Small office backups/network issues

Slime101 · 15 Sep 2009 at 10:32

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?

Slime101 · 15 Sep 2009 at 10:49

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 · 15 Sep 2009 at 11:00

What do we gain from using SBS?

Slime101 · 15 Sep 2009 at 11:38

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 · 15 Sep 2009 at 11:58

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.

Slime101 · 15 Sep 2009 at 12:50

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.

Slime101 · 15 Sep 2009 at 13:14

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!