What backup software to use?

[sidewinder]

Sorry if this doesnt fit in very well in here, but there is no software forum and it doesnt really fall under anything else

 

We've been using Backup Exec 9.1 for a few years here and it works fine for disk to disk backups and worked ok with our old tape drive

 

However over the summer we spent £2k on a Quantum LTO-3 tape drive.

 

I assumed I could just continue using 9.1, but after weeks of trying with Veritas/Symantecs awful interface and drivers, I cant get it to work.

 

It came with a limited version of Bacjup Exec 10d which you would imagine would work with the drive....it doesnt, even with all the updates and updated drivers.

So Im really falling out with Backup Exec at the minute. It finds the drive to install the drivers and detects it as ready. But it NEVER shows in the console.

Im wondering could it be my SCSI card - Adaptec 19160 - which appears to be a fairly old model?

 

So what does everyone else use? The only other one I know is Retrospect, and Im not sure what thats like with compatibility

 

Or if anyone can help me with that specific problem on Backup Exec I would be really grateful.

[plexer]

Your message got filtered by our leas filtering so I couldn't read it but I am currently using just ntbackup on my 2 main fileservers with backupassist installed as well.

 

Backupassist makes using ntbackup very smooth and it has email reporting of jobs and easy scheduling and rotation schemes built in.

 

Plus by using ntbackup you can also create yourself an ASR tape and floppy disk set that will enable you to do a bare metal restore rather than paying for expensive software to do this.

 

Ben

[BKGarry]

As with plexer said,

 

NTBackup on 2k3 server is great always work even with out brand new SDLT II (SDLT600) tape drives. Also NT backup is great for backup up exhangei found backupexec would not back up the entire exchange DB if there was a user disabled that had a mailbox.

 

GAz

[Face-Man]

we had the same problem some time ago with our tape library and backup exec. In the end I found out it was the windows driver that was the problem. It may be differnet in your case but worth a try.

[DMcCoy]

Are you using the built in windows drivers for the scsi card? Is it 2003 sp1?

 

I had a problem with backup exec going about 50 times slower with the built in windows certified drivers, worked fine with later drivers from adaptec site.

[Disease]

We use backup Exec 10 and had exactly the same issue , our quantum superloaded just dropped off.

 

I did this in the end and it worked.

 

1.Bought an HP Ultrium 960 which takes 8 x 800gig tapes (this made no difference I just thought I would show it off )

2.Unistalled Veritas.

3.Uninstalled the tape drive.

4. removed it from Removable storage manager in windows.

5.reinstalled Veritas

6.Worked fine after that.

 

Now this problem occurred on both the quantum and the HP so I know it was not the hardware, so try my list and see if it solves it for you.

[wesleyw]

We use an Quantum LTO3 Superloader here with 16 slots same drive as Disease lol I like to show off too

 

we run Backup Exec 10d. I believe the manual states within the installation guide (yes I know I actually did read it lol) not to allow winodws to install its own drivers but to use symantecs? I think thats right or I could be confused (It's getting easier to confuse me these days). Using a slower scsi card 160UW I believe that model is? Wouldn't effect it be detected it should be backwardly compatible. So I'd say take Disease' advice and uninstall the drives and veritas then install veritas again. I think it should be detected as Certance H3 within veritas (that is if its an LTO3 thing or just a quantum thing)

 

Wes

[DMcCoy]

Only 16?

[wesleyw]

You running the fifty slot one then DMcCoy? lol

 

 

Wes

[Roberto]

As with plexer said,

 

NTBackup on 2k3 server is great always work even with out brand new SDLT II (SDLT600) tape drives. Also NT backup is great for backup up exhangei found backupexec would not back up the entire exchange DB if there was a user disabled that had a mailbox.

 

GAz

 

Glad to hear you say that.

 

NTBackup is without a doubt the most foolproof tool for backing up Exchange. I've been working with Exchange since Exchange 4.0, and I've never found a better way of doing it. Lots of ways that people think are better sure. They usually tell me all about them for conversation when I'm doing a consulting job on the side recovering their exchange server from improperly configured backups.

[sidewinder]

Did as disease said, uninstalled, installed Veritas again, it found the device, installed the drivers and STILL wont appear in Backup Exec.

Also in removable storage console it appears with a red cross and wont allow me to view or adjust any properties for it, just says it isnt a valid object

 

Im going to try and see if I can get NTBackup to respond to it with the normal drivers, with no Veritas to get in the way, just to see if the thing actually works at all

 

Thanks for the advice so far people. I HATE SCSI devices

[Dos_Box]

I use Retrospect 7.5 on a Tandberg LTO2 Tandberg Storageloader. The proactive backup function means that backups are done on the fly whenever there are quiet periods, all automatically. The Exchange agent is fantastic too.

[DMcCoy]

So why is the retrospect mac version so rubbish?

[DMcCoy]

Sidewinder, which version did you install? I assume that the device is on the list of compatible drives (10d at least).

 

Try removing the windows driver, stopping removable storage managment and then see if veritas can see it.

 

Removable storage managment is often disable by other products.

