DPM 2010

[Chuckster]

I'm looking to purchase Data Protection Manager 2010 and noticed there is the standard and enterprise versions. I'm hoping to install DPM on a 2008 R2 server to backup file shares from other servers that run 2003 and 2008 R2.

Which version would I need? And do I need DPM install on every single server or just the one which is the backup server?

[strawberry]

You need a management server , you then install agents on the servers you want to backup.

Server is the same for enterpise and standard, its the agents that vary, enterpise is needed for sql , exchange, that sort of thing.

[Bruce123]

IF all you want is to backup shares then you're OK with Standard.

Standard:

Basically, backup of files/shares only, I think.

With Enterprise you also get:

Bare Metal Recovery/System State
Exchange 2003---
Sharepoint
SQL Server 2000---
Hyper V machines (i.e. backing them up at the host level)

I think for most Educational users you're better off with the Enterprise (given the low cost).

As to whether you will actually get DPM 2010 working reliably/properly... That's another matter entirely.

[jamesfed]

As to whether you will actually get DPM 2010 working reliably/properly... That's another matter entirely.

Works great here backs up at least 10x faster to tape than BackupExec (but then again I always thought there was something wrong with the install).

[Bruce123]

We're expecting it to backup very fast to tape as we have D2D2T configuration.... Just need to get it working reliably on D2D first...

[jamesfed]

We're expecting it to backup very fast to tape as we have D2D2T configuration.... Just need to get it working reliably on D2D first...

Not that I wish to hijack the thread but is it a speed issue? If so check if your AV on your servers is set to scan on any data reads - this slows things down wayyy to much.
If thats not it then do post it up someplace.

[Chuckster]

Given how cheap the Enterprise version is I will purchase this as I'm sure I will make use of all the other features in future.

It then makes me wonder if it's advisable to move away from VMware ESXi (the freebie edition) to Hyper-V. Hmm

[Bruce123]

Well DPM won't backup VMWare hosted VMs.

We thought it worthwhile paying for full Enterprise license for all our servers (all Windows apart from one Linux).

Costs from memory:

Standard ~£20 per year
Enterprise ~£35 per year

I am not sure but I think this may have been the cost of SCCM for each server (DPM included with it)

One Enterprise license will allow you to backup all VMs hosted by the Hyper-V Server. Compare this to something like £1,200 for Hyper-V BackupExec agent (one off payment).

But by backing up at the host level you don't get continuous backups (througout the day), for that you will need to backup at the Guest level (agent installed on the VM), but I think you would with BackupExec.

I couldn't advise on whether it's worth moving from WMWare to Hyper-V (there are obviously more things to consider than cost). But it very cheap. If you buy Data Centre 2008 R2 (includes Hyper-V) then it automatically includes licensing for all your hosted Windows Server VMs, so this may actually work out cheaper overall than using the "free" VMWare ESXi.

Thanks,

Bruce.