Server Backup Software

[squeeky]

Hi everyone. Im looking for a good backup solution for two servers. Windows 2008 R2 and a Windows 2008. They are both domain controllers but on seperate domains. I need to backup both servers to one pc over the other side of the site. I was actuarly supprised that I could not find an open source solution to this issue. Cheap is good here but only aslong as it works properly. I have tried a few solutions but I need a client that supports a full restore using the backup image aswell as the ability to easily restore individual files.

 

My ideal situation is linux server with windows client software on each server. A few solutions come close but are either a pain to setup and manage or just dont work reliably.

 

Untill now we have been using Windows Backup and it works perfectly on 2008 r2 when the backup server is in the same domain but the 2008 server causes us big problems not being on the domain and 2008 backup not properly supporting network drives.

 

Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

Swueeky

[TheScarfedOne]

You can use WSB, but you would need to use UNC paths. The user account you use for the scheduled task would need to have permissions to the share (which should be fine even if not on the domain) and bear in mind that it can only hold one backup per set. To get round this, I use folders named Week 1, 2 etc and have the task run every 4 weeks

[Brpilot99]

Have you checked out Redo? Might be what you need ......

[Modey]

SCDPM (System Centre Data Protection Manager) is very good, especially when it comes to backing up anything from Microsoft. It shouldn't cost very much if you have an education agreement with MS as most schools seem to have.

 

It will require a server with a reasonable sized disk pool though (depends on how much you intend to back up).

[squeeky]

You can use WSB, but you would need to use UNC paths. The user account you use for the scheduled task would need to have permissions to the share (which should be fine even if not on the domain) and bear in mind that it can only hold one backup per set. To get round this, I use folders named Week 1, 2 etc and have the task run every 4 weeks.

 

on 2008 it keeps asking for the password for the backup.

Edited March 5, 2013 by squeeky

[Guest Guest]

BackupAssist is what I use, works great: Server Backup Software for Windows Servers | BackupAssist

[squeeky]

Bacula is a winner. Its free. I have made a server setup my clients and created a win8pe cd with VSS enabled. I have completed a full restore of a production physical server in a test virtual environment and then tested it could run as a server in a disaster scenario. Its perfect for my needs and it gives me lots of flexibility even if it has taken days to figure out.

[ADMaster]

I have used a few different solutions. I started out using BackupPC it did a pretty good job, but I don’t think I could do an image backup with it.

Currently my only physical servers are 2008 and 2008 r2, so or my virtual servers I use vmware data recovery.

For the physical servers I use windows built in wbadmin. I get around one backup network limitation by using a powershell script. It creates a folder with the current date and uses that as the backup target.

My backup location is on the same domain, so I don’t have the password issue. However you could try putting the password in the script.

 

Net use * \\backupserver\backupshare adminpassword  /user:backupadminaccount 

 

 

If you’re interested in the script I’ll get it Monday.

[squeeky]

that would be good thanks. At least i have options then

[ADMaster]

@squeeky,

I published the script today here it is.

 

Tech Blog: wbadmin Backup Script

 

While double checking a few things before I published I came across an article about creating a vhd and mounting it over the network. This will supposedly act like a local hard disk and allow incremental / differential backups to a network location.

 

I will explore this option and if it works like I hope, I'll publish the results.