[sidewinder]

Just tried it with the service stopped, no difference, Veritas still doesnt want to know

 

On a side note, what I dont understand is when I go through the device wizard in backup exec, it brings up the help sheet with the link to install a device driver at the top, and at the bottom it says about enabling the drive in removable storage

 

The first step is to click 'physical locations' Now call me stupid, but I cannot see that anywhere in the removable devices snap-in, so instantly the instructions make no sense to me

 

In the morning Ill do some screenshots just so everyone can see what screens Im getting going through the process

 

I havent checked whether the drive is compatible yet, I just guessed it was as the software came with the drive

[NetworkGeezer]

NTBackup is without a doubt the most foolproof tool for backing up Exchange. I've been working with Exchange since Exchange 4.0, and I've never found a better way of doing it. Lots of ways that people think are better sure. They usually tell me all about them for conversation when I'm doing a consulting job on the side recovering their exchange server from improperly configured backups.

 

How do you individual mail box recovery or do you just scoop up messages from the journal.

[meastaugh1]

I also had a little difficulty in installing a Quantum Superloader 3 (SDLT 600) as it seemed to pick up the Windows drivers. I downloaded the latest driver pack from Symantec (and may have initiated a driver update from device manager).

 

NTBackup is without a doubt the most foolproof tool for backing up Exchange. I've been working with Exchange since Exchange 4.0, and I've never found a better way of doing it. Lots of ways that people think are better sure. They usually tell me all about them for conversation when I'm doing a consulting job on the side recovering their exchange server from improperly configured backups.

 

How do you individual mail box recovery or do you just scoop up messages from the journal.

Most exchange/backup forums seem to suggest that brick-level (mailbox) backups are too resource intensive and not necessary with Exch 03. I believe you can just use the Recovery Storage Group

[john]

I have a HP LTO1 Drive, with an autoloader that costs peanuts a year (yup, thats me!), I use NT backup with that, but I prefer Symantec Backupexec. Just started using 10d at home, and whats the difference between 10d and 9? Appart from USB tape drive support in 10d, they look identical, oh yeah appart from the Symantec badges. Anyway, drivers can be a nightmare, so let symantec sort the drivers out otherwise you will have problems, also may be worth going into safe mode and removing all the variants of your tape drive from device manager and removable storage as it may be getting muddled up with another copy of itself.

[ajbritton]

NTBackup is without a doubt the most foolproof tool for backing up Exchange. I've been working with Exchange since Exchange 4.0, and I've never found a better way of doing it. Lots of ways that people think are better sure. They usually tell me all about them for conversation when I'm doing a consulting job on the side recovering their exchange server from improperly configured backups.

 

How do you individual mail box recovery or do you just scoop up messages from the journal.

 

Isn't that what the M: drive is for?

 

I believe the other way is to restore to an off-line server and retrieve the mailbox that way.

[sidewinder]

Right, firstly, I dont use anything except the Veritas drivers, Ive always been told not to so I dont. Its their drivers that are giving me a problem, which is what worries me

 

Anyway Ive taken some screenshots just to show everyone exactly whats happening: Am I doing it wrong??

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/step0.jpg

 

This is the driver beforehend, when all drivers have been uninstalled. For some reason I cant get it to appear as an unknown device

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/step2.jpg

 

Starting the add device wizard

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/step3.jpg

 

It finds the drive

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/step4.jpg

 

Clicking the details button before the driver install

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/step5.jpg

 

Installing the driver

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/step6.jpg

 

Yet after the install - still nothing!

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/step7.jpg

 

The details button after the driver install

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/step8.jpg

 

The driver details after the install (this is the driver installed with the latest driver update pack, if I dont apply that pack, it uses a driver dated 2002!)

 

Sorry about the big pictures!

[DMcCoy]

My version of that file shows as 5.1.1.1. Have you tried downloading the latest version of backup exec?

[sidewinder]

In response to the above, as I was only using a trial, I couldnt find a way to download a newer version

 

Anyway, Ive started to think the problem may be with the SCSI card or the drive itself (unlikely)

 

Ive had to stop using the server I was testing with as after uninstalling BE 10, it started blue screening.

So Ive connected the the drive back to my main backup server which has 9.1 installed, but Im just trying to get the drive working with NT Backup for now.

 

Ive uninstalled all Veritas drivers, theres nothing left. Ive installed the latest drivers from the Quantum site, and its recognised in device manager fine.

 

However, NTBackup doesnt recognise it, and in removable storage it is there, but still has a red cross over it. When I try to view any properties I get 'The object identifier does not represent a valid object'

This happened on the other server too (with the same SCSI card) so its not just that PC

 

Then, I went into event viewer and noticed every time the server is restarted there are about 5 errors, which are a mixture of these 2 messages:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/event1.jpg

 

and

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v635/gregh7901/backupexec/event2.jpg

 

So do these indicate a problem with the card itself?

[john]

I would think that is indicating something with the card for sure, have you got a spare car you could try it with?

[sidewinder]

Unfortunatly no

 

All the main servers have external SCSI connectors, but they will require a different cable, guess I might have to invest in one to check

[sidewinder]

A bit of success at last!

 

I bought a VHDCI cable so I could connect the drive to another SCSI card

Got one out of an old server, got further, NTBackup recognised it, but still gave errors about the controller

 

So as a last resort I plugged it into my ISA server (far from ideal I know) and tried NTBackup and it actually worked! Backing up something as I type!

 

So I'll leave it like that for now but at least this gives me a case to put forward for a PROPER backup server, rather than one of the old desktop machines with a cheap SCSI card

 

Decided not to bother using Backup Exec for tape backups now anyway, just going to do the disk backups with that and use NTBackup to move those files to tape...much simpler

 

Thanks for everyones help