Small office backups/network issues

We run a small company, our current setup is:

1 x server (win XP)
3 x XP machines
2 x Win 98 machines

Currently we backup onto a DVD using nero which is appalling, but better than nothing. The server has raid 5 for redundancy and 2 of the xp machines have raid 1 as well for added safety.

We need to sort our backups to protect from critical failure, but on a budget, i have tried some software called Memeo backup pro, which has everything we need and we use it to backup the XP/98 machines critical files to the server, however every 3rd or so scheduled backup it fails saying that the path cannot be found on the network.

This is a pain, its not doing its job and keeps losing machines on the network when it comes to backup time.

So, what should we use for such a small, but critical backup system?

Why does our server lose machines off the network when trying to back them up despite them communicating with the server all day long faltlessly?

Win XP is not a server.

My suggestion would be to buy 2003, move all the data to that, create shares that can be mapped as network drives for the clients and have the data accessible from there.

The buy a decent backup solution depending on your size needs and have a local back up on the server.

Do it properly or you will regret it.

Yes it will mean spending money but in the long run it will save you time and time = money.

HarryPainful said:

Win XP is not a server.

My suggestion would be to buy 2003, move all the data to that, create shares that can be mapped as network drives for the clients and have the data accessible from there.

The buy a decent backup solution depending on your size needs and have a local back up on the server.

Do it properly or you will regret it.

Yes it will mean spending money but in the long run it will save you time and time = money.

Click to expand...

Indeed.

This is why we are asking, because we know our solution currently isnt nearly good enough!

We might have issues running 2003 though because of the software which runs on it, i will have to check.

Should we be looking at straight 2003, or SBS??

Slime101 said:

This is why we are asking, because we know our solution currently isnt nearly good enough!

We might have issues running 2003 though because of the software which runs on it, i will have to check.

Should we be looking at straight 2003, or SBS??

Click to expand...

SBS would be ideal if it is implmented and utilised properly

What do we gain from using SBS?

A lot of things you're lacking now. Heck even WHS would be better for backing stuff up then XP.

I really don't see why you can't get a second hand server off an auction site, and set up a proper server running 2003. What is your max budget?

Have you considered a hosted solution?

The hardware is fine, its a fairly new machine with plenty of grunt, lots of ram and raid 5 - its just the software we need to consider.

Slime101 said:

What do we gain from using SBS?

Click to expand...

Exchange for email, much simpler configuration/deployment etc. Loads of info on the SBS site

Slime101 said:

The hardware is fine, its a fairly new machine with plenty of grunt, lots of ram and raid 5 - its just the software we need to consider.

Click to expand...

Is it a server machine or a high spec desktop?

Its a machine that was built as a server, but its not a hardcore Xeon based "proper" server, however it wont be changed.

I've been reading the MS site and it seems to offer a whole load of stuff we dont need/wont need or even know what it is. As far as emails are concerned we have 1 account on 1 machine, no normal staff members have access as they dont need it.

HP - Quad-Core AMD based First Server kit - HP ProLiant ML115 with Windows Server 2008 Foundation - £352.95 ex VAT

Something like that would be cheap and do the job.

How much data do you need to backup? If it's going on a dvd... i'd be looking at an online backup service. (Depending on link speed and ISP service).

We backup about 2gb in total, it doesnt grow much as our database is very efficient and not bloated.

Online backup is a big no-no, we will never let our data out of our sight as it is far too valuable for a vairety of reasons.

I was talking about a business orientated online backup by the way, which are aimed at security etc.. but fair enough.

2GB is quite a small amount and hard to justify a tape drive / decent backup solution, especially if it doesn't grow much.

Can you not troubleshoot the Memeo issue, or take a look at another piece of software?

Slime101 said:

Its a machine that was built as a server, but its not a hardcore Xeon based "proper" server, however it wont be changed.

I've been reading the MS site and it seems to offer a whole load of stuff we dont need/wont need or even know what it is. As far as emails are concerned we have 1 account on 1 machine, no normal staff members have access as they dont need it.

Click to expand...

Hmm I'd be wary of a machine knocked together by someone calling it a server. Performance isnt the only concern, you need to be thinking of resilience (redundant PSUs and fans etc) and relibability (error checking RAM and the like).

Try not to think about where you are now and what system you can get now to fix one problem and not move forward - think about where you want the technology to go, think about what different technologies could actually give to you as a business. You say no normal staff members dont need email - why not? Would it not help collaboration, organisation through shared calendars etc? Would none of them benefit from mobile email?

The memeo software seems to work, but i dont understand why sometimes it cant find the machine(s), there is no reasonable explaination as the network is active all the time, hence the connections are working!

Slime101 said:

We backup about 2gb in total, it doesnt grow much as our database is very efficient and not bloated.

Online backup is a big no-no, we will never let our data out of our sight as it is far too valuable for a vairety of reasons.

Click to expand...

Online backup services are as secure, if not more secure than anything you'll be able to put together yourself

Sorry to hijack, but can anyone recomend any good online backup services. current footprint is around 1TB of data.

I'm possibly about to drop 12k into a new backup solution and would like to say I've at least considered online backup.

There's loads about, I doubt you'll get 1Tb for anything like 12k.

Obviously they're costed differently but I'd want to look at the TCO over the expected lifetime of your hardware solution

3yrs expected lifetime and in those there will obviously be a need to buy data/cleaning tapes (LTO3), electricty and cooling costs of the hardware (1 server/ 1 tape library)

software and hardware upgrades after 3years. TCO should be fairly low.

What would you say would be a rough figure to online backup 1tb securly?

At a guess I'd reckon abtou £1200~£1500 per month so 54k over the 3 years.

I'm assuming 12k is purchase cost, so unless your running costs are going to be more than 42k over 3 years, you wont have a cost justification. There may be a benefit in terms of security etc though - the value of that if down to you really