What backup solutions are you using?

[Pompey81]

Hi,

 

We are currently backing up over 2TB of data onto tape using Backup exec 2012. However it seems that our tape drive is failing and we may need to replace it.

 

I was just wondering how you all backup. I have had a brief look at online backup but that solution still looks a bit pricey although I am aware (if I can find some money) that a new hardware solution will also be pricey initially.

 

Thanks

 

Lewis

[jamesfed]

Custom built 2U rack mount server with 8x1TB HDDs (hope to upgrade to 2TB each HDD pretty soon) with a 8 drive LTO4 drive bay under it.

 

We use System Centre DPM 2012 (which is very very very cheap for schools under Volume Lics) which does 3 times daily backups to HDD and then a one time monthly to Tape.

[glennda]

My New Favorite backup solution is Datto - uses local server for the storage but also has the ability to sync the data with the cloud in a format that is bootable in a DR scenario.

[6Foot2]

We are using Backup Excec 2010 and a Dell Tape Library with 14 tapes [LTO3] and our weekly and monthly backups are currently running to 2 - 3 tapes. We expect to deploy a new virtualised server solution in the Summer. Along with that we will have a new backup solution as the current one isn't up to the job of backing up the current network however I don't know all of the details of the new solution yet except to say that it will use disk staging.

[Brpilot99]

We have a large hard drive in another school and use logmein backup to backup to that drive .... The other school has a large hard drive in our school and uses the same system ..

Cheap and cheerful and works very well .

[RTFM]

We have 2 NetApp's which snapmirror between different buildings. We take snap shots every hour (Monday - Friday 07.00 - 18.00) and keep these for 3 months so we can retrieve instantly from them if its just a file missing or accidentally deleted.

 

Where our secondary NetApp is we also have a HP MSA60 which we use to hold our weekly server backups (we also have these on the second NetApp but thought we'd do this too....I suppose because we can...) and also a daily backup of a primary school we look after. We use Backup Exec 2010 on a virtual server held in that building to do this. We then send all our server backups off into the cloud as well as holding them on the MSA60.

 

Edited January 23, 2013 by RTFM

[FragglePete]

Recently setup a Server with 6 x 2Tb Drives connected to a HP 1/8 LTO-5 SAS Tape Library. Using BackUp Exec 2012 (takes a bit of getting used to compared to previous versions), but essentially backing up to Disk and then duplicate onto Tape. Not all servers are using BackUp Exec Agents; using Windows Server Backup to dump the bare metal recovery to a shared folder on the backup server. Only been running for a couple of weeks and all looks good so far. Complete full backup of everything is just running over two LTO-5 tapes at the mo.

 

Like the look of one feature which is the ability to restore a physical server to a Virtual Machine - gonna have play with that some when.

 

Pete

[dhicks]

I have had a brief look at online backup but that solution still looks a bit pricey

 

The swap-backups-with-another-school solution mentioned above is probably the most sensible option, if you have enough bandwidth at both ends to be able to sync your files. The easiest solution is probably an on-site FreeNAS server that you sync with your live sotrage every day (or just use the FreeNAS server as your main file server), enable snapshots, then have FreeNAS clone the snapshots between sites. Backup and versioning all in one. For hardware, all you'd need is a server with enough storage in - an HP Micro Server would do, or a basic 1U (4 disk) or 2U (12 disk) server. In terms of price-per-GB, 3TB disks might now be your best bet, although 4TB drives are now available for around £160. A 4-drive Micro Server with 4 4TB drives, giving you around 10-12TB of useable storage space, should cost you under £1,000.

 

You'd have to make sure you had similar hardware at the other end, of course. If you can't find another school you could use a colocation service, for around £50-£100 a month hosting fees (depending, mostly, on how much power your hardware draws).

 

If you have a bunch of virtual machines that you can back up to the FreeNAS server, it should be possible to just mirror the differentials to a remote server every day, giving you a remote server with an exact copy of your VM images. If you do have a diaster, you then have a machine you can pick up and plug in to start running VMs.

[RTFM]

We pay £140 a year for 500gb (with a soft limit) of cloud storage

[mdench]

super micro chassis with 24 x 2tb disks running ubuntu with BackupPc installed running weekly and incremental backups.

[Tall_Paul]

We use an RM 8TB diskbox (which I'm looking to replace) connected to a Tandberg 8 tape library.

 

To back up all my virtual machines I use VEEAM. Backup Exec then pushes the veeam files onto tape (GFS tape rotation), along with backing up my three remaining physical boxes.

 

We also use Attix (provided by SCOMIS) to trickle our most important data files into the cloud.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Tall_Paul

[zag]

Backupexec 2010 onto a Qnap NAS 8TB. Also backup to a redundant file server with the same specs as the main file server.

 

Can't believe people still use tapes!

 

Veeam for the Virtual servers.

Edited January 24, 2013 by zag

[jamesfed]

We use an RM 8TB diskbox (which I'm looking to replace) connected to a Tandberg 8 tape library.

 

You will probably find that the RM disk box is little more than a normal chenbro case and a low powered motherboard running Openfiller/Windows Storage server.

 

We managed to 'acquire' one such diskbox a while back for nothing, first thing we did was buy a new motherboard/processor/ram for it put Server 2008 R2 and System Centre DPM on it and haven't looked back since! Hardware costs to us in the end was just £180.

[glennda]

Backupexec 2010 onto a Qnap NAS 8TB. Also backup to a redundant file server with the same specs as the main file server.

 

Can't believe people still use tapes!

 

Veeam for the Virtual servers.

 

They are still heavily popular for archive to data - so much so Veeam are actually building in Backup To tape into the product.

 

Veeam to Disk To Tape.

[Tall_Paul]

You will probably find that the RM disk box is little more than a normal chenbro case and a low powered motherboard running Openfiller/Windows Storage server.

 

We managed to 'acquire' one such diskbox a while back for nothing, first thing we did was buy a new motherboard/processor/ram for it put Server 2008 R2 and System Centre DPM on it and haven't looked back since! Hardware costs to us in the end was just £180.

 

I might send you a PM about that if that's OK? Be good to pick your brains about what you did if we have an identical bit of kit (I especially like the reusability aspect).