Looking for some people to help me out by load testing our new backup server

[cyr0nk0r]

Hi everyone. I have just recently started a new offsite data backup business and need some of you guys to help me test everything out. What I am looking for is people to download our software and install it and backup your data for a few days. The more people the better!

Right now the software is setup for trial registrations and I am providing 30-day free trials for the service (if you like it keep it for 30-days). If you find you don't like the software or don't want to test it anymore, simply uninstall it and nothing more is required.

You can find our software here:
http://www.korcomputing.com/trial
Instructions are also provided on the website.

Each trial user is given a 1GB quota so fill'r up. The more people that I can get backing up to our server at any given time the better the overall test will be.

*A few details about how our software works:
-backup database files such as MS Exchange, MySQL, Oracle9, etc.
-128-bit encrypted
-replicated in real-time to another offsite storage server
-online 24/7 file access/restore

THANK YOU everyone for any help you can provide for a new entrepreneur.
FYI, I'm not here to try and spam or advertise, I just really need some real world testing of our service. I figure networking guys are the best and finding tiny little annoyances better than anyone. Let me know anything you don't like about any part of the process.

 

[cleverhandle]

Comment #1: Please package your linux tar.gz files so that they unpack as a folder rather than spewing things around your current directory.

Comment #2: I have no idea how to install this, and I am by no means a "pointy-clicky" kind of person. There are no instructions, no README, no file labelled install, or anything else that implies where I should start. I tried a script, but it asked me to choose a backup server, and I didn't know what to enter, so I exited. Linux users won't generally need a lot of hand-holding, but you need to provide some rudimentary documentation.

Comment #3: All of your files are mode 755. This screams "developed for Windows, we don't know much about Linux".

If I were an administrator shopping around for backup solutions, I would already have dropped your site from consideration, based on its shoddy packaging. The tech may be fine, but the way you present it reflects your attention (or inattention) to detail.

 

[cyr0nk0r]

will do. If your using the linux version I would REALLY like to get any feedback you can provide.

our primary user focus will be windows server users. However, I still want to keep the option open for any *nix users.

Please let me know what version and build of linux you are using.
EDIT: and your kernel build.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: cyr0nk0r
our primary user focus will be windows server users.

Which is fine. Honestly, I don't think many pure *nix admins would bother with a service like yours, simply because they should be able to script something equivalent using ssh and the backup tool of their choice. I think it would appeal more to either desktop users that don't want to maintain a backup server themselves, or to admins of multiple platforms that want to keep everything in the same place.

I'm curious about your pricing, though - are you not charging for bandwidth? If I understand your pricing page correctly, the medium business plan provides a flat 10GB of backup space for $40. Assuming a busy database that's gets a full backup every week and an incremental backup every night, that's going to run something like 50GB of transfer per month. Is that included in your plan?

Please let me know what version and build of linux you are using.
EDIT: and your kernel build.

The machine I was using to check out the software is my desktop, Debian Sid, 2.6.17 AMD64. But that's not very representative of what most servers are running out there. The servers I run are either OpenBSD or Debian stable.

 

[cyr0nk0r]

any transfer is included in our plan. Regardless of how much traffic you push. For the time being I think I am going to remove the linux build and work on getting it more user friendly. If you have a windows box I would encourge you to at least try it out for a little while so you can see how it is supposed to work

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: cyr0nk0r
For the time being I think I am going to remove the linux build and work on getting it more user friendly.

Well, like I said, I don't think most Linux users expect something that's friendly per se. A few lines to the effect of "Set environment variable XXX, make sure a Java 1.5 JVM is available, then run script.sh" is perfectly sufficient. Well, for me, at least. I still don't know where to start - if you give me some hints, I can probably give you better advice.

If you have a windows box...

I don't, but I'm happy to test out the linux one. Though I would rather not have to read through all of your scripts myself just to get things started.

 

[InlineFive]

He just asked for volunteers to test it out, not for some ubER Linux geek to come in and do the job for him.

 

[cyr0nk0r]

I should have an updated build for you by monday.

EDIT: yes I want people to test it out. But I also want to know what does and doesn't work. Anything from little bugs you find, or in this case, an entire build that he cant get working.

He would be a great customer that I could lose because he is unable to get the software working.

 

[cyr0nk0r]

cleverhandle, I have PM'ed you x-window instructions for getting our software up and running. Please let me know if you have any problems.

 

[cmetz]

cyr0nk0r, I have looked at online backup solutions for many applications. Most are *IX based systems. Simply put, if I have to install any of your software to use your service, you're out of consideration. I don't want your software. Especially to run on my important servers. Nothing personal, just security reality.

Look at what www.rsync.net does, and do that. I have never used them, but have them mentally bookmarked under "gets it."

I realize that Windows server admins are *much* different in what they want and need.

 

[cyr0nk0r]

rsync does things a little differently. Our overall service is very similar, however we use software to automate the process. Where as with rsync you must setup everything yourself. We also use HTTPS for transfer, and our data is replicated ALL the time, we don't make you pay extra for it. Our plans always include unlimited transfer (that shouldnt even be mentioned as a feature, it should just be asssumed)

Rsync is more for linux people and honestly not my target customer base. Small Businesses with 1-25 employees are NOT going to be running linux. Sorry guys, it might be better overall, but small bussineses want exchange, active directory.. and that means windows will always win.