Maybe you haven't looked at Backup Exec for 10 years?

Plus, it's now owned by Symantec, who screws up every product they acquire.

Possibly, but the Backup Exec and Netbackup development teams are still separate from the Symantec teams. They've retained their org structure for the most part.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
Backup Exec has supported BMR since 10d.

Backup Exec's Dissimilar Hardware and Physical-to-Virtual Conversion capabilities require the "System Recovery Option", an $800 option. I still think Backup Exec is overly pricey for what it is and overkill for smaller companies.

But, yeah, you are sorta' right. I haven't experienced 11d. The actual installed versions that I mostly run into are 9.x, from the 2003-2005 timeframe.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
Backup Exec has supported BMR since 10d.

Backup Exec's Dissimilar Hardware and Physical-to-Virtual Conversion capabilities require the "System Recovery Option", an $800 option. I still think Backup Exec is overly pricey for what it is and overkill for smaller companies.

But, yeah, you are sorta' right. I haven't experienced 11d. The actual installed versions that I mostly run into are 9.x, from the 2003-2005 timeframe.

BMR is free in NBU 6.5.

 

[Gabornski]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Choice of backup software depends on your finances and the speed of backup and restore that you expect. Also, it depends on what features are important to you.

Nearly all of my Windows Server 2003 installations use the built-in NTBackup. But it can be slow, both for backups and for restores, and requires that the OS be re-installed before doing a full restore. But I've found NTBackup to be reliable, it works directly with VSS, I understand it well, and it's free.

If you do choose NTBackup, I strongly suggest running a third-party server monitoring program that will detect if NTBackup was successful and email you if there's a problem. NTBackup has no built-in notification feature, which is a significant flaw.

If you need high-speed and hardware-independent restores, then some of the newer software (like ShadowProtect Server) are the ticket. I use those for very large installations (500GB or more of data). With this software, I've seen entire (small) servers restored in a few minutes.

I have started using NTBackup and definitely need to get a third party monitoring program. Do you have suggestions on third party monitoring software? Any experience with BackupAssist?

Thanks

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Gabornski
I have started using NTBackup and definitely need to get a third party monitoring program. Do you have suggestions on third party monitoring software? Any experience with BackupAssist?

I've used BackupAssist on clients where they wanted encryption and compression of the backups (which NTBackup doesn't do natively). It seems to work OK.

If you don't mind paying a monthly fee, http://hounddogiseasy.com works great, and monitors tons of stuff (including backups) on servers and clients for very low cost. I use it on all my Windows servers that aren't SBS 2003.