Google Workspace Backup

[timbo343]

@timbo343 - did you go with Syscloud in the end? If so how is it working out for you?

 

Having just got off a call with Jake at Syscloud, we need to complete the GDPR as us being the controller. Once that has been completed we can link SysCloud into our Google Workspace as a API and choose what to backup.

[TwistedHelixis]

Just to add, you can install Cubebackup on more than one system but only need one license. I have Cubebackup installed on our data server and this uses Wasabi to store the data, Wasabi is only £6 per TB. I also install Cubebackup onto a local machine with a USB drive which backups the main staff shared drives.

[TwistedHelixis]

Does the Immutable part get over the 'Offline' requirement? I couldn't find any 'evidence' for the powers at be, that this would be acceptable.

A friends school was told by their insurance that this does not class as offline.

[fiza]

Having just got off a call with Jake at Syscloud, we need to complete the GDPR as us being the controller. Once that has been completed we can link SysCloud into our Google Workspace as a API and choose what to backup.

@timbo343 - Are you running with Syscloud now? If so how is it so far?

[timbo343]

@timbo343 - Are you running with Syscloud now? If so how is it so far?

Hi Fiza

 

No, we didn't go with SysCloud in the end, the design brief changed when we were looking. It went from "we need something to backup Google" to "what offsite backups have the MAT now got in place across all 11 schools" so we are going with Acronis now for Cloud backup and OnPrem to Cloud.

 

We did test SysCloud though and if you are only wanting to backup Google i'd say give them a trail. They moved to a new platform from when they demoed it to us to when we went live.

 

For us, it was a little clunky but did the job and was certainly cheaper than Acronis but in the end we wanted a platform that did both Google and OnPrem to cloud. SysCloud do offer the unlimited storage option which was a nice touch though.

 

With Acronis being completely managed in the cloud it kinda was the perfect fit.

 

They have the relevant GDPR documentation now as i was involved in reviewing it with our external DPO.

 

SysCloud were very engaging with us. Speak to Ryan and Jake (Ryan is more technical) and they are trying to work more with UK schools.

 

For us, it didnt really fit in the end but that's not to say we won't consider them in the future.

[flyinghaggis]

We've been running into issues (inconsistent backups, missing folder structure information for files, connectivity/performance issues in the web management console) with our Spanning backups of Google Workspace so are considering looking at alternatives. Spanning has worked pretty well for us in the past but recently it just doesn't seem very reliable.

 

Is there anything folk on here would recommend as a similar cloud/hosted backup solution for Google Workspace?

[TwistedHelixis]

s there anything folk on here would recommend as a similar cloud/hosted backup solution for Google Workspace?

 

I recently went from Spanning to Wasabi & Cubebackup. Its more hands on but much cheaper. I also do a monthly onsite backup also using Cubebackup which gets turned off between backups.

[flyinghaggis]

I recently went from Spanning to Wasabi & Cubebackup. Its more hands on but much cheaper. I also do a monthly onsite backup also using Cubebackup which gets turned off between backups.

 

I know a few folk on here have suggested onsite synology backups but I think our management would prefer to keep the backups offsite. The Cubebackup/Wasabi option sounds promising though.

 

In terms of the functionality is it limited in any way compared to a more integrated/managed system like Backupify/Spanning/Syscloud/etc? How much additional workload does it generate in terms of managing the backups?

 

I *was* quite keen on the concept of stuff like Spanning until recently but it's turns out they seem to have dropped the ball with our backups and it looks like we're missing data/folder structure and permissions from them despite the backup console claiming everything was OK. I'd assumed that with someone else managing the backups they'd actually be taking steps to ensure the integrity and consistency of them but it looks like that's not the case.

 

As the saying goes "you can outsource the work but never the risk"! So if we're going to have to take the responsibility of regularly double-checking our backups to ensure the management console and provider aren't misrepresenting the integrity of them perhaps we'd be better off running them ourselves directly!

Edited May 9, 2023 by flyinghaggis

[timbo343]

The onsite stuff is "okay" but being a user of Acronis for both OnPrem and Google Backups, Acronis is very much a set and forget system (obviously we check in on it every now and then) but for us it does the job. No need to worry about the backup storage, etc. Just need to make sure the upload on the internet lines is big enough to cope with uploads.

 

Not the cheapest solution but sometimes cheapest isn't always the best.

 

The single pane of glass for both Google and OnPrem servers is great.

[TwistedHelixis]

In terms of the functionality is it limited in any way compared to a more integrated/managed system like Backupify/Spanning/Syscloud/etc? How much additional workload does it generate in terms of managing the backups?

 

Cubebackup will send you an email each night listing how much data was backed up and if there were any issues. I actually find Cubebackup more reliable than Spanning. Every once in a while I'll do a restore and its always been fine (touch wood).

 

The only time I need to make any changes is when I add or remove a shared drive or add remove staff etc.

 

EDITED

Edited May 10, 2023 by TwistedHelixis

[fiza]

I am leaning towards Synology NAS for onsite backups, more for retrieving deleted items that are more than 30 days old in shared drives.

Which NAS and what size are people using for this purpose?

[maxkops]

For info DS1621+

 

active backup for google workspace details:

140 live staff accounts (hourly, used to be continuous which was circa 15mins but seemed overkill).

360 suspended staff accounts (nightly)

610 live pupil accounts (nightly)

 

770Gb email

720Gb drive

100Mb contacts

8Gb calendar

 

so 1.5Tb total as reported in console.

No mention of compression or depuplication savings (which are stated for Active Backup for Business).

 

free (as Synology addon package) requires some occasional handholding but works very well and have used portal to restore/inspect "lost/deleted" items for staff.

 

6x2B drives SHR 2 drive tolerant 7TB total

 

considering getting bigger drives and more RAM, seemed enough 5yrs ago but now...

Edited June 12, 2023 by maxkops
spelling

[Jamboy]

Using the Datto solution however paying less than the £1.50 per user. I guess the pricing is dependent on which reseller you buy from. Edited June 13, 2023 by Jamboy

[flyinghaggis]

Using the Datto solution however paying less than the £1.50 per user. I guess the pricing is dependent on which reseller you buy from.

 

How are you finding the Datto solution? I'm a bit wary as we're moving away from Spanning due them losing/corrupting all of our Google Workspace backup data and they don't seem able to resolve the problem a month later. I noticed that Kaseya also own Datto.

 

After being utterly let down by Spanning frankly I don't want to touch another Kaseya product!

[TwistedHelixis]

After being utterly let down by Spanning frankly I don't want to touch another Kaseya product!

Same. We had all sorts off issues with them. Once I contacted our account manager (who is no longer there) with a restore issue and he came back a week later with a sales pitch, trying to get us to buy some dark web password checking products. I was not happy.

[Jamboy]

How are you finding the Datto solution? I'm a bit wary as we're moving away from Spanning due them losing/corrupting all of our Google Workspace backup data and they don't seem able to resolve the problem a month later. I noticed that Kaseya also own Datto.

 

After being utterly let down by Spanning frankly I don't want to touch another Kaseya product!

 

It's fine if you only need to restore a couple of files. If you need to restore gigabytes of data then it can't cope! But we were warned about this by our reseller, personally I wanted to go with RedStor and that's what the reseller recommended. Based on cost management decided to go with Datto.

 

Kaseya, have now acquired Datto so it could get worse!